Transcript
Last night federal prosecutors announced the arrest of eighty people, mostly Nigerians, with being part of a worldwide conspiracy that stole millions of dollars from businesses and elderly people through a variety of scams.
All of the defendants will face conspiracy, money laundering and aggravated identity theft charges.
The Federal Trade Commission says the scams have cost Americans more money than any other fraud reported to the agency last year.
In 2018 alone, tens of thousands of people were conned out of $143 million.
One of the scams is the romance scam.
Federal authorities say scammers are very active on dating apps but also on social media sites.
For example, many victims say the scam started with a Facebook message.
The FTC says you should become suspicious of any online relationship if:
The person wants to leave the dating site immediately and only use personal email or messaging to contact you, the person is quick to claim they love you, the person says they are traveling a lot or working internationally, the person says they want to visit but don’t have the money because, for example, a business deal went sour or the person asks for money without meeting you face-to-face.
If you believe you have been a victim of a scam, contact your local police department’s fraud division immediately.
The Closed Caption version of this video can be found here:
Sign1News is the first and only digital network, partnered with world news leader CNN, to offer on-line news and information in American Sign Language. Sign1News provides equal access to local, regional and national news and information to the Deaf and hard-of-hearing community via a daily post-produced broadcast. Sign1News: Your Life. Your Language.