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US Charges 13 in Call-Center Grandparent Scam Exploiting Rideshare Drivers
Thirteen suspects allegedly ran a call center scam from the Dominican Republic that defrauded over 400 elderly Americans of $5 million by impersonating relatives in emergencies.
- On August 12, U.S. authorities charged 13 individuals in federal court in Massachusetts for running a Dominican Republic call center that defrauded elderly Americans in a grandparent scam.
- The scam involved a two-year FBI investigation with Dominican partners, revealing that operators tricked victims into believing relatives were in urgent distress to extort money repeatedly.
- Call center employees used scripts where 'openers' impersonated grandchildren and 'closers' demanded bail money, while 'runners' in the U.S. collected and laundered over $5 million to the Dominican Republic.
- Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia, 33, arrested in the Dominican Republic and dubbed the ringleader, spent illicit funds on luxury items including a boat, with possible prison sentences up to 20 years for those charged.
- Authorities urged the public to monitor older relatives for signs of fraud and report suspected cases via FBI hotlines, underscoring the ongoing risk as victims suffered severe financial and emotional harm.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Elderly couple in Franklin County fall victim to a grandparents scam
Thirteen individuals are now facing charges in what the FBI describes as a sophisticated fraud ring that used the grandparents scam to steal over $5 million from more than 400 senior citizens
Feds Bust Dominican Republic-Based Fraud Ring Targeting Grandparents in New England, Nationwide
Federal authorities filed charges against thirteen people on Tuesday in a takedown of a Dominican-Republic based fraud operation targeting elderly victims by impersonating grandchildren in need of assistance. [RELATED: Trump Admin Charges 324 – Including Lewiston Man – in $14.6 Billion Welfare Fraud Operation…] “These scams are not just financially devastating–they are emotionally traumatizing. Many [...] The post Feds Bust Dominican Republic-Ba…
‘This was not a one-off’: 13 people accused of scamming millions from seniors, including in Mass., officials say - The Boston Globe
A sweeping superseding indictment unsealed in US District Court in Boston alleges that callers tricked victims into believing they were a grandchild “in some sort of legal or medical trouble” and immediately needed money.
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