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Mass Mailing Scams Target Elderly, Defrauding Millions
WASHINGTON – A global network of mass mailing fraud schemes has collectively defrauded millions of elderly and vulnerable victims across the United States out of hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Justice Department, in coordination with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and other law enforcement partners.
The schemes, which involve individuals and entities across the globe, including Canada, France, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United States, target older Americans and other vulnerable populations with false promises of wealth and riches.
“Every year, fraudulent mail fraud schemes target millions of Americans with false promises of wealth and riches, swindling hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “Today’s actions send a clear message that the Department of Justice is determined to hold the perpetrators of these harmful schemes accountable. And they make unmistakably clear that we are committed to protecting our people from exploitation – especially our older citizens, who are so often the focus of shameful ruses.”
The mail schemes involve a complicated web of actors located across the world and each scheme follows a similar pattern. Fraudulent direct mailers create letters falsely claiming that the recipient has won, or will soon win, cash or valuable prizes, or otherwise will come into good fortune. In order to collect these benefits, the letters say that the recipients need only send in a small amount of money for a processing fee or taxes.
Today’s actions include both criminal and civil cases against multiple direct mailers who, collectively, are responsible for dozens of schemes involving tens of millions of dollars every year. In addition, today’s actions also seek to shut down several other actors who work with the mailers to carry out these schemes: an India-based printer that manufactures the solicitations and arranges for bulk shipment to U.S. victims; list brokers who buy, sell, or rent lists of victims from one mailer to another so that once a victim has fallen prey to one scheme, others are able to target this victim.
“The defendants targeted the elderly and vulnerable by selling false promises of cash and lavish prizes,” said U.S. Attorney Robert L. Capers for the Eastern District of New York. “Not surprisingly, the only good fortune befell the defendants. We will employ every available means, including educating consumers, to protect the public from these schemes.”
As part of the effort to combat these schemes, a consortium of government agencies and non-profit groups led by the Department’s Consumer Protection Branch and Elder Justice Initiative announced a public education campaign to heighten public awareness and educate potential victims and their families about these schemes. The law enforcement and civil injunction efforts announced today are just a part of this initiative. We believe that consumer education is the best defense against these scammers. We can’t arrest all of these con artists, so preventing the crime is critical,” said Postal Service’s Chief Postal Inspector Guy Cottrell.
Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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