A man was extradited from Spain to Charlotte to face charges for allegedly participating in a computer pop-up fraud scheme that targeted people across the U.S. and generated over $31 million.

Bikramjit Ahluwalia, 39 and a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, was extradited from Spain to appear in federal court in Charlotte Monday.

According to court documents, Ahluwalia and Andrew Brolese owned Digital Marketing Support Services (DMSS), a Seychelles-based company that published and sold malicious pop-ups.

Victims who were targeted in the scheme, many who were over age 55, would be instructed to call a number to fix the fraudulent pop-up, and then pay money to resolve the issue, which never really existed, according to the indictment.

Ahluwalia is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to damage a protected computer, and wire fraud.

"It is further alleged that Ahluwalia and Brolese received over $31.2 million in illicit payments from the tech support scheme, through wire transfers made to DMSS’s bank accounts located overseas," according to court officials. 

Ahluwalia, Brolese and their conspirators targeted victims across the U.S. from April 2016 to March 2021, according to the indictment.

The victims targeted in the scheme experienced computer pop-ups that mimicked fatal system-error screens, malicious pop-ups suggesting malware had been installed on their computers, or warnings for technical issues related to the victims’ services, software, or devices, court documents state.

To fix the pop-ups, victims were advised to call a number for help.

"As alleged in the indictment, the various overseas call centers, upon receipt of the victim call traffic, would use the misrepresentations in the pop-ups, false diagnoses of computer issues, and other deceptive sales techniques to trick the victims into paying hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to the call centers to receive unnecessary technical support for the non-existent computer issues," according to the indictment. 

Ahluwalia and Brolese are accused of conspiring to sell the incoming calls to companies around the world, including a company in western North Carolina. 

Ahluwalia could face up to 30 years in prison on charges for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud, with up to 20 years for money laundering, and five years for conspiracy to damage a protected computer.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Warren in Charlotte is prosecuting the case.