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San Diego: Man from China gets 12.5 years prison; ran a ring of couriers who collected $27 million from victims of tech support, government impersonation and refund frauds; changed money into crypto and sent it to India, keeping 18%

Rhode Island: Two executives of company that provided telco services to businesses in India they knew were tech support frauds plead guilty

Elderly California couple dead after wife sent large sums to fraudster pretending to be Tom Selleck; apparently husband killed her and then himself

Is that “local” business really where it says it is?  In the last issue I covered the FTC’s recent case against Premium Home Services, which ran google ads and offered plumbing, electrical, and other home repair services with “local” addresses and phones along with great (fake) reviews. But at least 10,000 victims found that calls really went to overseas call centers, who collected money and then tried, often unsuccessfully, to find someone who could appear and do the work. It is troubling that anyone would be able to game the online system this way, thought I fear that (at least) fake florists and locksmiths use the same tactics.  More law enforcement here – not to mention better work by Google – might be a real benefit to consumers

Review and Recommendation: I heartily recommend a series of fiction books by CJ Box that all involve Wyoming Fish and Game agent Joe Pickett.  They each have some sort of crime involving the state — though these are not typical mystery novels. And I think they are great for any sort of audience.

Full Report here