DuPage County State’s Attorney, Secret Service sting shuts down 350 fraudulent investment websites

A recent joint sting operation conducted by the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Secret Service along with DuPage County’s IT department resulted in shutting down more than 350 fake websites designed to con visitors through fraudulent investment scams.

Commonly known as “Pig Butchering,” the scam involved three individuals from another country who posed as a successful, friendly individual or romantic interest to deceive their victims into providing funds for fictitious emergencies, investments, employment opportunities or other schemes only to disappear once they had received money from their victims, according to a DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office news release.

The 90-day effort diverted about 17,800 visitors from the phony websites. After the successful conclusion of the operation, the state’s attorney’s office and Secret Service once again joined forces to produce a public service announcement to help the public steer clear of such scams. The public service announcement is available at https://youtu.be/safpK5gfbjI.

Such schemes typically work as follows. First, the fraudsters create a phony online persona that typically shows them living a glamorous lifestyle. Once equipped with this fake persona, the con men then took to the Internet, sending messages to people on dating and social networking websites. After contact is made with their victim, the fraudster works on gaining the victim’s confidence and trust before pivoting their conversations to investments and the success they have had, according to the release.

The con man ultimately convinces their victim to “invest” real money into phony brokerage accounts with them, promising training and tutelage along the way. The manipulation continues with the scammer exploiting their victim’s emotional and financial vulnerabilities to convince them to “invest” even more funds. Once the victim was either unwilling or unable to continue “investing,” the victim’s perceived success suddenly stops, oftentimes with the explanation that their investment suffered a huge loss that wiped out all the funds, according to the release.

The fraudsters then attempt one last swindle, informing their victim that if they invest more money they will be able to recoup their losses. Once the target realizes they have been scammed, the scammer goes silent and the website of the phony brokerage stops working.

Because perpetrators often live outside the country, investigators often focus on taking away their money and dismantling their infrastructure to commit fraud.

“While the use of technology has certainly enhanced our lives, from keeping in touch with loved ones through being more productive at work, it has also made us much more vulnerable,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release. “Even for those who are familiar with potential scams on the internet, it is still extremely easy to become a target of such scams. To minimize the chances of becoming a victim, do not provide any personal information, particularly financial information, to anyone you have only corresponded with online or on the phone. I would also say to trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right about a transaction, do not complete it.”

U.S. Secret Service Deputy Special Agent in Charge Derek Mayer praised the work of those involved in the operation, including the U.S. Secret Service, the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office and the DuPage County IT department.

“This is a significant case both in DuPage County and the state of Illinois and it led to protecting so many people from falling prey to these online traps,” Mayer said in the release. “The Secret Service appreciates our partnership with the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office that ended up helping so many people.”

“I am extremely proud of our partnership with the U.S. Secret Service in combatting online scams designed to take advantage of trusting, innocent individuals,” Berlin said. “I am equally as proud of DuPage County’s IT department’s Network and Web Services teams for their outstanding work in helping protect DuPage County residents as they navigate their way through the internet. While no prosecutions or arrests resulted from this operation as the individuals involved all live outside the U.S., I still feel this endeavor was a tremendous success as it allowed us to remove these websites from the internet, putting an end to this scheme and the probability of future victims.

“Our information technology staff went above and beyond while assisting with this criminal investigation. I appreciate the invaluable work of everyone involved and am grateful we were able to keep so many of our residents safe,” DuPage County Information Technology Committee Chair Yeena Yoo said.

For information on how to protect yourself from online scams, visit the Federal Trade Commission at https://consumer.ftc.gov/scams.