Two New York men have been charged in an alleged synthetic identity scheme that used stolen Social Security numbers to obtain credit and debit cards and rack up roughly $2.3 million in losses.
The father-and-son duo, Talib Hussain, 75, and Mirza Khan, 48, both of Pittsford, were named in a 19-count federal indictment accusing them of conspiracy to commit bank, wire and access device fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.
According to prosecutors, the scheme operated from around 2012 through July 23rd, 2024. Hussain, Khan and their alleged co-conspirators obtained legitimate Social Security numbers belonging to real people and used them to construct fake identities without the victims’ knowledge.
The group allegedly used those identities to submit approximately 1,072 online applications for credit and debit cards from various financial institutions.
Prosecutors say the suspects rented apartments in Western New York and used those addresses to receive the cards once the applications were approved.
The cards were then allegedly used to make purchases at retailers including Apple, BJ’s and Sam’s Club. Some of the spending reportedly benefited businesses operated by the alleged fraudsters, including Lucky Beverage, Chili Express Mart and Easy Food Market.
Authorities also allege the fraudulent cards were used to pay property taxes on three Rochester-area properties.
The duo allegedly used another tactic to keep the cards’ spending limits artificially high. According to the indictment, they deposited fraudulent checks toward card balances, temporarily creating additional available credit before ultimately leaving the balances unpaid.
The alleged scheme caused financial losses for numerous banks and card issuers, including American Express, Bank of America, Barclays Bank Delaware, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Comenity Bank, Discover Bank, First National Bank of Omaha, Synchrony Bank and US Bank.
Prosecutors estimate the total loss to financial institutions at approximately $2.26 million. The scheme also allegedly damaged the credit records of the individuals whose Social Security numbers were used to create the synthetic identities.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison and a potential $1 million fine.
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