A Salem man who lost $90,000 in a fraud earlier this year lured a suspect to his home with the promise of more money, drawing him to waiting FBI agents, according to federal court filings.

The 84-year-old victim, who was not identified in court records, is one of an unknown number of people from coast to coast tricked into giving money and gold under directions from what they believed were FBI agents. The Salem victim made three payments, starting in March.

“For an individual that saves their entire life to suddenly be threatened with an unwarranted arrest and having all their money taken away – the sense of terror that this must have instilled … is incalculable,” federal prosecutors said in a court filing.

Prosecutors wrote that “the full extent of this fraud scheme is still unknown, but as the investigation continues to develop its scope is frightening.”

Prosecutors charged Ramaraj Ganesan, 39, of California with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the Salem fraud. He remains in custody while awaiting an arraignment in Portland U.S. District Court on Aug.1.

Ganesan told authorities he was a project manager at an insurance company but federal banking records showed he conducted $1.4 million in transactions from June 2023 through his arrest in May.

Prosecutors said in a court filing that Ganesan was part of “a criminal group extorting people under the threat of arrest and seizure of assets by purported federal agents. It is a scam. The fear this group is inducing is significant and has led people to lose significant amounts of money.”

An FBI agent’s affidavit to support his arrest and a later filing by federal prosecutors map out a sophisticated scheme.

According to the affidavit, the Salem man was on his computer and clicked on a pop-screen that then froze his computer and displayed a phone number. After calling the number, the man was told his computer could be fixed but first, he would have to speak with an FBI agent.

The Salem man was transferred to the supposed agent named Jon Stryker. Stryker told the man he had been identified as responsible for a cyber-attack at the FBI Sacramento office and he would need to pay reparations or his assets would be frozen and he would be arrested. 

“Fearing that he would be arrested and also that he would not have any funds to pay for essential food or medical services for him and his wife, Adult Victim 1 followed the instructions given to him by Stryker,” the affidavit said.

Following Stryker’s orders, the Salem man mailed $20,000 in cash in March and again in May.

In April, Stryker ordered a $50,000 payment, telling the victim that an agent would arrive at his home to collect the money. On April 3, a white car pulled up to the man’s house and rolled down a rear window for the man to place the package inside. 

Stryker reached out again, instructing the victim this time to pay $86,000 that would be picked up at his home. According to court records, the victim then contacted the FBI’s resident agency in Salem to report he was a victim of fraud involving government impersonation.

As a result, Salem FBI agents worked with the Salem man to schedule a pick-up of the $86,000 on a different day, using a decoy U.S. Postal Service package. Salem Police detectives helped arrange surveillance for the scheduled pick-up. 

At 8:30 a.m. on May 30, FBI agents watched a man pull up to the victim’s house in a Ford Edge with a California license plate. The victim walked out and placed the decoy package inside. Salem police stopped the vehicle after it drove away, the affidavit said.

Ganesan told agents he had around 36 ounces of gold bars in a backpack in his vehicle. That gold, according to court records, was worth over $85,000. Ganesan later told agents he picked up the gold from a person in the Seattle area before driving to Salem, according to the prosecutors’ filing.

Ganesan told agents that he had “been communicating with the individual over the phone since approximately February and admitted to picking up other packages in South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Utah, and Washington.”

Ganesan is not the only individual charged in the conspiracy.

On Friday, July 12, Navjot Singh, 34, was arrested in West Linn, Oregon on a federal charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, for defrauding a West Linn couple of around $279,000. The husband, in his late 70s, had a similar experience as the Salem man, with his computer glitching and speaking with a “Jon Stryker.” Singh is now in custody in Multnomah County. 

FBI agents and Salem detectives proved Ganesan’s involvement in a national fraud scheme after finding boarding passes and receipts that proved Ganesan had traveled to Washington, Colorado, Utah, South Carolina, Florida and New Jersey. 

Such frauds are part of an increase in financial scams involving government impersonation, according to the FBI Portland office. According to the FBI, scammers often target older adults, with almost half of scam victims being over 60.

Contact reporter Madeleine Moore: [email protected].

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