Many of the
victims were older Americans, according to Justice Department
by Peter Urban, AARP, August 23, 2019
A massive online fraud and money-laundering
scheme, whose victims included older adults, has been broken up by federal law
enforcement authorities.
The FBI arrested 14 people across the United
States (11 in the Los Angeles region) who were named in a 252-count federal
grand jury indictment that alleges 80 defendants used online fraud schemes to
try to defraud victims out of at least $46 million.
Two were already in federal custody on other
charges, and one was arrested earlier this week. The remaining individuals
named in the indictment are believed to be abroad, with most of them located in
Nigeria.
"We believe this is one of the largest
cases of its kind in U.S. history,” U.S. Attorney Nick Hanna for the Central
District of California said at a news conference. “We are taking a major step
to disrupt these criminal networks."
The scheme allegedly including business email compromise (BEC) frauds, romance scams and scams targeting older adults.
The ill-gotten funds were allegedly laundered primarily through two individuals
in the Los Angeles area, who were named in the indictment.
The investigation began in 2016 with a single
bank account and one victim, said Paul Delacourt, assistant director in charge
of the FBI's Los Angeles office. It grew to encompass victims who were targeted
in the U.S. and around the world, some of whom lost hundreds of thousands of
dollars.
Delacourt urged people to be aware of online
scams. “Billions of dollars are lost annually, and we urge citizens to be aware
of these sophisticated financial schemes to protect themselves or their
businesses from becoming unsuspecting victims. The FBI is committed to working
with our partner agencies worldwide to continue to identify these
cybercriminals and to dismantle their networks,” he said.
Federal authorities cited the case of a
Japanese woman, known only as “F.K.” in court papers, as one example of the
alleged romance scams that began through what she assumed was an international
social network for digital pen pals.
Over 10 months of daily emails, F.K. thought a
romance had blossomed with a U.S. Army captain stationed in Syria who had a
plan to smuggle diamonds out of that country. “Capt. Terry Garcia,” however,
was a fiction in an elaborate scam that left F.K. $200,000 poorer and on the
brink of bankruptcy, the authorities alleged.
The Associated Press contributed to this
article.
AARP’s Fraud Watch Network can help you spot
and avoid scams. Sign up for free “watchdog alerts," review our scam-tracking map, or call our toll-free fraud helpline at 877-908-3360 if you or a loved one
suspect you’ve been a victim.
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