A California man will spend a month in jail and must pay $30,000 after defrauding a Larimer County couple out of almost $70,000.

In March, an 85-year-old man and an 83-year-old woman contacted law enforcement to report a scam, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. The couple was tricked by a pop-up on their computer, asking them to call “Microsoft Support Services” to resolve the fake technical issue.

“The scammer first contacted the elderly couple by phone and told them to withdraw $30,000,” a sheriff’s office spokesman said in an email. “Someone then took the money from them.”

A few days later, the scammer demanded another $70,000 to resolve a fictitious bank account issue. The statement stated that after the couple’s withdrawal request was rejected by many banks due to suspicion of fraud, the fraudster instructed them to buy $70,000 in gold bullion and would come to their home to collect it; Suspicious of the request, the couple contacted the sheriff’s office.

In April, investigators waited with the victims and arrested the man who came to collect the gold. He was identified by authorities as 28-year-old Californian Arashdeep Dhaliwal.

“The fraudster did all of this under the guise of resolving a fake issue with his bank account,” according to the sheriff’s office.

Dhaliwal was arrested on charges of theft, a class 5 felony; and two counts of theft from an at-risk person, a class 3 felony. He later entered into a plea agreement with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he pleaded guilty to one count of burglary as a Class 4 felony and the other charges were dismissed.

In July, 8th Judicial District Court Judge Stephen Jouard sentenced Dhaliwal to 30 days in jail on work release, three years of supervised probation, and ordered him to pay $30,000 in restitution to the victims.

“It can often be difficult for victims of fraud to come forward, feeling guilty or embarrassed that they fell for the scam. This is exactly what scammers want. They isolate their victims and make them feel helpless,” Investigations Sgt. Rita Servin said in the release. “They scare people into giving money to scammers and use psychological manipulation to deter them from reporting the crime. Suspects in fraud cases are extremely difficult to identify because they are often from other states or operating internationally. I am grateful to the banks who initially expressed concern that this was fraud, and to the investigators who intervened and arrested this man before he could take further advantage of innocent people. “I also commend the victims for coming forward and reporting this situation.”

Investigators learned the suspect may have been part of similar incidents in other areas. Anyone with information about other scams involving Dhaliwal is asked to contact the sheriff’s office at 970-498-5100 or the local jurisdiction where the crime occurred.

“Scams are extremely common and impact Larimer County residents of all ages,” the department said in its statement. “Using fear and other aggressive tactics, scammers attempt to coerce their victims into sending money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or precious metals such as gold. Scammers seek compensation to solve made-up problems, such as fake computer problems, grandchildren being jailed, or fake search warrants that don’t actually exist. “Legitimate law enforcement or government agencies will never request payment to resolve these issues.”

You can find more information about scams and how to recognize them at: Larimer County website.