Internet-Scam Sweep Targets 19 Online Fraudsters
July 30, 2002 03:22 PM ET Email this article Printer friendly version
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal and state law enforcement authorities said on Tuesday they had taken action against 19 Internet-based scams that they say bilked consumers out of millions of dollars.
Work-at home schemes, auction fraud, unwanted junk e-mail, securities fraud and other schemes were targeted by a nationwide effort that involved state attorneys general, local law enforcement authorities, and a number of federal agencies.
Several cases have been settled already, with punishments ranging from jail time to agreements by defendants to stop their schemes.
While many of the perpetrators live in the Midwest, the crimes targeted consumers nationwide through junk e-mail solicitations or fraud on eBay EBAY.O ,Yahoo YHOO.O and other popular Internet auction sites, according to a spokeswoman for the Federal Trade Commission.
In one case, a Florida company named Stuffingforcash.com told consumers they could earn up to $2,000 per week stuffing envelopes at home after paying an initial $45 deposit, but then failed to send the promised envelope-stuffing materials.
The scheme likely cheated tens of thousands of customers out of more than $2 million over the past year, the FTC said in court filings.
Auction fraud accounted for half of the cases. In a typical case, the Illinois attorney general charged Chicago resident Tim Engle with advertising merchandise for sale on eBay but failing to provide the goods after payment was received.
Two Missouri residents engaged in similar activity were sentenced to 12 years in prison for theft and writing bad checks.
The operation shows that efforts to coordinate state, local and national law-enforcement agencies is beginning to bear fruit, said C. Steven Baker, director of the FTC's Midwest operations.
Prosecutors mined a vast, nationwide database of consumer complaints to track down perpetrators. A separate database of 15 million junk "spam" e-mails submitted by consumers also came in handy, Baker said.
"We're the only place in the world that wants spam," Baker said.
Consumers can forward spam to uce@ftc.gov, he said, adding that similar broad sweeps are currently underway across the country.
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