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nst.com.my
· 2026-08-23
Over the past four years through June, 462 Malaysians aged primarily 21-40 lost RM32.7 million (approximately RM20,000 daily) to romance scams originating from dating platforms, where scammers build trust before directing victims to fake investment schemes, bogus trading platforms, and cryptocurrency scams. Malaysia's Deputy Communications Minister announced the government will not mandate dating app identity verification, instead focusing on stronger platform safeguards, improved scam detection, and public awareness to combat these cross-platform crimes. The government is adopting a layered approach involving telecommunications providers, financial institutions, and online platforms to disrupt the scam ecosystem and support investigations.
deccanherald.com
· 2026-08-23
Cybercriminals in Bengaluru have shifted from random targeting to strategically profiling high-net-worth individuals—including IT professionals, doctors, financial traders, and entrepreneurs—using social media scraping and dark web databases to execute sophisticated scams like fake investments and digital arrests. A notable case involved a 57-year-old IT professional losing Rs 31.83 crore over six months in a digital-arrest scam, though she delayed reporting for eight months. Investigators attribute the scams' success to victims' high disposable income, societal stigma preventing timely complaints, and the loss of the critical "Golden Hour" window needed to freeze funds before they are laundered offshore.
rediff.com
· 2026-08-22
A 21-year-old Indian national living in New Jersey was arrested in Canada for allegedly serving as a "money mule" in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme targeting elderly victims through internet and telephone scams. The perpetrators deceived elderly victims aged 59-87 into liquidating assets and handing over cash and gold, with Goswami collecting valuables from at least nine victims totaling approximately $7.5 million in losses. He faces charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy, carrying a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
tribuneindia.com
· 2026-08-22
Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, 21, an Indian national living in New Jersey, was arrested at Toronto Pearson International Airport after fleeing the US while on pretrial release for his alleged role in a $7.5 million elder fraud scheme. He acted as a "money mule," collecting cash and gold from elderly victims aged 59 to 87 across New York and New Jersey who were deceived into believing their bank accounts were compromised. Goswami faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
freepressjournal.in
· 2026-08-22
Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, a 21-year-old Indian national, was arrested at Toronto Pearson International Airport after fleeing the United States while on pretrial release in a $7.5 million elder fraud case. Goswami allegedly acted as a "money mule" in a nationwide phone and internet scam that targeted elderly victims aged 59-87 in New York and New Jersey, frightening them into liquidating their assets and collecting approximately $7.6 million in cash and gold across at least nine instances. He faces charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and money laundering, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
dallasexpress.com
· 2026-08-22
Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, a 21-year-old Indian national, was detained at Toronto Pearson International Airport while attempting to flee to Qatar after being released on pretrial conditions, following his arrest for serving as a courier in an elder fraud scheme. The scheme allegedly targeted nine victims aged 59-87 through fraudulent phone and internet calls impersonating law enforcement, pressuring them to convert assets to cash or gold, resulting in losses totaling approximately $7.56 million. Goswami faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, with each charge carrying a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
m.rediff.com
· 2026-08-22
A 21-year-old Indian national, Jay Sunilbharthi Goswami, was arrested in Canada while attempting to flee to Qatar after being charged in the US for his role as a "money mule" in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme targeting elderly victims. Goswami allegedly collected cash and gold from at least nine victims aged 59 to 87 across New York and New Jersey, resulting in approximately $7.5 million in losses. He faces charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy, with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
nbcnewyork.com
· 2026-08-22
Arthur Spitzer, a 39-year-old New Jersey real estate investor, pleaded guilty to a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme and fraudulently obtaining $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief loans. Working with two conspirators, Spitzer created fake documentation to facilitate a fraudulent $4.5 million mortgage transaction in Brooklyn and submitted false applications for Small Business Administration Economic Injury Disaster Loans for businesses with little or no actual operations. He has agreed to pay over $3.2 million in restitution and forfeitures and faces sentencing in December 2026.
newrepublic.com
· 2026-08-21
A 24-year-old Nigerian "Yahoo Boy" named Chibuike scammed tens of thousands of dollars from overseas victims by impersonating American celebrities and building fake romantic relationships to extract money through digital manipulation and fake investment schemes. The article explores the real lives of Nigerian romance scammers profiled in a new book that examines how poverty, inequality, and limited economic opportunities drive young West African men into cybercrime targeting vulnerable individuals in English-speaking countries. The piece traces the historical roots of 419 scams back to colonial Nigeria, where similar schemes evolved from impersonation tactics used by officials and ordinary people to exploit victims through false authority and deception.
cryptopolitan.com
· 2026-08-21
A 32-year-old Hong Kong man, Ma Che-hou, had his 56-month prison sentence upheld for orchestrating a fraud and money laundering scheme that lured five men with promises of employment and romance, ultimately trafficking them to Myanmar where they were tortured. The case highlights how criminal syndicates use cryptocurrency and stablecoins to launder fraud proceeds, with an estimated $14-17 billion sent to fraud-related crypto wallets annually, as part of a broader global fraud economy estimated at $442 billion in 2025. Hong Kong's lack of a distinct human trafficking law forced prosecutors to treat the trafficking and forced labor as aggravating factors within fraud charges rather than as
bhaskarenglish.in
· 2026-08-21
Uttar Pradesh faces a severe cyber fraud crisis, with over ₹100 crore lost monthly across more than 2.5 lakh complaints, though only 1,040 FIRs were registered in seven months. Four major scam types exploit fear, greed, romance, and sympathy: digital arrest scams (23% of losses), fake investment schemes (32% of cases), sextortion through nude video calls, and account impersonation, with victims ranging from educated young people to senior citizens losing a combined ₹720 crore, though timely intervention recovered ₹242 crore.
hoodline.com
· 2026-08-21
Former Fidelity broker Eric James Stone was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for defrauding a 75-year-old client of over $2 million through 613 fraudulent transactions over three years, using fake email accounts and fabricated legal threats to pressure continued payments. Stone, who had been terminated from Fidelity in 2021 for soliciting personal loans from clients, spent the stolen funds on foreign gambling websites, cryptocurrency, travel, and personal debts, moving money through Zelle, PayPal, wire transfers, and Bitcoin wallets. He was ordered to pay $2,037,103 in restitution to his victim.
fintech.global
· 2026-08-20
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) launched a multi-year roadmap in July 2026 to combat an estimated $500 billion in annual global fraud losses, marking a significant shift in focus from its traditional emphasis on money laundering and terrorist financing. The initiative will involve gathering fraud typologies through October 2026, particularly targeting organized scam operations like romance fraud, investment scams, and pig butchering schemes, with recommendations and implementation plans extending through June 2028. Compliance teams at financial institutions should expect new fraud guidance, enhanced transaction monitoring for scam-related activities, and closer integration of fraud and anti-money laundering functions.
asgam.com
· 2026-08-19
Cambodia's government revoked licenses for 20 casinos and suspended 29 others as part of a crackdown on technology-based scam networks operating from the country, shutting down 605 of 751 identified scam locations. Between July 2025 and July 2026, authorities prosecuted 4,147 suspects from 27 nationalities involved in organized criminal scam operations, including cryptocurrency investment fraud, romance scams, and illegal online lending schemes targeting both domestic and international victims. The crackdown, though demonstrating government commitment to combating online fraud, has severely impacted Cambodia's tourism industry, with international visitor numbers declining by 47.8% in the first five months of
thediplomat.com
· 2026-08-19
Paul, a 50-year-old Nigerian, was trafficked into forced labor at a Cambodian online scam compound after seeking an admin job, where he was beaten, tortured, and forced into criminal work alongside hundreds of thousands of others. During a December 2025 Thai military airstrike on the scam hub in Choam where he was held, Paul survived by sheltering in a concrete drain while the casino and surrounding buildings were bombed repeatedly. Cambodia's scam industry, worth approximately half the country's GDP, became a target of military conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, which the Thai military framed as a "war against scammers" while Cambodia's ruling elites exploited the crackdown
abc.net.au
· 2026-08-19
The Sapphire Network, a decentralized international investment fraud operation headquartered in Israel and linked to Israeli national Shefi Goldberg, has defrauded over 4,000 Australians of hundreds of millions of dollars since 2021 through fake news articles and false AI-assisted trading platforms. Victims like Rodger (who lost $125,000) and Toby (who lost over $500,000) were lured by cloned ABC News websites and fake financial professionals who used psychological manipulation and fake trading dashboards to trap victims before disappearing with their funds. The scam network operates through dozens of companies and call centers across Israel, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Cyprus, and
yen.com.gh
· 2026-08-19
The US Embassy in Ghana warned that over 400,000 individuals from more than 70 countries have been recruited into forced labor to commit cyber scams, defrauding victims globally using sophisticated technology and personal data harvesting. Multiple Ghanaian nationals including Dada Joe Remix, Kofi Boat, and five others were arrested in 2025 for operating elaborate fraud schemes involving wire fraud, romance scams, and business email compromises that defrauded elderly victims and businesses of millions of dollars between 2013 and 2024. The US government is providing resources, technology, and specialized training to partner countries to combat these transnational cyber crime operations.
nj1015.com
· 2026-08-18
An Ocean County senior citizen was scammed out of $50,000 after receiving a fake Microsoft pop-up warning that directed her to call a fraudulent number, where scammers impersonating Microsoft and Wells Fargo employees convinced her to mail a cashier's check. When the scammers attempted to collect an additional $30,000 via courier, 24-year-old Gurdutt Singh of South Richmond, New York was arrested at the victim's home and charged with conspiracy to commit theft by deception and money laundering.
asiaone.com
· 2026-08-17
Twenty individuals, including a 16-year-old, are being charged in Singapore for involvement in various scams including job scams, investment fraud, government impersonation, romance scams, and sexual services schemes. The defendants—17 men and three women aged 16 to 64—allegedly facilitated scam activities by providing bank accounts, transferring funds, disclosing credentials, and registering fraudulent SIM cards for criminal syndicates, though the total loss amount was not disclosed. Their charges include abetment to cheating, money laundering facilitation, and unauthorized computer access, with potential penalties ranging up to three years imprisonment and fines.
cryptobriefing.com
· 2026-08-17
The White House has authorized vetted private companies to conduct offensive cyber operations against transnational criminal networks operating pig butchering scams, which cost American victims billions of dollars annually. Under federal DOJ and DHS supervision, these firms—which must post at least $1 million bonds—can now actively surveil and disrupt criminal infrastructure rather than passively monitor it, marking a shift from traditional defensive enforcement to preemptive disruption. Pig butchering scams typically originate from Southeast Asian criminal enterprises that use romance and fake investment schemes to defraud victims, often laundering proceeds through cryptocurrency platforms.
azfamily.com
· 2026-08-17
A Yavapai County woman in her 50s lost $4.3 million to sophisticated scammers who impersonated FBI agents and NYPD officers through spoofed phone numbers, fake emails, and forged documents claiming she was under investigation for money laundering. The criminals used psychological manipulation, fake Microsoft Teams meetings, and threats of legal consequences to pressure her into transferring cryptocurrency over two months. Authorities warn that the funds were moved through untraceable accounts and emphasize that legitimate law enforcement never requests money or cryptocurrency over the phone.
fox10phoenix.com
· 2026-08-17
An Arizona woman lost $4.3 million in a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam where fraudsters impersonated FBI agents and NYPD officers, claiming she was involved in a federal money-laundering investigation and threatening digital surveillance. The scammers used fake documents mimicking official FBI records, fake video calls with cameras off, and isolation tactics to pressure her into transferring Bitcoin, which could not be recovered due to the use of multiple cryptocurrency accounts. Authorities warn that legitimate law enforcement never requests money by phone and advise victims to hang up and independently verify caller identity through official agency numbers.
dailykos.com
· 2026-08-16
A network of fraudulent Democratic PACs, orchestrated by consulting firm Mothership Strategies, extracted approximately $282 million from donors during the 2024 election cycle while delivering only $11 million to actual Democratic campaigns, with data showing that for every dollar donated—often by elderly and small-dollar donors—98 cents went to consultants and operational costs rather than campaigns. The scam involved high-pressure fundraising tactics through texts and emails from PACs with names like "Progressive Turnout" and "Stop Republicans," with one example, Retired Dems 2024 PAC, raising $10.6 million but keeping $6.5 million in profit while delivering minimal benefit to the
vindy.com
· 2026-08-15
A fraud ring led by Shreyas Baldevbhai Chaudhary, operating from India, defrauded six elderly victims of approximately $5 million through schemes involving fake Microsoft security alerts and impersonation of bank representatives and government officials. Chaudhary was sentenced to 9 years and 2 months in prison and ordered to pay $5.16 million in restitution, while accomplices received lesser sentences; one victim, a 77-year-old Salem man, lost $61,000 before a bank detected fraud and alerted the FBI.
bizpacreview.com
· 2026-08-15
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.
wfmj.com
· 2026-08-14
Shreyas Baldevbhai Chaudhary, an Indian national, was sentenced to over nine years in prison and ordered to pay $5.16 million in restitution for his role in a multimillion-dollar tech support scam targeting elderly victims. The scheme used fake computer pop-up ads to trick victims into believing their bank accounts were compromised, then pressured them to withdraw cash or buy gold bars, with one Salem victim losing $61,000. The conspiracy defrauded victims across multiple states of more than $4.8 million total.
tuko.co.ke
· 2026-08-14
Babajide Adesayo, a 41-year-old from Georgia, was convicted on 18 criminal counts for operating a transnational money laundering scheme that defrauded elderly Americans of over $2.7 million through romance scams between April 2020 and September 2021. The fraudsters posed as romantic interests, business partners, or friends to gain victims' trust, then fabricated emergencies to solicit wire transfers, which Adesayo laundered through his automotive business accounts and transferred to overseas locations in China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and elsewhere. Adesayo continued receiving and moving stolen funds even after his initial arrest in June 2024 while on bond
wesh.com
· 2026-08-14
Reality TV personality Salome Jackson was arrested in connection with a real estate fraud scheme in Volusia County where victims wired nearly $200,000 for vacant land after fraudsters posed as legitimate owners and listed the property through a real estate office. Investigators traced most of the stolen funds to Jackson through bank records, and she faces multiple charges including money laundering.
wmur.com
· 2026-08-14
A federal jury convicted Georgia man Babajide Adesayo, 41, of money laundering over $2.7 million stolen from elderly victims through romance and online scams between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo operated as a "bridge" in a transnational fraud network, receiving stolen funds and transferring them overseas to China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria, including $500,000 from a 67-year-old Concord, New Hampshire woman who believed she was in a romantic relationship with a scammer. He faces 14 to 16 years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for November.
douglascountysentinel.com
· 2026-08-14
Babajide Adesayo, a 41-year-old Douglasville man, was convicted of money laundering charges for his role in an online romance scam that defrauded elderly victims of nearly $3 million between April 2020 and September 2021. Scammers posed as friends, business associates, or romantic partners to convince victims to send money, which Adesayo then transferred overseas to China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and other countries to prevent recovery. Adesayo continued the money laundering operation even after his arrest and indictment, moving over $2.7 million in stolen funds before his bond was revoked in March 2024.
dailypost.ng
· 2026-08-13
Babajide Adesayo, a 41-year-old Nigerian residing in Georgia, was convicted by a federal jury of laundering over $2.7 million obtained from romance scam victims between April 2020 and September 2021. The victims, primarily elderly individuals, were deceived by scammers posing as romantic partners or business associates and tricked into sending money for fabricated reasons such as medical expenses and business equipment. Adesayo faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy convictions and up to 10 years for each of 16 transactional money-laundering counts, with sentencing scheduled for November 2026.
punchng.com
· 2026-08-13
A 41-year-old Nigerian, Babajide Adesayo, was convicted by a U.S. federal jury of laundering over $2.7 million obtained from romance fraud and online scams targeting elderly victims between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo received funds from victims' retirement savings through co-defendant Efemena Igbe's business accounts, then transferred most of the money to overseas accounts in China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and other countries. He faces up to 20 years imprisonment on conspiracy charges and up to 10 years on each money laundering count, with sentencing scheduled for November 20, 2026.
straitstimes.com
· 2026-08-13
Police in Singapore arrested 270 people (185 men and 85 women) suspected of involvement in over 660 scam cases that defrauded victims of approximately $5.4 million. The scams included e-commerce, phishing, job impersonation, government official impersonation, investment, and lucky draw schemes, with suspects ranging from ages 15 to 80 investigated for cheating, money laundering, and operating unlicensed payment services.
legit.ng
· 2026-08-13
Babajide Adesayo, 41, of Georgia, was convicted on August 6, 2026, of laundering $2.7 million stolen from elderly victims through romance scams orchestrated between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo operated as a central figure in a transnational network that posed as romantic interests and business partners to defraud victims, then rapidly moved the stolen funds through accounts in China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and other countries to prevent recovery. He faces up to 20 years in prison per conspiracy count and was convicted on 18 charges including money laundering offenses.
townhall.com
· 2026-08-13
Babajide Adesayo, a Georgia man, was convicted of laundering $2.7 million stolen from elderly victims through romance and online scams between April 2020 and September 2021. Fraudsters posed as romantic partners or business associates to convince elderly victims to send their retirement savings, which Adesayo then transferred overseas to China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria to prevent recovery. Adesayo continued laundering money even after his indictment and arrest, and now faces up to 20 years in prison per conspiracy charge.
aol.com
· 2026-08-13
A 76-year-old Rhode Island woman nearly fell victim to an impersonation scam in which a fraudster posing as a Department of Criminal Investigations officer convinced her to withdraw $250,000 from her Fidelity account and $70,000 in cash from Washington Trust Company, claiming he was investigating her involvement in money laundering. The scam was stopped when a bank manager at Washington Trust recognized suspicious behavior and alerted authorities, protecting the woman's assets. Banks are increasingly training employees through programs like AARP's BankSafe to identify and intervene in elder fraud cases, as Americans age 60 and older lose an estimated $28 billion annually to financial exploitation.
hoodline.com
· 2026-08-13
A York County man lost $47,000 to a romance scam where a 27-year-old Bronx resident posed as a grieving widow named "Lara Lafayette" on a dating app for widowed people, claiming she needed money to access an inheritance from her deceased father. The suspect, Abdul Rashid Ibraham, created fraudulent documents and bank certificates to convince the victim to send checks between March and April, before the scheme unraveled when a bank employee reported the suspicious activity. Ibraham faces felony charges including theft by deception and financial exploitation of an older adult, with investigators also discovering he used a stolen identity to open the bank account where the checks were deposited.
manxradio.com
· 2026-08-12
Over 500 business professionals, regulators, and law enforcement officers gathered at a conference in Douglas to address financial crime, including discussions on "pig-butchering" (online investment fraud) and transnational criminal enterprises. U.S. Treasury officers presented insights into sanctions investigations, while the UK National Crime Agency discussed Operation Atlantic, an initiative targeting online investment fraud schemes.
asialink.unimelb.edu.au
· 2026-08-12
Online scam compounds operating across Cambodia and the broader Southeast Asian region generate an estimated $12.5 billion to $40 billion annually, with victims targeted globally from fortified facilities resembling prisons. The proliferation of these operations has been enabled by Cambodia's erosion of democratic checks and balances since 2013, with evidence suggesting high-level government officials and their relatives have financial stakes in or direct ties to cybercrime syndicates. In 2024 alone, Cambodians lost $40 million to online scams, while foreign workers trapped in these compounds have endured slave-like conditions including rape and torture.
yahoo.com
· 2026-08-12
A Dooly County man lost $164,000 in a "Pig Butchering" romance scam, where he was deceived through Facebook into investing in fake cryptocurrency by someone posing as a woman. After the victim reported the crime to the FBI, federal prosecutors successfully seized approximately $18,000 worth of Bitcoin that had been stolen from him, with the suspected scammers operating out of Malaysia. The case highlights a growing trend of cryptocurrency investment fraud, with Georgia residents reporting over $152 million in investment fraud losses in 2024, with crypto accounting for $132 million of that total.
risingsunnewspapers.co.za
· 2026-08-12
On World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (July 30), South African activist Romita Hanuman-Pillay highlighted how traffickers use scams to exploit victims, particularly through fake job advertisements, online fraud operations, and romance scams that target people globally. She warned that transnational organized crime groups force thousands into financial fraud schemes and industrial-scale cybercrime operations, with major trafficking hotspots in South Africa including Durban, Johannesburg, and Bloemfontein. Victims are typically lured through false employment promises or kidnapped directly, with traffickers increasingly using social media to identify and exploit targets by monitoring their personal information and online patterns.
abcnews.com
· 2026-08-12
Former Southern Poverty Law Center CFO Heidi Beirich was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering for allegedly overseeing fraudulent donor payments to informants infiltrating hate groups, including one KKK imperial wizard and an individual with whom she had a romantic relationship and shared a bank account. Between 2015 and 2021, approximately $140,000 in donor funds flowed into the shared account with one informant who had received over $1 million from the SPLC since 2007. Beirich is the first individual charged in connection with the SPLC organization's April indictment on bank fraud and money laundering charges.
e.vnexpress.net
· 2026-08-11
In the first half of 2024, Thailand experienced $273 million in online scams, with Facebook accounting for over 61% of cases through fake pages, fraudulent investment schemes, and impersonation tactics affecting approximately 51 million users in the country. The Thailand Consumers Council has filed lawsuits against Meta and financial institutions seeking compensation for victims and establishing accountability for digital platforms' role in consumer protection. Authorities are implementing measures including real-time data sharing among banks to identify and suspend accounts connected to fraudulent activity, particularly "mule accounts" used to quickly transfer stolen funds.
punchng.com
· 2026-08-11
An Interpol report warns that artificial intelligence is being used in 55% of cybercrimes across Africa, with Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, and Namibia being the most affected countries between January 2024 and September 2025. AI-enabled crimes include deepfakes, romance scams, ransomware attacks targeting healthcare and utilities, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, with Nigerian cybercriminals routing illicit proceeds through crypto exchanges and money-laundering operations. Nigeria accounted for $92 billion of the $205 billion in cryptocurrency transactions during this period, with attackers using generative AI, machine learning, and voice cloning to scale attacks and evade detection
fox5atlanta.com
· 2026-08-11
A federal jury convicted 41-year-old Babajide Adesayo of Douglasville, Georgia for his role in a transnational romance and business scam that defrauded elderly victims of $2.7 million between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo acted as a money launderer for an international network, receiving stolen retirement savings under the guise of an automotive business and then wiring the funds to accounts in China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria. He was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 16 counts of transactional money laundering, with sentencing scheduled for November 20.
newsgram.com
· 2026-08-11
A 23-year-old man in Delhi lost Rs 1.46 lakh to a romance scam on the dating app Grindr in March 2024, after a person posing as "Dr Harry Robot" from the US convinced him to wire money for supposed travel and customs expenses. The investigation traced the scam to a 22-year-old Nigerian woman trained by an Indian coach to impersonate romantic interests and immigration officials, with the wider syndicate allegedly defrauding at least seven victims of approximately Rs 94 lakh. This modern variant of the classic "Nigerian prince" scam exploits loneliness and desire for connection rather than greed, making it particularly difficult for victims
wgal.com
· 2026-08-11
A Lancaster County man lost $35,000 in a sophisticated government imposter scam that began with a text about fraudulent charges and escalated through impersonation of an FTC commissioner, remote computer access, and two in-person cash exchanges at retail locations. The scammers convinced the victim that his identity and finances were under investigation due to money laundering, instructing him to withdraw cash and hand it to couriers using verification photos and passwords. Authorities note that legitimate government agencies never ask victims to move money for safekeeping, a hallmark indicator of fraud.
wesh.com
· 2026-08-11
A Pennsylvania man lost $35,000 in a government imposter scam that began with a fake text about unauthorized charges and escalated through multiple phone calls impersonating an FTC commissioner, who claimed fraudulent activity required moving the victim's money for protection. The scammer gained remote computer access via AnyDesk software, then instructed the victim to withdraw cash and hand it to couriers at retail locations in two separate exchanges, providing fake checks and fraudulent FTC letters as false reassurance. This elaborate scheme involved impersonation, forged documents, passwords, and in-person cash pickups, with police investigating using surveillance footage from the exchange locations.
fincrimecentral.com
· 2026-08-11
Babajide Adesayo, a 41-year-old Georgia resident, was convicted of laundering over $2.7 million stolen from elderly victims of romance fraud and other online schemes between April 2020 and September 2021. Adesayo received the criminal proceeds through business accounts controlled by co-defendant Efemena Igbe, disguised the transfers as vehicle sales, and rapidly moved the funds to overseas accounts in China, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and other jurisdictions. The victims, primarily elderly people deceived by fraudsters posing as romantic partners or business contacts, had been manipulated into sending retirement savings and substantial personal funds based on fabricated emergencies.
hoodline.com
· 2026-08-11
Babajide Adesayo, a Douglasville man, was convicted on all 18 counts of money laundering after moving over $2.7 million stolen from romance scam victims through a transnational network to accounts in China, Hong Kong, and Nigeria between April 2020 and September 2021. The scammers posed as romantic partners, friends, or business associates to defraud primarily elderly victims of their retirement savings through false stories about business equipment, imprisonment, and medical emergencies. Adesayo faces up to 20 years per conspiracy count and up to 10 years per transactional money laundering count, with sentencing scheduled for November 20.