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Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City.
Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found.
It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island.
Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
Duo Wanted For Scam Pretending To Be Jailed Grandkids, Prosecutor Says
A pair of New York men are wanted by authorities for pretending to be New Jersey residents' jailed grandchildren asking for bail money, scamming them out of thousands of dollars after a similar incident was reported on Long Island, authorities said.
Jorge Peguero-Mendez, 34, and Richard Quinones-Perez, 24, both of the Bronx, are wanted on charges of theft by deception and conspiracy to commit theft by deception, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.
An elderly victim from Barnegat was contacted in December 2021 by an individual claiming to be her grandson, authorities said…
Five From Connecticut Charged For Scheme Scamming Victims Of $4M
Five men in Connecticut are facing charges for allegedly operating multi-million dollar elderly fraud scams, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
U.S. Attorney John Durham announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an 11-count indictment charging five people for their participation in lottery and romance scams that defrauded elderly victims across the country of millions.
Those charged:
Farouq Fasasi, 25, a citizen Nigeria residing New Haven;
Rodney Thomas, Jr., 29, of New Haven;
Montrell Dobbs, Jr., 27, recently of Ansonia, Hamden, and New Haven;
Stanley Pierre, 32,…
Free Scam Prevention Seminar Scheduled In Putnam
With a host of elderly scams taking place across the region, two free, public seminars will be held next week to help elders avoid becoming victims.Held by Sen. Sue Serino, chairman of the state Senate Aging Committee, along with the Department of State, the two seminars will be held from in Putnam Valley and Hopewell Junction.
The first seminar will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the Putnam Valley Senior Center, 117 Town Park Lane, in Putnam Valley.
The second seminar will be at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20 at the East Fishkill Community Center, 890 Route 82 in Hopewell Junction.
A…
Warning Issued After Fairfield County Woman Loses Thousands In Phone Scam
After a Glenville woman was scammed out of $2,500, Greenwich police are warning residents with elderly family members to advise them to ask for help if they receive phone calls or emails asking for money
The woman was promised $500,000 by a scammer who called and told her she had won a sweepstake but to collect the money, she needed to send a check for $2,500, which, unfortunately, she did. A family member found out about the scam and reported it to police.
“The message is pretty simple if it sounds too good to be true, it is,” said police Lt. David Nemecek. "If you win something no o…
