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.
