Offenses can be committed across provincial, state, and national boundaries. Cross-border telemarketing fraud generates many of the same problems associated with the dispersal of offenders and victims, but the problems are magnified by differences in legislation and by national sovereignty. Cooperation between agencies becomes more formal and complex when they are in different jurisdictions. This adds to costs and creates significant delay, a major concern when victims are elderly. Legislative discrepancies may also complicate getting evidence gathered in one jurisdiction before a court in another.
Telemarketing fraud is a form of organized criminal activity .
Telemarketing fraud usually involves the organization, pre-planning and coordination of individual offenders which is characteristic of organized criminal activity. In some cases, the high profits have also attracted members and associates of traditional criminal organizations. This care and pre-planning complicate matters for investigators. Schemes are often crafted to make them appear legitimate or to make elements of the offense difficult to prove. Such schemes are difficult to shut down completely unless all key members are identified, caught, convicted, incarcerated or incapacitated and stripped of their illegal gains.