Do Cybercriminals Actually Face Consequences?
WHEN individuals inquire whether these digital fraudsters ever face justice, our response remains consistently affirmative. Numerous instances exist where federal authorities successfully prosecute cyber attacks, internet scams, and online fraud schemes.
Treasury Department Targets Major Scam Infrastructure
HERE’S evidence from the Treasury Department documenting their takedown of a cyber scam facilitator. This particular facilitator was responsible for 200 million in reported losses from US victims.
Why Reporting Matters for Investigations
THAT’S significant for multiple reasons. This serves as a crucial reminder to always report online frauds to IC3, because when they observe numerous reports targeting the same operator, it may escalate to the level warranting official investigation.
Third-Party Liability in Cyber Fraud Cases
THE other crucial aspect involves third-party liability. The company in question wasn’t actually perpetrating the scams themselves. They were a business providing computer infrastructure for the scammers. We’ve discussed this concept extensively before. During any investigation, we consistently examine potential third parties who may bear liability. Even without direct participation in the scam, they may face liability due to enabling the fraudster. They’re assisting the fraudster. It could be an accountant, could be an attorney, could be an advertising company.
Computer Companies as Scam Enablers
IN this case, it was a computer company. So the scammer may be very difficult to get money from. They may not have any money. They may have spent it all. But there are certainly larger scale enterprises that contributed to the scam.
Massive Scale of Crypto Investment Fraud
IN this case, it was a computer infrastructure company. Now to their credit, they actually provided services for hundreds of thousands of websites involved in virtual currency investment scams, crypto scams. That’s probably the scam that you were victimized by. What they do is they put up a website saying if you put money into crypto, you’re going to make all this money. You’re going to double your investment in a month and your money disappears.
Knowledge and Willful Blindness
THIS computer company, even though they weren’t doing the scam, they were found liable. Well, why were they liable? Well, they had to have known. If they have hundreds of thousands of websites doing the same thing, they see the websites, they see what they’re doing. So, they can turn a blind eye all they want, but they’re going to be found liable.
International Recovery Options
SO, there’s many examples of how you can use third party liability to get your money back. And the Department of Treasury, federal government reached overseas. This is in Philippines. And it doesn’t have to be in the US for victims to have some type of recovery from a scammer or those who help that scammer take your hard-earned money.
