Three alleged scammers were arrested in Baxter County, Arkansas, this month following coordinated operations between law enforcement and an investigative group called Trilogy Media. According to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, the arrests occurred in separate incidents from December 1 to December 4.
The first arrest involved 62-year-old Melvin Colvin of Everett, Washington, who was charged with criminal attempt to commit theft of property, conspiracy to commit theft of property, and misleading caller identification with intent to defraud. Authorities were alerted on December 1 that a suspected money mule was trying to collect $250,000 from an 86-year-old Mountain Home man on behalf of a Jamaica-based scammer. The victim was actually a decoy. The scammer told the decoy that his money mule—falsely claiming to be an FBI agent—was traveling from Seattle to pick up the money. Law enforcement captured Colvin on camera discussing the pickup of cash and gold bars. Officers located his vehicle with Washington plates in Mountain Home and traced his route through Nebraska and Missouri. He was arrested on December 3 after trying to impersonate an FBI agent. Colvin is being held on a $50,000 cash bond and is scheduled for arraignment on January 6, 2026.
The second arrest involved 30-year-old Samar Nawaz, a New Jersey resident and citizen of West Bengal, India, accused of participating in a refund scam. Nawaz faces charges including conspiracy to commit theft of property, computer fraud, criminal impersonation, misleading caller ID, and unauthorized use of another person’s information, and he also has an outstanding warrant in North Carolina. Investigators had been looking into multiple fraud schemes since November 2025 and uncovered an arranged pickup involving $60,000. On December 4, an India-based scammer attempted to send a money mule to collect cash from a 95-year-old decoy. Through coordination with Trilogy Media, officers set up a bait house where the mule was supposed to retrieve a boxed payment. Nawaz arrived in a Texas rental vehicle and falsely claimed to be a Federal Trade Commission agent. He appeared hesitant and drove away, but officers stopped him due to the outstanding warrant. Authorities also found he had overstayed his temporary visa, which expired in 2023. Nawaz is being held on a $25,000 cash bond and has an ICE immigration detainer, with arraignment scheduled for January 5, 2026.
The third arrest involved 23-year-old Fardin Taleh of Brooklyn, New York, who is charged with conspiracy to commit theft of property, computer fraud, misleading caller identification with intent to defraud, criminal impersonation, and unauthorized use of another person’s information. Taleh attempted to steal $60,000 from a decoy victim and backed his vehicle up to the bait house before approaching the door. He told the decoy he was an FTC agent and was handed movie prop cash and $500 in real currency, after which he was arrested without incident. Taleh is being held on a $50,000 cash bond with a court appearance set for January 5, 2026.
Authorities reported that several other scammers fled the area after learning about the bait house operations in Mountain Home. The coordinated stings were led by Lieutenant Michael Day of the Mountain Home Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from Trilogy Media, the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the FBI.
