Seeking Victims and Witness Information: Jeremie Sowerby, Luis Ortega, et al Fraud Schemes
The FBI’s Phoenix Field Office is seeking to identify potential victims of Jeremie Sowerby, Luis Ortega, and others possibly involved in numerous fraud schemes involving digital currency, cryptocurrency mining machines, cryptocurrency and foreign exchange arbitrage (including automated trading “bots”), and potentially others.
Sowerby and Ortega have been affiliated with: Now Mining, VIP Mining, Millennium, Dunamis, My Blockchain Life, Digital Mint, Block Mint, We Sell Miners, BlockX, Kannabiz Koin, FX Primary, Softek, Justice Capital, 888 Management, etc.
On September 19, 2023, Sowerby was indicted by the federal Grand Jury in the District of Arizona for two counts of wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343); and Ortega was indicted for 42 counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of money laundering (18 U.S.C. § 1957). The FBI believes Ortega primarily targeted victims between June 2017 and November 2018. The FBI believes Sowerby primarily targeted victims between June 2017 and September 2023.
If you were victimized by Sowerby, Ortega, or others, or have information relevant to this investigation, please fill out this short form.
If you know of someone else who has possibly been victimized by Sowerby, Ortega, or others associated with the businesses described above or other related fraud schemes, please encourage them to complete the form themselves.
The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Your responses are voluntary but may be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information. All identities of victims will be kept confidential.
Questionnaire
Tips to Protect Yourself
- If an unknown individual contacts you, do not provide them financial or personal information and do not send them money.
- Treat any investment advice from people you meet online with extreme caution.
- Be wary of investments, particularly cryptocurrency investments, that offer guaranteed returns or sound too good to be true.
- If you believe you are a victim of a fraud, do not pay any additional “fees” or “taxes” to attempt to withdraw your money.
- Do not pay for services that claim to be able to recover lost funds.
- The FBI will not rely on third-party crypto-tracing reports or other information provided by these companies.
The FBI requests victims report these types of fraudulent or suspicious activities to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov.
Additional Resources