U.S. Law Enforcement Disrupts Networks Used to Transfer Fraud Proceeds, Taking Over 4,000 Actions in Fifth Campaign

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<p>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<br &sol;>&NewLine; Monday&comma; May 22&comma; 2023<br &sol;>&NewLine; U&period;S&period; Law Enforcement Disrupts Networks Used to Transfer Fraud Proceeds&comma; Taking Over 4&comma;000 Actions in Fifth Campaign<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Over 12&comma;000 Actions Taken Since Campaigns Began<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The Justice Department&comma; FBI&comma; U&period;S&period; Postal Inspection Service &lpar;USPIS&rpar;&comma; and other federal law enforcement agencies announced today the completion of a three-month campaign that disrupted networks used by foreign fraudsters to obtain fraud proceeds&period; Multiple law enforcement actions addressed conduct by individuals sometimes referred to as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;money mules&comma;” who have been providing critical services to fraudsters by receiving money from fraud victims and forwarding the fraud proceeds to the perpetrators &lpar;many of whom are based overseas&rpar;&period; Some individuals knew they were facilitating fraud&comma; while others first interacted with fraudsters as victims and may have been unaware that their activity furthered criminal activity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Over approximately the last three months&comma; law enforcement took over 4&comma;000 actions against individuals responsible for facilitating a range of fraud schemes&period; These schemes included those that targeted consumers&comma; such as lottery fraud and <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;category&sol;romance-scammer&sol;" title&equals;"romance scams" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"11">romance scams<&sol;a>&comma; as well as those that targeted businesses or pandemic funds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The thousands of actions taken by law enforcement — which ranged from criminal prosecutions to civil actions&comma; to warning letters — were designed to punish those who knowingly assisted fraudsters and to advise those who may have been unknowingly helping fraudsters that their conduct furthered crime&period; These actions are intended to deter overseas fraudsters from relying on U&period;S&period;-based individuals to facilitate schemes and thereby reduce the harm caused by foreign fraud operations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This year’s effort marked the fifth U&period;S&period; law enforcement campaign disrupting these money transmitting networks&period; Since the first campaign&comma; during which approximately 400 actions were taken by law enforcement&comma; agencies have collectively taken over 12&comma;000 actions&period; Investigations have shown that disrupting money transmitting networks has impeded fraudsters’ abilities to receive funds&comma; thereby reducing fraud victimization&period; These campaigns are part of a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;europol&period;europa&period;eu&sol;crime-areas-and-statistics&sol;crime-areas&sol;forgery-of-money-and-means-of-payment&sol;money-muling" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">global effort<&sol;a> to tackle money transmitting networks linked to illegal activity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Law enforcement is committed to reducing fraud using every tool at our disposal&period; Our efforts to disrupt networks used to transfer fraud proceeds&comma; to educate the public about elder fraud&comma; and to prosecute those involved in these schemes have stymied fraudsters&comma;” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This initiative demonstrates what can be achieved through focused efforts and vigorous enforcement&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The money mule campaign was an effort to educate the public&comma; disrupt criminal enterprises&comma; and provide feedback to <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"995">financial<&sol;a> institutions who go to great lengths to implement anti-money laundering programs&comma;” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The FBI values the partnership of the Justice Department&&num;039&semi;s Consumer Protection Branch&comma; USPIS&comma; and other federal agencies who work together to disrupt criminal enterprises conducting fraud and money laundering schemes&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Anyone can be approached to be a money mule&comma; but criminals often target students&comma; those looking for work&comma; and those on dating websites&comma;” said USPIS Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the Criminal Investigations Group&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;When those individuals use the U&period;S&period; Mail to send or receive funds from fraudsters&comma; postal inspectors are quick to step in and put a stop to money mule activities&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This year’s effort was coordinated by the Justice Department&&num;039&semi;s Consumer Protection Branch&comma; FBI and USPIS&comma; which were joined by Homeland Security Investigations&comma; the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General&period; Participating agencies collectively served over 4&comma;000 letters warning individuals that their activities are facilitating fraud&period; These letters outlined the potential consequences for continuing to transmit illegally acquired funds&period; Participating agencies also filed 12 civil or administrative actions&period; Additionally&comma; more than 25 individuals were criminally charged for knowingly receiving and forwarding victim funds or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul>&NewLine;<li>&NewLine;<p>The U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office for the District Massachusetts <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-ma&sol;pr&sol;rhode-island-man-arrested-and-charged-laundering-more-35-million-fraud-proceeds-and" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">charged<&sol;a> a defendant for using his accounting and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;virtual CFO” business as a front to launder the proceeds of internet fraud schemes&period; As part of the alleged conspiracy&comma; the defendant created dozens of shell companies and used those shell companies to open business bank accounts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts&comma; through which the defendant laundered the criminal proceeds for his clients in exchange for fees&period; In total&comma; since 2019&comma; the defendant is alleged to have opened approximately 80 bank accounts &lpar;purportedly on behalf of 65 different companies&rpar;&comma; laundering approximately &dollar;35 million&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>&NewLine;<p>The U&period;S&period; Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-wdnc&sol;pr&sol;charlotte-man-indicted-international-multi-million-dollar-tech-support-fraud-scam" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">charged<&sol;a> an individual for facilitating an international&comma; multimillion-dollar tech support fraud&period; The indictment alleged that the defendant agreed to obtain payment-processing services in his name to process victim payments and laundered the proceeds domestically and internationally to bank accounts located in India&comma; receiving 3&percnt; of the revenue in return&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>&NewLine;<p>The U&period;S&period; Attorneys&&num;039&semi; Offices for the Central District of California and the District of Nebraska charged individuals who&comma; despite warnings from law enforcement&comma; continued facilitating fraud&period; In the Central District of California&comma; an individual was <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;usao-cdca&sol;pr&sol;westminster-woman-charged-federal-indictment-alleging-she-acted-money-mule-who&num;&colon;~&colon;text&equals;Serena&percnt;20Lieu&percnt;2C&percnt;2055&percnt;2C&percnt;20of&percnt;20Westminster&comma;returned&percnt;20the&percnt;20indictment&percnt;20on&percnt;20Tuesday&period;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">charged<&sol;a> for her role in receiving funds from fraud victims&comma; including victims of business email compromises&period; According to the charges&comma; the defendant opened 11 bank accounts at seven separate financial institutions in furtherance of the scheme&period; In the District of Nebraska&comma; two individuals were charged for facilitating a lottery fraud scheme&comma; including by receiving cashier’s checks in the mail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p>As in past years&comma; participating agencies are working to raise awareness about how fraudsters recruit and use individuals to assist their fraud operations&period; Federal agencies conducted outreach to the public and industry&comma; and also expanded partnerships with local&comma; state&comma; and foreign law enforcement agencies&period; The Commodities Futures Trading Commission released a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cftc&period;gov&sol;LearnAndProtect&sol;AdvisoriesAndArticles&sol;CustomerAdvisory&lowbar;MoneyMuleFraud&period;html" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">public awareness message<&sol;a> about how fraudsters use and recruit people to facilitate romance fraud and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;wrong number” text message scams&comma; where fraudsters strike up conversations touting their wealth and success in trading crypto assets&comma; over-the-counter foreign currency&comma; or gold contracts to try and convince consumers to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;invest” in crypto assets&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The agencies involved in this effort urge consumers to be on the lookout for signs someone is trying to recruit them to receive and transmit fraud proceeds&period; Do not agree to receive money or checks mailed to you or sent to your bank account for someone you have met over the phone or online&period; Do not open a bank or cryptocurrency account at someone else’s direction&period; Fraudsters will lie to persuade you to help them&period; They may falsely tell you that they are helping you get a lottery prize&comma; initiate a purported romantic relationship and then tell you that they need money&comma; or pretend to offer you a job&comma; an opportunity to invest in a business venture&comma; or the chance to help in a charitable effort&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For more information on this initiative&comma; please visit www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;consumer-protection-branch&sol;money-mule-initiative&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Information about the Department of Justice’s Elder Fraud Initiative is available at www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;elderjustice&period; If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud&comma; help is available at the National Elder Fraud Hotline&colon; 1-833-FRAUD-11 &lpar;1-833-372-8311&rpar;&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Information about the Justice Department&&num;039&semi;s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force is available at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;coronavirus" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;coronavirus<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts&comma; visit its website at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;consumer-protection-branch" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;consumer-protection-branch<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>A criminal indictment is merely an allegation&period; All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Topic&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; Elder JusticeFinancial FraudComponent&lpar;s&rpar;&colon; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;civil&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Civil Division<&sol;a><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fbi&period;gov&sol;" rel&equals;"noreferrer noopener" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Federal Bureau of Investigation &lpar;FBI&rpar;<&sol;a>Press Release Number&colon; 23-589 <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> Updated May 22&comma; 2023<a href&equals;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;justice&period;gov&sol;opa&sol;pr&sol;us-law-enforcement-disrupts-networks-used-transfer-fraud-proceeds-taking-over-4000-actions>Original Article<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

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