“The Secret Service is committed to aggressively investigating and disrupting organized criminal groups who prey on our most vulnerable citizens,” said Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles. “The results of the elder fraud sweep announced today demonstrate what can be achieved through incredible partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”
Many of the cases brought as part of this elder fraud sweep allegedly involved transnational criminal organizations. During the sweep period, defendants in elder fraud cases were extradited from Canada, The Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Poland.
While the Secret Service’s ultimate goal is to arrest those responsible for committing cyber-enabled crime, a second priority lies in returning financial losses to victims. The Secret Service understands that schemes targeting the elderly can wipe out entire nest eggs American citizens have worked all of their lives to save.
The Secret Service San Antonio Field Office has been particularly successful in identifying and investigating financial fraud targeting elderly victims. Since 2017, the Asset Forfeiture Unit in San Antonio has opened 66 seizure investigations and seized over $3.2 million in assets. While this is an impressive number, more impressive is the fact that the San Antonio Field Office was able to return approximately 95 percent of seized assets back to fraud victims.
Recently, the Secret Service San Antonio Field Office investigated the case of an elderly victim and his wife who were attempting to purchase a home in Texas. The victims reported that they were paying the remaining balance on the home and wired over $1.3 million into what they believed was the title company’s bank account. What the victim’s didn’t know was that foreign cyber criminals had hacked into the Title Company’s network. Then, using a spoofed email address, the cyber criminals sent fraudulent wire instructions to the victim. The victim believed he was sending the funds to purchase the house to the Title Company – instead, the funds ended up in another bank account. Due to quick investigative work, Secret Service Agents seized the wired funds, and in less than 3 months, returned the entire amount to the victims.
The Secret Service has a long history of investigating cybercrimes. This investigative experience has established that the below cyber-enabled crimes typically victimize older adults:
Romance Scams
In romance scams, fraudsters operating on popular online dating websites use a variety of social networking methods to lure victims to wire funds to criminal suspects. The typical method consists of the criminal actor befriending the unsuspecting victim and eventually convincing the victim to wire funds to the criminal actor based on a perceived belief of romantic involvement.
The request could be to pay for a medical emergency or legal fee for themselves or another member of their family, or to help build their business and promise to repay the loan immediately when they return from travelling. Some requests involve fraudsters posing as grandchildren of elderly victims and ask the grandparents to pay attorney fees for their grandchild who had been arrested by law enforcement in a foreign jurisdiction.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) Fraud:
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is an emerging financial cyber threat in which organized groups have targeted various institutions in the form of companies, non-profits and government organizations. The scheme relies on deceiving the victims through a multifaceted, sophisticated fraud using hackers, social engineers, pre-established bank accounts and employees that have access to an institution’s finances. The suspect(s) are then able to deceive the victim through fake invoices, supervisor impersonation, altered email accounts and other means to convince the victim to wire money to another subject controlled bank account or, in some cases, remove those funds at a domestic branch in the form of a cashier’s check. That cashier’s check can then be deposited elsewhere, preventing a victim from reversing the wire.
Online Auction Fraud
Online auction fraud is a sophisticated fraud scheme which relies on the increasing popularity of e-commerce marketplaces such as Craigslist and eBay. Using these sites, fraudsters post false advertisements for merchandise that does not exist. Then, using a multitude of convincing methods, these cyber-criminals persuade victims to send money for the non-existent goods.
Technical-Support Scam
Technical-Support scams are an increasingly common form of elder fraud in which criminals trick victims into giving remote access to their computers under the guise of providing technical support. In 2018, technical-support schemes generated over 142,000 consumer complaints to the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network. Consumers over age 70 filed more reports about the scams than consumers in any other age group.
IRS/Tax Scams
Tax season becomes open season for fraudsters looking to take advantage of law abiding citizens. From harassing phone calls threatening immediate arrest to sophisticated email phishing scams targeting those who let their guard down. Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to entice individuals to reveal personal information such as passwords and credit card numbers. The fraudsters will typically send victims an email that appears to originate from a credible source. The email contains a link which appears to be from their financial institution or employer, and requests a login or password reset. This link directs the victim to a spoofed website controlled by the fraudsters.
Lottery Scams
Lottery scams have been around for a long time. In the past, victims received a letter in the mail, a phone call, or a fax declaring that the recipient has won a large amount of money. The victim is then lured into paying an upfront “advance fee” in order to claim their winnings. Same fraud – new face… this advance-fee scam has moved from mailings, faxes, and phone calls to emails, texts, and social media messages. The request to send funds in order to claim the lottery jackpot could be presented as handling fees, insurance costs, or upfront tax payments on the winnings. Victims should beware, this doesn’t always take the form of a lottery jackpot. Fraudsters also present this scam in the form of winning a vacation, laptop, or other highly valued merchandise.
Elder Fraud Complaints
Elder fraud complaints may be filed with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or at 877-FTC-HELP. The Department of Justice provides a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization through its Office of Victims of Crime, which can be reached at www.ovc.gov.
Helpful Hints to avoid being a victim of cyber scams:
Be careful of what you post online.
Use reputable websites, although keep in mind that scammers are also on these as well.
Be skeptical if you are pressured to do something immediately – fraudsters use these scare tactics to force you to complete a transaction before you have time to think about it or talk to anyone about it.
If you develop a relationship online; Research the person’s photo and profile, ask questions, if a person seems too perfect they probably are, beware if you are asked for inappropriate photos or financial information, be suspicious if the person fails to show up for multiple attempts to meet and always has an excuse.
Talk to trusted family and friends before electronically sending or receiving funds to anyone. Many times an elderly individual’s family has no idea that their loved one is involved in these scams until it is too late.
Be wary of businesses and/or people who are never in when you call, but always return your call later.
If an opportunity appears too good to be true, it probably is.
-- United States Secret Service