A federal grand jury in Huntsville, Alabama, has charged Kareem Mustafa Ahmad, a 21-year-old from Alexandria, Egypt, with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona and FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Chris DiMenna.
The case involves Ahmad's use of the alias "Noir" on Telegram, where he operated "Noir’s Luxury Refunds" and other fraudulent Telegram channels. The group engaged in refund fraud, manipulating retailers to reverse transactions while customers retained the products, often taking a commission from refunds. At its peak, the channel had over 5,900 followers and was active from July 2020 to July 2022.
During the investigation, officials discovered that the group attempted to secure millions of dollars in refunds on products like electronics, designer clothing, and appliances. Their methods included social engineering, fake shipping labels, insider recruitment, and developing malware targeting retailer websites to bypass fraud prevention.
Additionally, eight individuals linked to the organization have pleaded guilty to similar charges. These include Damion Wayne Scarlett from New York, Dhruv Gargi from New Jersey, David James Park from Arizona, Nicholas John Caruso from Texas, Jennifer Mireya Palma from California, CK Chikong Tran from New York, Tyree Samuel Tinsley from Virginia, and Jason Seib from Canada.
The offense carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The FBI led the investigation, with prosecution by Assistant U.S. Attorneys John M. Hundscheid and Edward J. Canter. Several corporations, including Amazon.com, Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., and Google’s CyberCrime Investigation Group, provided assistance.
This case is part of Operation Chargeback, an FBI initiative targeting organized refund fraud groups, leading to additional cases in Washington and Oklahoma.
For further details on cybercrime, visit www.ic3.gov.
It’s important to note that an indictment contains only charges, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.