WASHINGTON: More than 250 people were charged in a major U.S. crackdown on elder fraud scams that victimized over 1 million people and led to US$500 million in losses, the Justice Department announced on Thursday.

The scams included the use of mass mailing, telemarketing and investment frauds as well as identity theft and theft by guardians, the department said in a statement announcing the criminal and civil charges.

Some of the schemes included scams where people were falsely told they had won a lottery but had to pre-pay a fee or taxes, while in other scams a senior was told a grandchild had been arrested and needed money for bail, the department said.

Globally, 200 defendants were charged criminally and another 50 face civil or other charges, the department said.

"Today is only the beginning. I have directed department prosecutors to coordinate with both domestic law enforcement partners and foreign counterparts to stop these criminals from exploiting our seniors," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.

The sweep was carried out by the Justice Department, FBI, Federal Trade Commission and the Iowa and Kansas attorneys general, among others. </s> The Justice Department announced a broad enforcement sweep targeting financial fraud against the elderly, resulting in charges filed against more than 250 defendants.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the charges during a press conference in Washington on Thursday.

Justice coordinated with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, in building the cases.

The perpetrators allegedly used mass mailing and telemarketing to rip off seniors, as well as individual incidences of identity theft and financial abuse by guardians.

"Today's actions send a clear message: We will hold perpetrators of elder fraud schemes accountable wherever they are," said Sessions. </s> MOBILE USERS, CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL VIDEO

WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Trump administration says it is cracking down on scams that target elderly people.

Attorney General Sessions said Thursday that last month, cases were filed against 40 people for scamming about 1 million victims.

He also called for more awareness about Ponzi schemes, lottery scams, and people pretending to be with the IRS.

“We need to spread the word about this, so please, if you or someone you know was victimized by an elder fraud scheme, report it to the Federal Trade Commission,” Sessions said. “We will be following up on those reports.”

The attorney general said more than 200 people have been charged in elder fraud schemes.

The suspects are accused of stealing from more than 1 million Americans of more than $500 million.

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• GET KRON4 NEWS ON YOUR AMAZON ALEXA DEVICE </s> Losses stemming from these plots are estimated at more than $500 million.

Criminal charges are filed against more than 250 alleged perpetrators in mailing, telemarketing schemes.

The Justice Department announced a broad enforcement sweep targeting financial fraud against the elderly, resulting in charges filed against more than 250 defendants. "Today's actions send a clear message: We will hold perpetrators of elder fraud schemes accountable wherever they are," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in announcing the charges Thursday. The DOJ coordinated with other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general, in building the cases. The perpetrators allegedly used mass mailing and telemarketing to rip off seniors, as well as identity theft and financial abuse by guardians.

In 2015, individuals made 1,108 calls to the Senate Aging Committee's toll-free fraud hotline. That number more than doubled to 2,282 in 2016. "By bringing cases against these scammers, we send a strong message to other con artists that we will not stand by and allow older Americans to be victimized," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a ranking member of the Senate Aging Committee.

Phony winners

More than a million people, most of whom were elderly, were victimized, according to the Justice Department. In one case, the FTC and the state of Missouri filed charges against two men and their sweepstakes organization. The FTC alleged that seniors would receive mailers claiming that they had just won more than $1 million or that they could win a large cash prize if they answered a question and submited a registration fee. Since 2013, victims lost more than $110 million to this scheme, the FTC said. In another case, the FTC and the state of Missouri pursued defendants who allegedly coordinated with telemarketers to hoodwink the elderly into buying phony tech support services. Some victims of this scheme lost more than $50,000 paying for fake security software. One person paid nearly $400,000 over several years, according to the FTC.

Spotting a ripoff

People who are targets of a sweepstakes scheme get a call, card or an email telling them that they've won a prize, but they'll need to pay a fee or "taxes" in order to pick up their winnings. A legitimate sweepstakes would never ask you to wire money or force you to pay a fee in order to claim your prize. Real offers will also tell you the terms and conditions, including the rules of the contest, according to the FTC. See below for details from the FTC on how to spot and avoid a tech support scam.

Targeting retirees

Older Americans are losing about $36.5 billion each year to elder financial abuse, according to 2015 data from True Link Financial. Meanwhile, 3 in 10 state securities regulators report seeing an increase in senior financial fraud, according to data from the North American Securities Administrators Association. See below for examples of fraud schemes targeting the elderly. </s> More than 400 people, including doctors, pharmacists and nurses, were charged in connection with a massive health care fraud scheme that bilked the federal government of more than $1 billion, officials from the Justice Department and Department of Health and Human Services announced Thursday.

About a quarter of those were charged with fraud specifically related to opioids.

Describing some of the cases brought, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said trusted medical professionals “have chosen to violate their oaths and put greed ahead of their patients.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said the health care fraud bust targeted those who “maliciously contributed” to the nation’s opioid epidemic.

In all, 412 people, including 56 doctors, were charged as a result of the nationwide operation. The Justice Department said those accused have defrauded taxpayers of approximately $1.3 billion.

“Some doctors wrote out more prescriptions for controlled substances than entire hospitals were writing,” said FBI acting Director Andrew McCabe.

According to federal prosecutors, the individuals charged were involved in schemes in which they submitted claims to Medicare and Medicaid for treatments that were either medically unnecessary or never provided. Patient recruiters were used in some cases and paid cash kickbacks for collection beneficiary information for providers that would be used to submit fraudulent bills to the government.

“One fake rehab facility for drug addicts in Palm Beach is alleged to have recruited addicts with gift cards, visits to strip clubs, and even drugs-enabling the company to bill for over $58 million in false treatments and tests,” Mr. Sessions said. </s> A federal grand jury has indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities for allegedly meddling in the 2016 presidential election, charging them with conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice announced Friday.

In addition, three defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and five defendants with aggravated identity theft.

“The defendants allegedly conducted what they called information warfare against the United States, with the stated goal of spreading distrust towards the candidates and the political system in general,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said.

The grand jury had been empaneled by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as any possible connections between Russia and Trump campaign associates.

FBI Director Chris Wray and Rosenstein briefed President Donald Trump on the indictments at the White House on Friday morning, a White House official said.

Beginning as early as 2014, the Russian organization Internet Research Agency began operations to interfere with the US political system, including the 2016 elections, according to the indictment.

The defendants allegedly posed as US persons, created false US personas, and operated social media pages and groups designed to attract US audiences, the indictment reads.

The Internet Research Agency had a “strategic goal to sow discord in the US political system” including the election, according to the indictment.

Russians posted “derogatory information about a number of candidates,” and by mid-2016 they supported Trump and disparaged Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. They bought ads and communicated with “unwitting” people tied to Trump campaign and others to coordinate political activities.

Rosenstein said Friday that the indictment does not contain any allegations that any Americans knowingly participated in the activity.

“There is no allegation in this indictment that any American was a knowing participant in this illegal activity,” he said. “There is no allegation in the indictment that the charge conduct altered the outcome of the 2016 election.” </s> President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted Wednesday by a state grand jury in New York on charges of residential mortgage fraud — the announcement coming just minutes after Manafort was sentenced in federal court in Washington to more than seven years in prison.

[Read the indictment: The People of the State of New York against Paul J. Manafort Jr.]

The charges filed against Manafort may stand as a kind of prosecutorial insurance policy against a possible presidential pardon — a scenario that Trump has refused to discuss as Manafort’s case worked its way through the federal court system. The president has called Manafort brave for fighting his case against special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

“No one is beyond the law in New York,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement announcing the indictment. “Following an investigation commenced by our office in March 2017, a Manhattan grand jury has charged Mr. Manafort with state criminal violations which strike at the heart of New York’s sovereign interests, including the integrity of our residential mortgage market.”

[Paul Manafort sentenced to a total of 7.5 years in prison for conspiracy, fraud]

The state charges could be challenged in the courts as a violation of double jeopardy protections for defendants, an area in which current New York law may favor Manafort.

The mortgage fraud charges stem from the same conduct that led to Manafort’s federal conviction — that he allegedly submitted false information to banks while seeking loans. The 16-count indictment accuses him of residential mortgage fraud, attempted residential mortgage fraud, falsifying business records, scheming to defraud and conspiracy. </s> • The Department of Justice just announced charges against nine Iranians for an elaborate hacking scheme that targeted more than 140 US universities.

The US charged nine Iranians with cyber attacks against more than 350 entities around the world, mostly universities, on behalf of the Iranian government, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced Friday.

The indictment charged Gholamreza Rafatnejad, 38; Ehsan Mohammadi, 37; Abdollah Karima, akalso known asa Vahid Karima, 39; Mostafa Sadeghi, 28; Seyed Ali Mirkarimi, 34; Mohammed Reza Sabahi, 26; Roozbeh Sabahi, 24; Abuzar Gohari Moqadam, 37; and Sajjad Tahmasebi, 30, all citizens and residents of Iran, for the attacks.

Those defendants were all connected to the Mabna Institute, an Iranian company that has conducted cyber attacks on the more than 360 entities, which included 144 US universities, 176 universities on foreign soil, 47 domestic and foreign private companies, and government bodies such as the US Department of Labor and the United Nations.

The indictment alleges that the defendants stole more than 31 terabytes of academic data and intellectual property from the universities, worth more than $3 billion. The Treasury Department levied sanctions against the Mabna Institute and the defendents, which came in addition to the criminal charges filed by the Justice Department.

"For many of these intrusions, the defendants acted at the behest of the Iranian government and, specifically, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps," Rosenstein said in a press conference. "The Department of Justice will aggressively investigate and prosecute hostile actors who attempt to profit from America's ideas by infiltrating our computer systems and stealing intellectual property. This case is important because it will disrupt the defendants' hacking operations and deter similar crimes."

The defendents were charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and identity theft. Rosenstein added that the stolen information was then used or sold by the Iranian government. </s> WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people nationwide, including dozens of doctors, have been charged in health care fraud prosecutions, accused of collectively defrauding the government of $1.3 billion, the Justice Department said on Thursday.

Nearly one-third of the 412 charged were accused of opioid-related crimes. The health care providers, about 50 of them doctors, billed Medicare and Medicaid for drugs that were never purchased; collected money for false rehabilitation treatments and tests; and gave out prescriptions for cash, according to prosecutors.

Some of the doctors wrote more prescriptions for controlled substances in a single month than entire hospitals wrote in that time, the acting director of the F.B.I., Andrew G. McCabe, said at a news conference in Washington of federal law enforcement and health care officials who announced the prosecutions.

“This event again highlights the enormity of the fraud challenge we face,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.
The Trump administration through the U.S. Justice Department announces charges filed against more than 250 defendants in senior-citizen fraud schemes totaling $500 million.