OIG – 7\/22\/26 – The Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) have been warning the public about romance scams a.k.a. \u201ccatfishing\u201d \u2014 a rising form of online fraud that can lead to tremendous financial and emotional losses. Malicious actors, whether here or abroad, prey on vulnerable, often lonely individuals, baiting them with promises of love and companionship. Except that\u2019s not exactly how this investigation began.<\/p>\n
In June 2020, the U.S. Secret Service contacted our Office of Investigations about potential criminal activity by a postal employee in Fort Lee, NJ, just across the river from The Bronx. The mail carrier was suspected of defrauding multiple state agencies and the federal government by receiving unemployment insurance payments using third-party names.<\/p>\n
Four key agencies joined the investigation: Department of Labor OIG, Small Business Administration (SBA) OIG, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and IRS Criminal Investigation. It was time to follow the money and unravel the plot.<\/p>\n
The employee\u2019s bank reported that in just two months, his account received almost $452,000 in SBA deposits from third parties. Records showed he then moved about $238,000 to an account at another bank belonging to a business headed by a man in Philadelphia, PA.<\/p>\n
The electronic trail widened: over 70 Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications were purportedly made on behalf of over 60 small businesses in about 23 states. Those businesses designated the employee\u2019s personal bank account as the depository account for the funds, but he also received unemployment insurance funds and counterfeit checks. Further analysis revealed the Philadelphia business account received almost $600,000 in funds from the mail carrier and other parties whose bank accounts also received SBA funds. The evidence seemed to incriminate both suspects.<\/p>\n
However, when our special agents interviewed the employee, the true nature of the theft and money laundering scheme came to a head. He had fallen in love with a model on a popular social media platform \u2014 a damsel in distress who asked him to speak with her lawyer about a family trust fund with which she was having problems. It wasn\u2019t just an online fling: his feelings were true as was his belief they were engaged to be married.<\/p>\n
Eager to help his love interest, the employee had spoken with the supposed lawyer, who gave him instructions on the receipt and transfer of payments into his account. The instructions also included mailings the employee would send to the business in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
But when he showed our special agents his chat with his fianc\u00e9e, it became clear he was a victim of catfishing. There was no model \u2014 his love was an illusion orchestrated by fraudsters. He had unwittingly received ill-gotten gains and laundered them to accounts in Nigeria and China. However, as a victim, he wasn\u2019t subject to charges or arrest.<\/p>\n
Investigators executed a search warrant on the scammer\u2019s residence, and the devices they seized were replete with evidence of aggravated identity theft, fraudulent claims for unemployment insurance in Colorado and other states \u2014 some of them submitted by him \u2014 as well as additional romance scams (think stock photos of attractive people and scripted romantic messages). More compelling was evidence linking the scammer to a large-scale criminal conspiracy resulting in about $5.6 million in losses to the federal government and about $890,000 to state unemployment agencies throughout the nation.<\/p>\n
Investigators arrested the scammer\u00a0after he was indicted by a grand jury in the District of Colorado. After he pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and money laundering, he was sentenced to six and a half years in prison and ordered to pay back almost $2.6 million to his victims.<\/p>\n
If you or someone you know has been a victim of a romance scam,\u00a0please report it to USPIS<\/a>\u00a0or to the\u00a0FBI\u2019s Internet Crime Complaint Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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