Dept. Of Justice Enhances Efforts Against Scammers Of The Elderly

The US Justice Department is enhancing their efforts to battle elder citizens of abuse from scammers and the Eastern District of Tennessee is playing a big part. On Tuesday, The Justice Department announced the results of its efforts over the past year to protect older adults from fraud and exploitation. During the past year, the Department and its law enforcement partners tackled matters that ranged from mass-marketing scams that impacted thousands of victims to bad actors scamming their neighbors.

For example, On April 6, of this year in the Eastern District of Tennessee, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging five Jamaican nationals with conspiracy to commit mail fraud. According to the indictment, the scheme involved contacting an elderly individual by mail and informing her that she had won more than $3 million through the Golden Casket International Sweepstakes. In subsequent phone calls, the victim was directed to make a series of payments to cover purported taxes and fees associated with her winnings. Before the defendants were caught, they had scammed more than $600,000 from the victim. The trial of those five defendants is scheduled to begin on January 10, 2023 in Knoxville.

The Department of Justice says If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, help is available via the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11.