15 and a Half Years for the Gold Bar Courier: Malware Pop-Up Scam Lands Illinois Man in Prison

On May 21, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri announced that Makki, 38, a citizen of India living in Illinois, was sentenced to 15½ years in federal prison without parole. U.S. District Judge Greg Kays also ordered $4,754,000 in restitution, forfeiture of the gold bars and a money judgment.

Makki pleaded guilty on November 24, 2025, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

How the scam worked

Starting in 2023 through March 31, 2024, conspirators placed malware on victims' computers that directed them to a phone number to call. When victims called, the scammers posed as "Microsoft" employees, bank officials, government employees and law enforcement officers.

Here's the progression:

• Fear. They convinced victims, who ranged from 61 to 80 years old, that their identities had been compromised and their money wasn't safe in banks. Often victims were told they were helping law enforcement.
• Liquidation. Once they'd built a relationship, the scammers had victims empty bank and retirement accounts and buy gold bars or gold coins.
• The handoff. When the gold arrived at victims' homes, they were told to give it to a co-conspirator for "safekeeping." Sometimes victims were told to package the gold and address it to the "Department of Justice" in a specific person's name, to make it seem official.

Makki and others picked up the gold or cash and drove it across state lines to co-conspirators.

The big haul

On March 25 and 26, 2024, Makki picked up 16 gold bars, one kilogram each, worth more than $1 million, from victims in Littleton, Colorado, and Kansas City, Missouri.

On March 27, he took them to Illinois to deliver to co-conspirators. That same day, a Morgan County, Illinois, deputy sheriff and an Illinois State Highway Patrol sergeant arrested him with the gold bars.

By the time of sentencing, 12 victims had been identified who lost more than $6 million.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department, Douglas County, Colorado, Sheriff's Department, Illinois State Highway Patrol and Morgan County Sheriff's Department investigated.

Why should you care?

Fifteen and a half years. For a courier. That's a signal from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the people moving the gold are going to be treated like the people running the scam.

And look at how it started: malware with a phone number. The victim makes the call. Everything after that, the fake Microsoft rep, the fake cop, the gold, flows from one pop-up.

Also, that "Department of Justice" label on the package? The real DOJ prosecuted the guy who picked it up.

What to do this week

• Tell your parents and grandparents: Microsoft doesn't put phone numbers in pop-ups. Ever.
• Banks are safe. Anyone telling you to pull your money out of the bank and buy gold is a scammer.
• No government agency takes your gold for "safekeeping."
• Report it at ic3.gov or the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).

That's it. Sixteen gold bars. One traffic stop. 15½ years.