DOJ details a gift-card fraud pipeline tied to romance and elder scams
The US Department of Justice said that a federal grand jury in New Hampshire indicted and individual on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud tied to romance and elder scams. Prosecutors allege that these individuals used gift cards stolen through romance fraud, elder fraud, hacking, theft, and other scams to buy high-value electronics, then shipped them from a US warehouse to China. DOJ said the group used WeChat to coordinate purchases, sales, shipments, and payments made in cryptocurrency.
ASSESSMENT
The FTC has reported that gift cards are often the payment method named in fraud complaints, favored by scammers because the cards convert quickly, are hard to trace, and can be difficult to reverse charges.
TAKEAWAYS
Examine if older relatives and the people who assist them would recognize a demand for payment by gift card as a marker of fraud.
Discuss how the family would learn early that a relative is being drawn into an online relationship or offer that turns into requests for money.
Families, service providers, and advisors should set up mechanisms to monitor for unusual purchasing patterns, such as bulk gift-card activity and movements of money to new and unknown individuals, on both personal and business accounts.
Source: US Department of Justice
