HOUSTON, TX—In 2021, some 24,000 victims across the United States reported losing approximately $1 billion to romance scams.1 It’s likely that many more losses went unreported. Romance scams occur when a criminal adopts a fake online identity to gain a victim’s affection and trust. The scammer then uses the illusion of a romantic or close relationship …
$1 Billion in Losses Reported by Victims of Romance Scams Read More »
As the warning from the FBI states, the public should not be surprised by an increase of romance scams before Valentine’s Day. The nature of the holiday itself lends to this increase, with predators understanding how to exploit human emotions associated with this day. The Private Investigation Services Group in Bluffton, SC, encourages those who …
FBI warns of romance scams ahead of Valentine’s Day Read More »
The Department of Justice, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and five other federal law enforcement agencies announced the completion of the fourth annual Money Mule Initiative, which targeted networks of individuals through which international fraudsters obtain proceeds of fraud schemes. These individuals, sometimes referred to as money mules, receive money from fraud victims and forward the …
U.S. Law Enforcement Targets Fraud Facilitators, Doubling Last Year’s Enforcement Read More »
LOS ANGELES – A Santa Monica man was sentenced today to 96 months in federal prison for deceiving women he met online and elsewhere into investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into his sham companies, and then spending their money on himself. Antonio Mariot Wilson, a.k.a. “Brice Carrington” and “Dr. Tony Mariot,” 58, was sentenced by …