YOUNGSTOWN Two Kent State University students are in the Mahoning County Jail, charged in a federal cyberfraud investigation.

Touhedul Tuhin, 25, and Iftekhar Latif Nieon, 23, were arrested Tuesday by the FBI on a criminal complaint from the Western District of New York.

The two men, who resided in Kent, are accused of acting as “money mules” as part of a scheme that defrauded elderly victims of more than $100,000. They face charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, the alleged scheme involved scammers impersonating government agents or tech support representatives to trick victims into withdrawing large sums of cash. Tuhin and Nieon are accused of being the couriers who collected the money in person.

The criminal complaint outlines a recurring pattern in the frauds. Scammers would impersonate government agents from the Federal Trade Commission or tech support representatives from companies like Microsoft and Geek Squad. They'd contact victims—all of whom were elderly—via phone or email, often claiming a fraudulent charge or a computer virus had been detected.

In one case, a 68-year-old man from Orchard Park, New York, was told by a caller impersonating a “Special Agent Mike Wilson from the FTC” that he owed the government money. Believing he was complying with a federal order, the victim withdrew $40,000 in cash and turned it over to two men who arrived at his residence on March 4, 2025.

Another victim, an 81-year-old from Western New York, received an email about a fake Microsoft Defender order. When he called to cancel, a representative remote-accessed his computer, making it appear as though an accidental refund of over $24,000 had been processed. The victim was then manipulated into withdrawing cash and handing it over to a courier to "correct the error" and prevent the "representative" from being fired. He ultimately lost $38,000.

Similarly, an 82-year-old resident from the Cleveland suburb of Pepper Pike reported being scammed out of $15,000 after a call from a fake PayPal representative claiming an "error" on his account.

The connection to Kent became a key part of the investigation. A vehicle registered to Tuhin was allegedly used in two separate incidents in western New York.  The Orchard Park, NY victim identified Tuhin from a photo lineup as the person who took $40,000 in cash from him.

A parallel investigation in Ohio, the alleged victim from Pepper Pike identified a car registered to Tuhin's roommate. Phone data allegedly places Nieon at the scenes of multiple frauds in both New York and Ohio. According to the FBI affidavit, Nieon received roughly $55,000 in cash deposits to his bank account, despite claiming to have no personal income.

Both men had separate initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carmen E. Henderson, who ordered that they remain in jail at least until their next court hearings.