Phoenix police bust telemarketing ring that scammed seniors out of $40 million

[Coventina]

Source: Arizona Republic/CBS 5

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Phoenix police say they have busted a telemarketing fraud ring that has scammed thousands of senior citizens out of more than $40 million. Thirteen people have been arrested.

The investigation started in 2014 with a 75-year-old woman from Iowa.

Phoenix Police Detectives of the Commercial Crimes Detail say that the woman had been scammed out of thousands of dollars by a criminal enterprise operating as a telemarketing business or called WyzeMoney.

The telemarketer convinced her to invest money in the company with the promise of no risk and guaranteed money back.

Phoenix police detectives, working with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and The Better Business Bureau, identified additional victims who had filed complaints.

The victims, numbering in the thousands, ranged from their late 60s to their 90s and lived out of state. The total monetary damages are estimated at more than 40 million dollars.

Read more: https://www.azfamily.com/news/phoenix-police-bust-telemarketing-ring-that-scammed-seniors-out-of/article_d500c5b6-e54b-11e9-a9e9-db3e3450e6de.html

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Although this is our local paper, the 9000 victims were from the entire US.

[rampartc]

1. they need to be punished severely

no telephone or internet either.

[Yeehah]

2. Good work, Phoenix Police!

Seems like something the FBI should have been doing.

[chowder66]

3. There should be a PSA about scams for senior citizens that runs frequently. nt

[not fooled]

4. Including

deceptive fundraising mailers from the GOPee including the conman-in-chief.

Talk about a scam!

[keithbvadu2]

5. ...ripped off people in lottery scam because they needed to 'learn their lesson'

Virginia Beach woman ripped off people in lottery scam because they needed to ‘learn their lesson’

https://www.pilotonline.com/news/crime/vp-nw-jamaican-lottery-scam-sentence-20190930-a6mn6dcnfbgelgthqlp5bssy5e-story.html

[yaesu]

6. If it were up to Barr not only would he not bust this outfit, he would join them. nt

[AllaN01Bear]

7. thank you phoniex pd.

[marble falls]

8. Where's the forty mil?

[gfwzig]

9. Why did it take 5 years to bust them?

these kind of scams and drug ring investigations take years to be acted upon, The investigators act like they are getting a piece of the action by taking so long to "bust up" the ring. all on the pretext that they are after the Big Fish. meanwhile the scam / drug ring preys upon the public for YEARS making millions while doing so. If you catch them today--- bust them within a reasonable amount of time. They operated in this case for 5 years extra with 9000 USA victims alone and 40 million dollars profit

[Mosby]

10. +1

[JonLP24]

11. I can say why drug investigations take so long

If not then you get simply street level arrests drug users and small time drug dealers. Even those aren't simple because they have to work behind the fourth amendment which the drug wars have done a good job of eroding.

High end drug investigations take time you can make all the street level arrests all you want the ones at the top are still going to be making money & running a criminal conspiracy.

[FakeNoose]

12. The phone companies have enabled these scammers for way too long

Where and how do the scammers get their calling lists - from the telephone companies. The robodialing scammers have had access to our information and used it to steal from countless Americans who are a little bit gulllible. My mom used to fall for those magazine subscription "deals" over the phone, and of course that put her on even more call lists. They figured out long ago that senior citizens are an easy mark.