Man allegedly scams two people in their 70s out of more than $200K in Tennessee

PUTNAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WSMV) - The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office announced that it has made an arrest in a fraud scheme that scammed two people out of more than $200,000.

PCSO said deputies responded Nov. 29 to a reported fraud involving two victims over the age of 70.

One of the victims told deputies she received a fraudulent pop-up alert on her computer on Sept. 19. The message appeared to be from Microsoft, instructing her to contact a listed phone number.

When she called the number, she spoke with a person who identified himself as “Alan Gray.” “Gray” allegedly told the victim her computer had been compromised and that she needed to contact her bank.

PCSO said the victim then called the number on the back of her debit card and reached another individual who identified himself as “Josh Campbell.” However, PCSO said “Josh Campbell” did not work for the victim’s bank and had spoofed the bank’s number to scam the victim.

“‘Campbell’ claimed the victims’ accounts were under federal investigation for child pornography found on their computer, and he instructed the victims not to tell anyone,” PCSO said.

However, this was not true. PCSO said this is a fear tactic scammers use to coerce victims into withdrawing large sums of money from their bank accounts to convert it into Bitcoin or gold.

PCSO said “Campbell” allegedly told the victims this was to protect their savings.

The victims withdrew and transferred a total of $268,229 between Sept. 19 and Nov. 5.

“As part of the fraud scheme, the victims were directed to purchase physical gold at Spencer Coin & Silver,” PCSO said. “The first time was on October 3, 2025, when the victim purchased nine one-ounce Gold Maple Leaf coins.”

An unknown man later went to the victims’ home and collected the coins.

Later that month, the victims were told to buy an additional 15 one-ounce Maple Leaf coins, and on Nov. 5, an unknown man came to their home and collected the coins.

However, this time, the husband took photos of the vehicle and the man who came to collect the coins.

After asking “Josh Campbell” multiple times whether he could see his new retirement account and getting no response, the victim’s husband decided to contact the police.

PCSO investigators were able to identify the suspect as Tulasi Timsina, of Nashville, thanks to the photos the husband took. Timsina is originally from Nepal and is in the U.S. on a green card, PCSO said.

Timsina was arrested on Dec. 10 and charged with financial exploitation of an elderly adult. He was jailed on a $200,000 bond.

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