TELEMARKETING FRAUD
OBJECTIVES
To reduce the amount of
economic loss by national and international telemarketing fraud
throughout the United States.
Telemarketing
fraud continues to grow and has been estimated by numerous
government agencies to cost $40 billion annually and victimize
millions of people. One case in Nevada involved 800,000 victims.
The telemarketing industry employs over 3.4 million people, and
industry estimates place total consumer spending through
telemarketing at $500 billion per year.
Telemarketing
fraud and other fraud by wire matters can be very difficult
crimes to investigate. Typically, individuals committing fraud by
wire use multiple aliases, telephones, mail drops, and business
locations. They can change their method of solicitation, product
line, and other recognizable traits overnight. Their operations
are mobile and their schemes are complex. Criminal intent is often
difficult to prove, and the majority of individual losses are
under prospective thresholds. The elderly population is
particularly targeted and susceptible to telemarketers.
Fraud
by wire, especially telemarketing fraud, has become an
increasingly international crime problem. Telemarketers are moving
their operations in response to the law enforcement efforts within
the United States. During a visit to Canada, United States
Attorney General Reno commented to the Solicitor General of Canada
about the scourge of telemarketing crime, and noted that Canada appears
to have a vast number of fraudsters preying on Americans. The most
egregious fraudulent pitches that are currently being used to
victimize American citizens are coming from Canada. The National
Fraud Information Center stated in 1996 that one-half of
complaints received come from Canadian telemarketing companies. A
Canadian crime survey is currently being completed to assess the
entire scope of the problem. The problems of investigating,
prosecuting, and extraditing Canadian telemarketers are
multifaceted.
Telemarketing
fraud is not a new crime to law enforcement, but never before has
it been used so prolifically to target our elderly citizens. The
FBI's analysis of this crime problem revealed, tragically, that
the illegal telemarketers continue to prey in large measure on
older Americans, those who may be least able to recover from
losses. It is, therefore, imperative that the FBI aggressively
pursue telemarketing investigations and be ever vigilant in
efforts to identify perpetrators and protect citizens from these
financial predators.
STRATEGY
The
FBI's strategy to combat fraud-by-wire offenses concentrates on the
areas where the greatest potential for egregious fraud and abuse lie
in the future. These areas are:
-
international
telemarketing fraud outside the FBI's jurisdiction,
particularly in Canada;
-
domestic
telemarketing fraud against senior citizens;
-
promotion
of fraud prevention initiatives; and
- maintenance of
fraudulent telemarketing intelligence database.
To combat fraud in
these areas, the FBI developed a joint initiative with Canadian law
enforcement to combat telemarketing fraud emanating from Canada. FBI
Agents travel into Canada to assist in preparing criminal cases, as
well as using the National Tape Library (NTL) as an intelligence tool to
track down fraud committed against senior citizens. In addition, the
FBI is pursuing an increase in the number of telemarketing fraud
convictions through increased coordinated state and federal
investigations and prosecutions.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
TELEMARKETING PROSECUTIONS |
OPERATION |
SUBJECTS |
CASES |
OPERATION
DISCONNECT |
402 |
65 |
OPERATION
SENIOR SENTINEL (12/95) |
598 |
180 |
OPERATION
DOUBLE BARREL (7/96 11/98) |
787 |
210 |
OPERATION
DOUBLE BARREL
takedown day (60
days) |
139 |
48 |
TOTAL DOUBLE BARREL |
926 |
258 |
TOTAL SENIOR SENTINEL &
DOUBLE BARREL |
1524 |
438 |
TOTAL TELEMARKETING |
1926 |
503 |