Brooklyn: DOJ indicts two members of the Jalisco drug cartel for operating call centers in Mexico reaching out to US owners of Mexican timeshares claiming they had a buyer; operated ten years; the  two are not yet in custody

Interpol operation involving 40 countries seizes $440 million from romance, BEC and other frauds

Nevada: Woman pleads guilty to scheme that mass mailed notices to victims telling them they had won and needed to send a small sum to claim prize; took in $15 million

Scams or Fraud – Is there a difference?  I’ve heard some people believe that  these terms have legal significance.  To prove fraud, of course, requires that the perpetrator did it intentionally, that it was not a mistake for example.  Normally that isn’t too hard to prove.  I suspect that the term “scams” developed as a shorthand and suggests that they have a lesser significance.  But for my purposes they are the same, and the term scams is not meant to downplay the seriousness of the activity.

Full report here