Category: Federal Bureau of Investigation

Andres Fernandez was a smooth-talking concert promoter who told people he could make them wealthy investing in the glamorous industry.

While he claimed he couldn’t give too much information on the business, he did promise up to a 100% return on investment.

Instead, his more than 50 investors were swindled. Victims lost more than $20 million, ranging from $5,000 to $7 million per victim. Fernandez and an associate lived on that money and re-paid prior investors in a Ponzi-like scheme.

Fernandez actually did do some concert promotion work, mostly working with small venues in the Orlando, Florida, area. He even brought some of his investors to the concert venue where he worked to convince them he was legitimate. He lied to those investors about grand plans to expand to stadium-size concert venues and book famous artists like Pitbull and The Weeknd.

“He produced lots of completely fraudulent documents that he gave to investors, like fake Ticketmaster contracts or contracts with artists,” said Special Agent Kerrie Harney who investigated this case out of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office.

Fernandez’s early investors were his friends and neighborhood acquaintances. One of his initial investors, Edison Denizard, got good returns and started working with Fernandez to bring in even more victims. Some of Denizard’s contacts had millions of dollars to invest, allowing the men to expand the scheme, which began in March 2016 and went on for a little over a year.

National Consumer Protection Week

February 28 – March 6, 2021

While the FBI works all year long to keep you safe from scammers, this week is National Consumer Protection Week and a great time to ensure you’re protecting your wallet. Learn more:

Press release available in both English and Spanish.

As most of the country weathered winter storms over the past few weeks and many charities have been set up to help those people in need, don’t let scammers prey on your kindness. Scammers want to help themselves to your money. They’re competing with legitimate charities and taking advantage of your generosity.

Charity fraud schemes seek donations for organizations that do little or no work—instead, the money goes to the fake charity’s creator.

Charity fraud scams can come to you in many forms: emails, social media posts, crowdfunding platforms, cold calls, etc. Always use caution and do your research when you’re looking to donate to charitable causes.

Protect Yourself

The following tips can help you avoid these schemes:

• Never let anyone rush you into donating. Pressuring you to act right away is something that scammers do.
• Give to established charities or groups whose work you know and trust. Don’t assume that charity you have seen on social media or online is legitimate, even it if was sent to you by a friend.
• Be aware of organizations with copycat names or names similar to reputable organizations.
• Be wary of new organizations that claim to aid victims of recent high-profile disasters.
• Do your research. Use the Federal Trade Commission’s resources to examine the track record of a charity.
• Give using a check or credit card. If a charity or organization asks you to donate through cash, gift card, virtual currency, or wire transfer, it’s probably a scam. Learn more about this trick from the FTC.
  • Don’t click links or open email/text attachments from someone you don’t know.
  • Manually type out links instead of clicking on them.
  • Don’t provide any personal information in response to an email, robocall, or robotext.
  • Check the website’s address—most legitimate charity organization websites use .org, not .com.

If you suspect you’ve been victimized or have information about these types of schemes, you can:

Puesto que la mayoría del país sobrevivió tormentas invernales en las últimas semanas y muchas organizaciones de beneficencia se han establecido para ayudar a la gente necesitada, no deje que los estafadores se aprovechen en su amabilidad. Estafadores quieren ayudarse a asimismo con su dinero. Están compitiendo con organizaciones de beneficencia legítimas y se están aprovechando de su generosidad.

Los planes de fraude buscan donaciones para organizaciones que hacen poco o nada de trabajo—en cambio, el dinero va a el creador de la organización de beneficencia fraudulenta.

Estafas de fraude de supuestas organizaciones de beneficencia puede llegar a ti en muchas formas: correos electrónicos, posts en medios de redes sociales, plataformas de crowdfunding, llamadas no solicitadas, etc. Siempre use precaución y he investigue cuando quiere hace una donación a causas benéficas.

Protéjase

Los siguientes consejos le pueden ayudar a evitar estas estafas:

• Nunca deje a nadie que lo apresure a donar. Presionando que actúe de inmediato es algo que los estafadores hacen.
• Done a organizaciones de beneficencia establecidas o grupos que conoce su trabajo y les tiene confianza. No asuma que la organización de beneficencia que vio en las redes sociales o en línea es legítima, aunque haya sido enviado por un amigo.
• Tenga en cuenta de organizaciones con nombres de imitación o nombres similares a organizaciones respetables.
• Tenga en cuenta nuevas organizaciones que afirman ayudar a víctimas de recientes desastres de alto nivel.
• Investigue. Use el Federal Trade Commission’s resources para examinar el historial de la organización.
• Use un cheque o tarjeta de crédito para donar. Si una organización de beneficencia u organización le pide que done por medio de dinero, tarjeta de regalo, moneda virtual, o transferencia bancaria, es probablemente una estafa. Averigüe más sobre este método en FTC.
• Practique buena higiene cibernética:
  • No haga clic a enlaces o abra los correos electrónicos/textos adjuntos de alguien que no conoce.
  • Teclee manualmente los enlaces en vez de hacerlos clic.
  • No proporcione nada de información personal cuando conteste un correo electrónico, llamada automática o texto automático.
  • Verifique la dirección del sitio web—sitios web de la mayoría de las organizaciones de beneficencia legítimas usan .org, no .com.

Si sospecha que ha sido victimada o tiene información de este tipo de fraude, puede: