A citizen of the Dominican Republic, Luis Alfonso Bisono Rodriguez, was charged with defrauding elderly people of $50,000 in a grandparent fraud scheme where scammers posed as victims’ children. The FBI has seen an increase in financial fraud targeted at elderly individuals, with annual losses reaching as high as $3.4 billion due to these types of schemes. Bisono Rodriguez worked with partners in the Dominican Republic to convince victims to hand over their savings by posing as various characters such as family members, attorneys, and bail bondsmen.
The scam involved victims handing envelopes of money to unsuspecting Uber and Lyft drivers, who then delivered the money to Bisono Rodriguez in Ohio, who would then deposit it and wire some of it to the Dominican Republic. The scheme was elaborate, with multiple characters involved in convincing victims not to tell anyone about the money they were sending. These scammers often used stolen data or information from social media to develop credible narratives.
The case is part of a larger trend where elderly people are increasingly targeted by financial fraud schemes, with the FBI reporting a double-digit increase in elder financial fraud. In a separate case, more than two dozen Canadian nationals were charged with bilking over $21 million from elderly people in the United States using similar methods. The scammers in this case operated call centers in Canada, making it appear as if the calls were coming from within the U.S. Prosecutors have seen an increase in these types of scams, highlighting the need for elderly individuals to stay vigilant and informed to protect themselves from financial fraud.
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