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FBI Fraud
Lottery
Fraud... Scammers Target the Elderly
03/08/16
The telephone call came from out of the blue. The man on the line told
the 83-year-old retired schoolteacher she had won a substantial lottery
prize. All that was required to claim the windfall was to pay taxes and
other fees.
Before it was over, the victim—a Virginia resident who had meticulously
saved for her retirement—was out more than $500,000 in a scam that has
become all too familiar among the elderly.
The criminals behind these lottery frauds and other telemarketing scams
prey on senior citizens for a variety of reasons, according to Special
Agent John Gardner, who investigated the woman’s case out of the FBI’s
Washington Field Office and eventually helped put the Jamaican man who
victimized her behind bars.
“The first thing to know is that lottery scammers have no empathy for
the elderly,” Gardner said. “For them, it’s all about the money.”
Seniors can be lured into the scam because they have financial
difficulties, or they might have enough for themselves but want to
leave a legacy for their children. Some may be suffering from mental
decline or dementia. “Others are so lonely, they just want someone to
talk to,” Gardner explained. “Some scammers become ‘best friends’ with
their victims.”
There is also the issue of technology. The criminals—many who carry out
their crimes from Jamaica—use Internet tools to mask their calls so
they appear to be coming from U.S. numbers with particular area codes,
such as Las Vegas.
“Elderly people grew up at a time when people weren’t defrauding people
over the phone,” Gardner said. “They are not aware of these Internet
masking technologies and are generally not suspicious when the
telephone rings.”
The fraudsters are as persuasive as they are sophisticated. “The
Jamaican lottery scammers are like an organized cyber crime group,”
Gardner said. “They are closely knit, highly structured, and have U.S.
associates—money mules—who help launder their money.”
The scammers who make the calls speak excellent English and use
well-practiced scripts complete with rebuttals. They are experienced
and extremely manipulative. To target victims of a certain age, they
buy lead lists that are widely available online.
Gardner received the Virginia woman’s complaint in 2011. The ensuing
investigation eventually resulted in the identification of seven
subjects, all of whom were charged in connection with the lottery
scheme. Six of those individuals have been convicted, and one is a
fugitive. The ringleader, Paul Laing, 31, of Sandy Bay, Jamaica, was
sentenced last month to 10 years in prison for his leadership role in
the scheme.
Laing pled guilty in October 2015, admitting that he defrauded numerous
elderly victims, including the woman from Virginia who lost her life
savings. Laing instructed victims to send funds through wire transfers,
the U.S. mail, and other means directly to him in Jamaica or to
co-conspirators in the U.S. Those co-conspirators—the money mules—kept
a portion of the proceeds and transferred the rest to Laing. The
illicit funds ran to hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 23
known victims, Gardner said, adding that there were likely many more
victims who never came forward.
Don’t Fall Victim to
Lottery Scams
The Federal Trade Commission—the nation’s consumer protection
agency—offers the following advice to avoid falling victim to lottery
scams and other telemarketing frauds:
- Don’t pay money to collect supposed lottery or sweepstakes winnings.
If you have to pay to collect, you are not winning, you are buying.
Legitimate sweepstakes don’t require you to pay insurance, taxes, or
shipping and handling fees to collect your prize.
- Scammers pressure people to wire money through commercial money
transfer companies because wiring money is the same as sending cash.
When the money’s been sent, there’s very little chance of recovery.
Likewise, resist any push to send a check or money order by overnight
delivery or courier. Con artists recommend these services so they can
get their hands on your money before you realize you’ve been cheated.
- Remember that phone numbers can deceive. Internet technology allows
scammers to disguise their area code so it looks like they’re calling
from your local area, but they could be calling from anywhere in the
world.
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