Ivan Seales, 58, received a 121-month sentence and was ordered to pay approximately $855,000 in restitution, according to federal prosecutors.

At least two of Seales' victims lived in Arizona. One Pima County resident mailed Seales a $185,000 cashier's check in February 2023, then wired more than $220,000 to other companies in response to fraudulent invoices. A Sierra Vista victim received a fake Apple support warning and sent money to Seales through the payment app Zelle.

Prosecutors said Seales belonged to an international fraud network that used pop-up ads, emails and text messages impersonating banks and technology companies. The scammers told victims their accounts had been hacked or that they had been mistakenly "over-refunded." Seales then moved the stolen money through shell companies, cryptocurrency and offshore transfers.

He was arrested in February 2023. After his arrest, Seales agreed to cooperate with investigators, but court filings show he continued messaging a contact in the scam network and asked for a cut of roughly $500,000 a month in stolen funds. Seales claimed he was keeping the line open for police, and Arizona detectives told him to stop trying to "commit a crime to solve a crime."

Seales has already appealed his conviction.

The case highlights the growing threat that sophisticated fraud operations pose to older adults, who are frequently targeted through convincing impersonations of trusted banks and tech companies. Consumer advocates have reported an uptick in scam reports as criminals refine their tactics and exploit victims' fear of losing their savings.

For southern Arizona families, the sentencing offers a measure of accountability but does little to recover the losses: the Pima County victim alone sent more than $400,000 to Seales and related entities before the scheme was disrupted.