Elder Fraud in Massachusetts

Twenty Massachusetts communities have banned cryptocurrency kiosks due to their increasing use in scams where fraudsters direct victims to deposit cash and convert it to crypto, making recovery difficult. Massachusetts residents reported over $6.8 million in crypto kiosk scam losses in 2025, with one case involving a cancer patient losing $5,500, and the state attorney general alleges that more than 80 percent of high-value customers at one major operator's kiosks were involved in scams totaling $10.6 million. All 14 Massachusetts county sheriffs have urged statewide legislation to ban the machines, though the state Senate and House have not yet agreed on the measure.

Lawrence, Massachusetts Mayor Brian DePeña was arrested and charged with wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly obtaining over $1.5 million in pandemic-era Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) through fraudulent applications and misusing the funds for his political campaign, personal taxes, and paying off approximately $880,000 in mortgages. The funds were intended to help his tire business recover from pandemic-related economic impacts, not for personal or political purposes. DePeña stated he would not resign from his position while facing the charges.

A 43-year-old Massachusetts woman lost $56,000 in a phone scam where callers impersonated her bank's fraud department and convinced her that her account was compromised. The scammers instructed her to visit her bank branch and wire the money to a "safe account" while staying on the phone with them, falsely assuring her the funds were FDIC-insured. The woman only realized she had been defrauded hours later when she called her actual bank to verify the transaction.

This article describes a free educational speaker series for seniors at New Horizons at Marlborough, a not-for-profit senior community, featuring weekly Monday lectures on diverse topics like history, science, and culture. While the article mentions that District Attorney Marian Ryan recently spoke about elder scams and financial fraud prevention at one of these events, the article itself is about the speaker series program and not about any actual fraud or scam incident.

A Waltham, Massachusetts attorney and at least 20 other lawyers were targeted in a scam where perpetrators posed as clients, requested legal services, then asked the attorneys to hold large sums of money in escrow before pressuring them to quickly disburse the funds to third parties. The scammers deposited fraudulent checks (averaging $100,000 payouts, with one victim losing over $500,000) that initially appeared to clear but were later reversed by the banks, leaving the attorneys responsible for replacing the missing funds from their personal accounts and client trust accounts.

A 25-year-old Ugandan man named Gideon Mwesezi was trafficked to Myanmar in 2023 and enslaved in a compound where he and hundreds of thousands of others were forced to operate "pig-butchering" investment scams that defraud victims of their life savings through fake cryptocurrency investments. The UN estimates approximately 300,000 people from 66 countries have been enslaved in these scam operations generating around $64 billion globally, with Mwesezi and other enslaved Ugandans eventually freed in March 2024 after diplomatic intervention. A documentary titled "Scam Slave: From Hell to Home" chronicles Mw

A former U.S. Postal Inspector, Scott Kelley, pleaded guilty to stealing over $340,000 in cash from elderly people and veterans between 2019 and 2023 by intercepting parcels containing money mailed by victims of lottery fraud scams. Kelley, who worked in the Boston division and was ironically tasked with investigating mail fraud targeting seniors, exploited his position by accessing a tracked list of suspicious parcels and stealing the cash inside them, then laundering the money and evading taxes. His victims included a 76-year-old retired Army veteran in Kansas from whom he stole $19,100, and he used the stolen funds for personal expenses including prostitutes

Cryptocurrency kiosks located in convenience stores and gas stations have become the primary collection point for impersonation scams, with the FBI logging 13,460 complaints in 2025 resulting in approximately $389 million in losses, with roughly two-thirds of victims over age 60. While federal law treats kiosk operators as money services businesses subject to FinCEN registration and anti-money-laundering requirements, state regulation is highly fragmented, ranging from outright bans (Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota) to licensing regimes with transaction caps and fraud protections to complete absence of oversight (such as in Texas, which leads the nation in reported losses). The regulatory inconsistency means operators face vastly

Massachusetts residents lost over $77 million to cryptocurrency kiosk scams in 2024, with scammers targeting victims by impersonating customer service representatives and convincing them to deposit cash into Bitcoin ATMs to transfer funds to criminal-controlled digital wallets. Lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on crypto ATMs to eliminate this key mechanism used by fraudsters, as law enforcement officials report that recovering stolen funds is extremely difficult once scammers move cryptocurrency through mixing services and foreign exchanges. One notable case involved a Middleton woman who lost over $11,000 after being deceived by someone posing as PayPal customer service, though police were able to recover some funds through a search warrant.

Scott Kelley, a former Boston postal inspector who led the Mail Fraud Unit, pleaded guilty to stealing over $330,000 from nearly 2,000 packages sent by elderly victims (averaging age 75) and using the funds for personal expenses including escorts, home renovations, and Caribbean cruises. Kelley intercepted cash meant to be recovered from scammers and faces 44 federal counts including wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and false tax filings. The case reveals significant vulnerabilities in mail-handling processes designed to protect elderly fraud victims and their recovered funds.

Federal authorities conducted a nationwide crackdown called "Operation Signal Break" targeting illegal "SIM farms" in Texas and five other states, which are operations that use thousands of SIM cards to send phishing and scam text messages while hiding their true origin. These scam operations cost Americans approximately $15 million annually, and the investigation has resulted in seizing over 500,000 SIM cards, nearly 1,900 SIM boxes, and more than $700,000 in illegal proceeds linked to Chinese criminal organizations. To protect yourself, be cautious of unsolicited text messages asking for personal information or directing you to click links, and report suspicious texts to the FTC or your mobile carrier.

A 38-year-old Chinese national living in Massachusetts was indicted for operating a scheme that involved stealing gift cards from American victims through romance scams, elder fraud, and hacking, then using those cards to purchase Apple products and electronics in New Hampshire (which has no sales tax) before shipping them to China and Hong Kong. The conspiracy, which defrauded victims of approximately $5 million, coordinated purchases via WeChat and cryptocurrency, with stolen merchandise funneled through a warehouse in Salem. To protect yourself, be cautious about unsolicited romantic advances online, monitor gift card usage, enable two-factor authentication on accounts, and report suspicious activity to law enforcement immediately.

A Chinese national was indicted for leading an international gift card fraud conspiracy that victimized Americans through romance scams, elder fraud, and hacking, then used stolen gift cards to purchase electronics that were shipped to China through a New Hampshire warehouse. The defendant and his co-conspirators exploited the lack of sales tax in New Hampshire and used cryptocurrency and encrypted messaging to coordinate their illegal operations, netting millions of dollars. People should be cautious about unsolicited romantic connections and unexpected requests for gift cards, verify requests for money directly with loved ones through independent contact, and monitor their gift card accounts for suspicious activity.

Tech support scams trick people by displaying fake virus warnings or making unsolicited calls claiming to be from tech companies, pressuring victims to pay for unnecessary repairs, download malicious software, or grant remote access to their devices. These scams affect anyone online and are constantly evolving across pop-ups, phone calls, emails, and ads. To protect yourself, be skeptical of unexpected security warnings or support calls—legitimate companies won't contact you unprompted about device problems, and you should never grant remote access or pay for repairs based on unsolicited alerts.

Romance scams originating from Nigeria typically involve young men, sometimes as young as 14, who pose as Western women online to manipulate and extract money from victims, primarily in places like California. The scammers use fake profiles, downloaded scripts, and Google searches to build convincing false identities, often targeting lonely men who are seeking romantic connections. To protect yourself, be skeptical of online romantic interests who quickly ask for money, verify identities through video calls, and research new contacts before sharing personal or financial information.