Category: FBI

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Welcome to the Oregon FBI’s Tech Tuesday segment. Today: Building a digital defense against COVID-19 vaccine ID card scams.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center—or IC3.gov—has issued a warning about scams involving that oh-so-important piece of paper that millions of Americans are now carrying around in their wallets.

The FBI—along with our partners at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)—are seeing reports of individuals selling fake COVID-19 vaccination record cards and encouraging others to print fake cards at home. Fake vaccination record cards have been advertised on social media websites as well as ecommerce platforms and blogs.

Vaccination record cards are intended to provide recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine with information about the type of vaccine they received and when they may be able to receive a second dose of the vaccine. If you did not receive the vaccine, do not buy fake vaccine cards, do not make your own vaccine cards, and do not fill-in blank vaccination record cards with false information.

By misrepresenting yourself as vaccinated when entering schools, mass transit, workplaces, gyms, or places of worship, you put yourself and others around you at risk of contracting COVID-19. Additionally, the unauthorized use of an official government agency’s seal (such as HHS or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)) is a crime and may be punishable under federal law.

Because individuals may use fake vaccine cards to misrepresent themselves as vaccinated, we strongly encourage businesses, schools, places of worship, and government agencies to follow the CDC guidance and continue to maintain physical distancing and to use personal protective equipment.

If you did receive the vaccine, we also recommend you do not post photos of your vaccine card to social media. Your personal information could be stolen to commit fraud. More on that next week.

If you believe you are a victim of an online scam, you should report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or call your FBI local office.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

The FBI Washington Field Office is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of Lamar Jamal Perkins and Anthony Erik Hebron, who are wanted on federal kidnapping charges.

Federal arrest warrants were issued on March 30, 2021, for Perkins, Hebron, and others in the United States District Court, District of Maryland, after they were charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping. They are wanted for their alleged involvement in a conspiracy to kidnap an individual from the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in National Harbor, Maryland, on February 3, 2021. It is alleged that the victim was kidnapped at gunpoint, driven to Washington, D.C., beaten, robbed, and threatened.

Lamar Jamal Perkins, a/k/a “Lou,” age 27, of Washington, D.C., is described as a black male, approximately 5’9” tall and 180 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

Anthony Erik Hebron, a/k/a “Pain,” age 28, of Washington, D.C., is described as a black male, approximately 5’7” tall and 130 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes.

They should be considered armed and dangerous.

Please contact the FBI Washington Field Office at (202) 278-2000 with any information regarding these fugitives. Tips can also be submitted to 1-800-CALL-FBI or online at tips.fbi.gov.

This investigation is being conducted by the FBI Washington Field Office’s D.C. Safe Streets Task Force, which is composed of FBI agents, along with detectives from the Washington Metropolitan Police Department and the Prince George’s County Police Department. The Task Force works in partnership with other federal agencies, including the United States Park Police, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Marshals Service, and is charged with investigating and bringing prosecution against the most egregious violent street gangs and crews operating in the National Capital Region. The FBI Baltimore Field Office is also providing investigative assistance in this matter.

An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

PHOENIX, AZ—The FBI Phoenix Field Office is warning the public about business email compromise (BEC) scams which accounts for the number one scam in Arizona for 2020 when it comes to money lost, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Business email compromise (BEC) is the most financially damaging online crime nationally.

According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), Arizona reported 365 victims with losses of more than $30 million in 2020 in Arizona.

This scam also took the number one spot nationally in 2020, with IC3 receiving 19,369 complaints with adjusted losses of over $1.8 billion.

In a BEC scam, criminals send an email message that appears to come from a known source making a legitimate request. For example, a vendor a company regularly works with sends an invoice with a new address, or a company CEO asks their assistant to purchase gift cards and then asks for the serial numbers to use for themselves.

The following tips may help protect you and/or your company from BEC scams:

• Look at the email header of the sender. Keep an eye out for email addresses that look similar to, but not the same as the ones used by your work supervisors or peers (abc_company.com vs. abc-company.com).
• Set up two-factor (or multi-factor) authentication on any account that allows it, and never disable it.
• Be wary of requests to buy multiple gift cards, even if the request seems ordinary.
• Be especially wary if the requestor is pressuring you to act quickly.
• Watch out for grammatical errors or odd phrasing.
• Be wary if the sender asks you to send the gift card number and PIN back to him.
• Don’t rely on email alone. Contact the person or the company directly to verify any payment changes
• Be cognizant of what you are posting on social media. Attackers will look for things on social media to lend credibility to what they are saying and the person they are pretending to be.

IC3 says that while this kind of fraud can happen to any company, there are a variety of sectors most at risk. They include the real estate, legal, medical, and distribution and supply parts of our economy as well as religious organizations.

If you believe you’ve been the victim of a BEC scheme or other cyber fraud activity, please contact FBI Phoenix at (623) 466-1999. Victims are also highly encouraged to file a complaint with the FBI at ic3.gov.

For more information on BEC scams and how you can protect yourself, visit https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/business-e-mail-compromise

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

The FBI is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying the circumstances surrounding the death of Watson Ben Watchman.

On August 1, 2020, Watchman was found deceased in his residence located 3.5 miles south of the Tohatchi Speedway store on Highway 491 in Tohatchi, New Mexico.

The cause of death was blunt head trauma.

Watchman was 43 years old at the time of his death.

The FBI and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety are investigating.

Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI at 505-889-1300 or go online at tips.fbi.gov.

An FBI poster with a photo of Watchman can be found at: https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/watson-ben-watchman

The FBI also is seeking information on other cases: https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/albuquerque/wanted

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News

First, Taub never registered them. PACs pool contributions from donors and then contribute that money to support or defeat a candidate for office or further a cause or policy position. Election laws mandate that they be registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

Second, the former Navy secretary wasn’t even part of the PAC. “Taub was using his name and likeness without the official’s permission,” said FBI Special Agent Eric Miller, who investigated the Taub case and now supervises a federal public corruption squad out of the Washington Field Office.

There was still another element to Taub’s scheme. “He told donors that 100% of their contributions were going to the cause when, in fact, he was spending that money on personal expenditures—things like excessive travel, wine, cigars, trips to Las Vegas, gambling,” Miller said.

After pleading guilty to wire fraud and willfully violating the Federal Election Campaign Act by operating fraudulent and unregistered political action committees, Taub was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to the victims.

There are many reputable, well established PACs that are properly supporting causes and candidates. But Miller warns that it is easy for a fraudster to establish a group, create a website, and begin asking for contributions.

“It’s fairly easy to start reaching out to potential donors to say, ‘We are backing this candidate or this political issue—please donate,’” Miller said. “The groups can look and sound legitimate, and that’s one of the tough parts of keeping people from being victimized. The red flags aren’t always obvious.”