PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — In marking what they called the largest coordinated sweep of elder fraud cases in history — 400 defendants charged in the past year, compared to 260 last year — the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday a brand new telephone hotline is available to report fraud against the elderly.
The toll-free phone number is +1-833-FRAUD-11, or (833) 372-8311.
The hotline will be staffed with case managers who have experience dealing with crooked schemes and fraudsters, according to the offices of U.S. Attorney General William Barr and U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island Aaron Weisman.
“Americans are fed up with the constant barrage of scams that maliciously target the elderly and other vulnerable citizens,” Barr said in a news release.
“This office has zero tolerance for those scammers,” Weisman added. “Defrauding our seniors of their hard-earned savings is a sure way to being subject to federal prosecution — and, if convicted, incarceration.”
Weisman’s office noted some local cases were part of the lengthy sweep, including Shawn Whitfield, 49, of Pawtucket, who admitted he led victims, mostly elderly, to believe they’d won cash or prizes in a lottery or sweepstakes but told them they’d have to pay taxes or fees upfront, netting more than $109,000 in ill-gotten gains in conspiracy with crooks in Jamaica.
And a Dorchester man, Julio Feliciano, 31, was arrested after police said he convinced an 85-year-old woman in Tennessee to send a package full of cash to an address in Bristol, R.I., but when that package arrived at a UPS store, the manager got suspicious and contacted the victim directly. Police were then alerted and they arrested Feliciano when he arrived to pick up the package. Feliciano pleaded guilty in January, admitting to cheating seniors in at least four states by telling them a relative had been arrested and needed bail money.
