Hundreds arrested in international fraud schemes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – More than 565 people on three
continents have been arrested over the past year as part of an
international operation targeting mass-marketing fraud schemes,
the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The department said about 2.8 million people had fallen
victim to the fraud schemes that were carried out through the
Internet, by telemarketers and through mass mailings.

Through “Operation Global Con,” police in countries across
North and South America and Europe have uncovered a number of
scams and have arrested 565 people since March 1, 2005. The
majority of the arrests were made in Spain, followed by the
United States, Canada and the Netherlands.

Some of the schemes included sweepstakes fraud, when a
victim is told he or she has won a large amount of money in a
sweepstakes but must first pay bogus “fees” or “taxes” on the
winnings. Once the victim sends the payment, no sweepstakes
winnings are ever received.

Other scams include fake offers of “pre-approved” credit
cards and loans, offers of nonexistent investments and tax
fraud schemes.

About 2.8 million victims have suffered losses totaling
more than $1 billion in relation to these fraud scams.

Officials said elderly people were often targets of the
fraud because they are perceived to be more vulnerable and
willing to believe the mail or telephone offers.