Romance Scam Conviction Draws Bar Charges
The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint tracking the charges in an indictment that led to an attorney’s conviction after a jury trial
The October 21, 2021 indictment alleged that “romance scams” refer to a type of fraud that is enabled by the creation of fictitious profiles on online dating or social websites, and that individuals perpetuating romance scams use these online dating profiles to gain the trust of potential victims, and once that trust is gained, direct victims to transfer money under false pretenses. A common narrative used to trick victims into a “romance scam” is to convince the victim to wire funds to cover “taxes” on nonexistent money that is to be “transferred” into their account.
The indictment alleged that “business email compromises” (“BECs”) refer to a type of fraud targeting companies that conduct wire transfers. In a BEC scam, individuals send email messages that appear to come from a colleague, vendor, or business associate making a legitimate request when, in reality, the email messages are from individuals perpetrating fraud.
The indictment alleged that both romance scams and BECs frequently employ the use of “spoofed” emails that appear to originate from legitimate businesses or banking institutions. In reality, however, emails that scammers use are slight variations on the “true” email addresses, and the victims are actually communicating with the bad actors that are running the scheme.
The indictment alleged that Respondent was a Belgian and Lebanese national living in the United States who maintained several personal checking accounts, including an account at PNC Bank and an account at TD Bank.
The complaint specifies the crimes and victims.
The Department of Justice noted the conviction
“The defendant was part of a scheme that toyed with people’s emotions, deceiving them to take their money. The funds he swindled were supposed to be used as the down payment on a home or to fund a comfortable retirement. There are real victims in financial frauds and my office fights for victims. We always have and we always will.” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.
(Mike Frisch)