Good
afternoon. I am pleased to be joined
by our various partners here today in
announcing the successful results of
“Operation Roaming Charge.”
Since
the early 90’s the FBI has been
working collaboratively with agencies
such as the FTC and the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service to resolve some of
the most complex telemarketing fraud
schemes.
While
initiatives like ‘Operation Disconnect’
and ‘Senior Sentinel’ were
very successful, they also exposed a
dire need to expand our partnerships
with law enforcement agencies outside
the U.S. In today’s world, telemarketing
fraud schemes have simply become more
sophisticated and international in scope.
Oceans do not protect U.S. citizens
from con artists. In fact, it is con
artists who believe oceans protect them
from the grasp of justice.
In
1999, an initiative with the RCMP called
‘Canadian Eagle’ kicked
off an aggressive fight to target organized
groups operating fraudulent telemarketing
schemes. Too often their victims were
elderly U.S. citizens.
As
an outgrowth of Canadian Eagle, more
and more international partnerships
were formed including those with law
enforcement agencies in Spain, Great
Britain, and Nigeria.
In
Operation Roaming Charge, we saw a continuing
pattern of organized criminal syndicates
operating outside the U.S and targeting
unsuspecting and trusting citizens in
the U.S. Only through these established
international partnerships were we able
to effectively move forward against
these criminal groups.
In
Operation Roaming Charge, the FBI initiated
65 investigations through the work of
nearly half of our FBI Field Offices
and several of our Legal Attache Offices.
We will continue to devote all appropriate
resources to address these egregious
crimes.
Finally,
perhaps the best defense against fraudulent
telemarketers is an educated public.
We strongly urge the public to be aware
of the various scams out there. These
include foreign lotteries emanating
from Canada, Nigeria, and Spain, advance
fee schemes, scams where perpetrators
masquerade as federal law enforcement
agents who claim to help recover lost
monies, and any scams that tout high
yields with low risks. Thank you.
