Category: Security News

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

Director Christopher Wray has named Alyssa M. Doyle as the special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence and Cyber Division at the Los Angeles Field Office. She most recently served as a deputy assistant director in the Operational Technology Division at the FBI’s facility in Quantico, Virginia.

Ms. Doyle began her career as an FBI special agent in 2004 and was assigned to work public corruption, counterterrorism, and cyber investigations in the Chicago Field Office. She also served on Chicago’s Evidence Response Team. She was promoted to supervisory special agent in 2010 and led oversight of Chicago’s cyber intrusion program and the regional computer forensics lab.

In 2015, Ms. Doyle was promoted to special assistant, first serving the executive assistant director of the Information and Technology Branch and then the associate deputy director.

Ms. Doyle was promoted in 2017 to assistant special agent in charge of the Sacramento Field Office in California, where she was responsible for the Intelligence Branch and had investigative oversight of the Stockton and Fairfield Resident Agencies.

In 2018, Ms. Doyle was promoted to section chief and named the FBI’s chief information security officer, situated in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at FBI Headquarters in Washington. As CISO, Ms. Doyle was responsible for the FBI’s cybersecurity.

Ms. Doyle was promoted to deputy assistant director in the Operational Technology Division in 2020, in charge of strategy for the Digital and Forensics and Analytics Section, the Collection and Infrastructure Section, and the Business Engagement and Intelligence Section.

Before she joined the FBI, Ms. Doyle developed and implemented pharmaceutical IT systems for a Fortune 500 company in Cincinnati. She earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and a Master of Business Administration from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

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

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Toledo Resident Agency’s Northwest Ohio Crimes Against Children Task Force and the Northern District of Ohio United States Attorney’s Office, announce the arrest of John Charles Coy, 71 years old, of Van Wert County, Ohio.

The complaint alleges an initial tip was received in November 2020 by Marion Police Department that alleged John Charles Coy had engaged in sexual contact with minors and had produced child sexual abuse material. An investigation was initiated by the Marion Police Department who requested assistance from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cleveland Division, Toledo Resident Agency.

Through the course of this investigation, additional information concerning Coy’s alleged conduct with juvenile females was received by law enforcement. The information received involved allegations of Coy taking sexual photos of juvenile females and engaging in sexual conduct with juvenile females.

Over the course of the last eight months, numerous state search warrants and subpoenas were issued on social media, cell phone service providers, and digital storage providers identified as being accounts of John Charles Coy, including an account most recently used by Coy, “Coyjohn010@gmail.com. Multiple images of what is believed to be prepubescent females were obtained.

On Thursday, July 29, 2021, a search warrant was executed at Coy’s son’s home where Coy was known to be residing. Coy was interviewed by law enforcement investigators during the execution of the search warrant and denied any allegations made against him.

The investigation and interview of Coy resulted in a probable cause arrest for receipt and/or distribution of child pornography, 18 U.S.C. § 2252(a)(2). Coy was taken into custody without incident at the conclusion of the search warrant. Coy will appear in front of United States Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay today, July 30, 2021, at 4:00 p.m.

Law enforcement is encouraging anyone that has a child that has interacted with John Charles Coy and they feel any of those interactions could have been sexually inappropriate or was an attempt to “groom” a minor for future sexual interactions to please contact the FBI at 1-877-FBI-OHIO. (1-877-324-6446). Coy is known to have coached juvenile female softball teams over the past years in Marion County and Van Wert County, Ohio. Coy is also known to have traveled as a truck driver in the region and is also known to have traveled on several occasions to the Philippines.

The FBI wishes to commend the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation, the Marion Police Department, and the Van Wert County Sheriff’s Office for their cooperation and continued assistance in this investigation.

Law enforcement considers this an ongoing investigation and information outside of the federal complaint affidavit cannot be provided.

Any questions regarding this press release can be directed to SA Vicki Anderson at 216-522-1400 or at vagregg@fbi.gov.

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

The FBI Criminal Investigative Division and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) warn of fraudsters swindling investors while pretending to be registered brokers or investment advisers.

Fraudsters may falsely claim to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or a state securities regulator in order to lure investors into scams, or even impersonate real investment professionals who actually are registered with these organizations. Fraudsters may misappropriate the name, address, registration number, logo, photo, or website likeness of a currently or previously registered firm or investment professional. They try to trick investors into believing that they are registered by using a number of tactics, including the following:

• “Spoofed Websites.” Fraudsters may set up websites using URL addresses or names similar to those of registered firms or investment professionals to trick investors into believing that the fraudsters are registered or that the fraudsters are affiliated with a registered firm or investment professional.
• Fake Profiles on Social Media. Fraudsters may set up profiles impersonating registered investment professionals on popular social media platforms and then message investors to solicit their money.
• Cold Calling. Fraudsters may set up boiler rooms with teams of people cold calling investors to solicit their money while claiming to be employees of registered firms. The fraudsters may use technology to make it appear they are calling from the firm’s location.
• Misrepresenting or Falsifying Documents. Fraudsters may recruit investors by misrepresenting that their firm was registered with the SEC, including pointing to the firm’s Form D filings to support the misrepresentation (to learn more, read this OIEA Investor Alert). Fraudsters may solicit investors by impersonating a registered investment professional and generating a fake version of a public report using the professional’s name and CRD number (to learn more, read this FINRA Investor Alert).

Registration of Investment Professionals. Many sellers of investment products or services are either brokers, investment advisers, or both. Most brokers must register with the SEC and join FINRA. Investment advisers that provide investment advice to retail investors generally must register with the SEC or the state securities regulator where they have their principal place of business.

To quickly and easily check if someone offering you an investment is currently licensed or registered, use the search tool on Investor.gov. Once you confirm that the seller is licensed or registered, make sure you are not dealing with an imposter. Contact the seller using contact information you verify independently – for example, by using a phone number or website listed in the firm’s Client Relationship Summary (Form CRS) – rather than relying on contact information the seller provides you. To ensure you are looking at a genuine copy of the firm’s Form CRS, follow these steps:

1. In the “Check Out Your INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL” search box on Investor.gov, select “Firm” from the drop down options and type in the name of the firm.
2. In the search results, click on the relevant firm and then click on “Get Details.”
3. Click on “Relationship Summary” or “Part 3 Relationship Summary.”

For additional information about Form CRS, visit investor.gov/CRS.

Watch Out for Red Flags             

Regardless of whether someone claims to be registered with the SEC, beware if you spot these warning signs of an investment scam:

• Guaranteed High Investment Returns. Promises of high investment returns – often accompanied by a guarantee of little or no risk – is a classic sign of fraud. Every investment has risk, and the potential for high returns usually comes with high risk.
• Unsolicited Offers. Unsolicited offers (you didn’t ask for it and don’t know the sender) to earn investment returns that seem “too good to be true” may be part of a scam.
• Red flags in Payment Methods for Investments.
  • Credit Cards. Most licensed and registered investment firms do not allow their customers to use credit cards to invest.
  • Digital Asset Wallets and “Cryptocurrencies.” Licensed and registered financial firms typically do not require their customers to use digital asset wallets or digital assets, including so-called “cryptocurrencies,” to invest.
  • Wire Transfers and Checks. If you pay for an investment by wire transfer or check, be suspicious if you’re being asked to send or to make the payment out to a person or to a different firm, the address is suspicious (for example, an online search for the address suggests it is not an office building where the firm operates), or you are told to note that the payment is for a purpose unrelated to the investment (for example, medical expenses or a loan to a family member). If you wire money outside of the United States for an investment that turns out to be a scam, you likely will never see your money again. 

Report possible securities fraud to the SEC at www.sec.gov/tcr. Report online fraud to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at https://www.ic3.gov.

The SEC maintains a list of Impersonators of Genuine Firms. This list is not exhaustive – firms may be impersonated even if they are not on the list.

FINRA staff issued an article about imposter schemes.

More information about online frauds and investment scams can be found at www.fbi.gov or Investor.gov, the SEC’s website for individual investors.    

You can contact the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) by phone at 1-800-732-0330, using this online form, or via email at Help@SEC.gov. 

Receive Investor Alerts and Bulletins from OIEA by email or RSS feed. Follow OIEA on Twitter @SEC_Investor_Ed. Like OIEA on Facebook at facebook.com/secinvestoreducation.