No one knows why Georgia ranks among the top ten states targeted by organized professional scam operators, but we do know that scamming senior citizens out of their life savings remains a lucrative illegal cash business in Georgia. With a few new twists, scammers effectively perpetrate romance scams, jury duty scams, grandparent scams, identity theft scams, etc. at an alarming rate. Through lies and deception of all kinds, suspects extract millions of dollars of tax-free U.S. currency from Georgia’s senior citizens annually.
While scam operators tend to be elusive criminals, they have a problem avoiding detection as they manage the money they steal. They cannot make normal bank deposits because banks track checks, money orders, wire transfers and online transactions from depositors to final recipients. Therefore, scam operators must engage in a process known as money laundering to avoid tracking.
Regardless of which types of scams they are running, scam operators must frequently change the methods they use to launder money. For example, as recently as five years ago, their most common method was to deceive their victims into giving them cash. While cash itself is untraceable, depositing large amounts, even into multiple false accounts, raises suspicion and creates a traceable digital trail. So they sought new stealthy ways to cleanse their stolen money.
As different forms of digital currency gained popularity, scam operators quickly learned to leverage it by deceiving their victims into sending them money in the form of gift cards and cash cards, which are forms of digital currency. Having followed instructions to buy gift cards, victims would be given instructions to give the cards or card numbers to the suspects who would convert them to anonymous cash they could spread among numerous false bank accounts. Nevertheless, once retailers and investigators caught on to unusual volumes and patterns in gift card purchases by victims, scam operators began seeking new methods of money laundering.
They didn’t have to look far as the emerging world of cryptocurrency, which has remained unfamiliar to many, provided a new opportunity to disguise U.S. currency. Once converted to cryptocurrency, money is easy to transfer anonymously– especially by those seeking to evade taxes. Therefore, cryptocurrency has become a favorite form of currency on the dark web. Since it uses a system of secret codes to identify accounts, once a scam victim converts their U.S. currency into cryptocurrency, their money travels in a digital universe where it can rapidly be moved among secret accounts, known as digital wallets, and the funds can be withdrawn from anywhere in the world.
The cryptocurrency industry has made the conversion from U.S. currency to cryptocurrency simple by installing cryptocurrency automatic teller machines (ATMs) across Georgia. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have begun receiving reports of suspicious incidents wherein individuals (presumably scam victims) are seen feeding large amounts of cash into cryptocurrency ATMs. Some of those transactions are legitimate, but investigators have found when funds are switched from one form of currency to another as they are when you insert cash into cryptocurrency wallets, the money becomes hidden. Unfortunately, by the time a victim realizes they have been stung by a scam, their life savings have been converted and then expertly swallowed up by international criminals.
While no form of money laundering fades away completely, as law enforcement catches up, sophisticated criminals continue to move on to new money laundering methods because they know it is hardest to hit a moving target.
Their latest iteration involves the use of gold bullion as currency. Scammers expertly deceive their victims to convert their U.S. currency into untraceable gold bullion, which is easy to buy on the internet or at local exchanges. Once victims have the small gold bars, the suspects send someone to pick them up– usually in some sort of cloak-and-dagger encounter to avoid detection.
In addition to manipulation of currency to disguise money trails, scam operators have devised the “money mule” scam, specifically to launder the proceeds of multiple scams. Scammers convince unwitting victims, either by extortion or for a fee, to open new bank accounts or use their personal account(s) to receive and disburse money into fraudulent accounts. Often the victims do not realize they are doing anything illegal by participating in a money laundering scheme for which they can be prosecuted.
The best way to help Georgia seniors avoid devastating losses due to scams is to educate them to prevent becoming victims in the first place by following simple precautions simply stated by the North Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force:
· Don’t pay anyone with gift cards.
· Don’t pay money to get money.
· Don’t give bank or financial information to callers.
· Don’t send money to a person you haven’t met, especially if it involves a romantic relationship.
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” – Benjamin Franklin.
The author is a retired law enforcement veteran who once served as the police chief of Savannah as well as Marietta.
