Tag Archives: organized crime

FBI Issues Cyber Alert As Organized Criminals Drive Dating Site Fraud Up 70%

The FBI has issued a warning for Americans to be wary of “confidence/romance scams,” after the Bureau saw a 70% annual rise in reported fraud, where dating sites were used to trick victims into sending money, purchasing items or even laundering or muling money for people met online. The shift from basic fraud to money laundering is a significant worry for U.S. law enforcement and represents a nasty twist in the age-old problem of romance scams.

In 2018, more than 18,000 complaints were received with losses totalling more than $362 million. And, to state the obvious, this is likely the tip of the iceberg. For every reported incident there will be others where victims don’t come forward.

In particular the FBI warns, threat actors “often use online dating sites to pose as U.S. citizens located in a foreign country, U.S. military members deployed overseas, or U.S. business owners seeking assistance with lucrative investments.”

Read Full Article – https://www.forbes.com/sites/zakdoffman/2019/08/06/fbi-warns-americans-as-cyber-crime-on-dating-sites-up-a-massive-70/#351ad11a53e5

Cartel gangster ‘The Stew Maker’ dissolved as many as 650 people in ACID

A CARTEL gangster is believed to have dissolved as many as 650 people in acid after a mass grave was discovered in Mexico.

Thousands of fragments of bone have uncovered by cops believed to belong the victims of the gangster nicknamed El Pozolero – the Stew Maker.

Real name Santiago Meza Lopez, he was first captured in 2009 and confessed to helping the Sinaloa cartel get ride of bodies.

Hundreds of people disappear every year as cartel wage bloody war with each other over the drug trade in Mexico.

Lopez is believed to have operated at a farm known as the Chicken Coop in the city of Tijuana near the border with the US.

There he used used acid in barrels to dissolve human remains on orders from the cartel.

Full Read – https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/690954/mexico-drug-cartel-gangster-murder-bodies-dissolved-acid-stew-maker-Sinaloa

Former reputed head of New England Mafia completes prison sentence

An East Boston man whom prosecutors described in 2012 as the head of the New England Mafia completed in February his 78-month sentence for racketeering and is now walking free, records show.

Anthony L. DiNunzio, 58, was released from custody on Feb. 22, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website. His release was first reported Tuesday by WPRI-TV in Rhode Island.

DiNunzio’s lawyer declined to comment Tuesday.

The mobster pleaded guilty in 2012 to racketeering conspiracy for his role in shaking down Providence strip joints.

CANADA-BASED COMPANY ALLEGEDLY SOLD MODIFIED BLACKBERRY PHONES TO DRUG CARTELS

The CEO of Phantom Secure was indicted on March 15, along with four associates, following allegations that the Canada-based company had sold “tens of millions of dollars” in altered BlackBerry phones to international drug cartels, reports indicate.

Last week, the Department of Justice apprehended Vincent Ramos in Seattle. He and his associates are charged with racketeering and conspiracy to facilitate drug distribution, crimes that have a penalty of prison for life, the BBC reported. This is the first time U.S. officials have targeted a company for knowingly encrypting technology for outlaws in order to evade law enforcement and obstruct justice, the Justice Department said.

“With one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes, our great nation is suffering the deadliest drug epidemic in our history,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. “Incredibly, some have sought to profit off of this crisis, including by specifically taking advantage of encryption technologies to further criminal activity, and to obstruct, impede, and evade law enforcement, as this case illustrates.”

Full Read – http://www.newsweek.com/canada-ceo-indicted-drug-cartels-blackberry-850326

Killing of ‘Narcos’ scout resurfaces Escobar trademark feud

  @CNNMoneySeptember 22, 2017: 6:45 PM ET

Pablo Escobar, one of the world’s wealthiest and most notorious drug lords, met his end nearly a quarter-century ago, but his legacy continues to cast a shadow over the Netflix drama “Narcos.”

On September 11, Carlos Munoz Portal, a location manager for the Netflix television series “Narcos,” was found dead. He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds in a car on a dirt road outside Mexico City, near a site he was scouting for future episodes of the TV show.

n the wake of Portal’s death, Pablo Escobar’s brother is bringing his year-long trademark dispute with Netflix back into the headlines through an interview he gave The Hollywood Reporter (THR). In that interview, speaking of “Narcos,” which based its first two seasons on Pablo Escobar’s life, he reportedly said he would “close their little show” if the streaming service did not reach a settlement agreement with him.

Roberto De Jesus Escobar Gaviria is Pablo Escobar’s brother and former accountant. He is also the founder of holding company Escobar Inc.. In July of 2016, his company requested $1 billion compensation from Netflix for what it contends are intellectual property violations. It claims the streaming service has reaped substantial financial benefits from the popular global series by using Escobar’s name and story.

Read Full – http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/22/media/narcos-escobar-suit/index.html