A citizen of the Dominican Republic, Luis Alfonso Bisono Rodriguez, was charged with defrauding elderly people of $50,000 through a grandparent fraud scheme where scammers posed as victims’ children. The scheme involved convincing seniors to hand over their savings by posing as attorneys, bail bondsmen, and other characters. The FBI has raised concerns about an increase in elder fraud as more grandparents are targeted by scammers as they get online.
Bisono Rodriguez was indicted on five counts of receipt of stolen money across state borders, with the scam lasting from June 2024 to January 2025. Victims handed over money to unsuspecting Uber and Lyft drivers who delivered the cash to locations in Ohio where Bisono Rodriguez collected and deposited it. He then wired funds to partners in the Dominican Republic.
This case is part of a larger trend of financial fraud targeting elderly individuals, with reports showing losses of up to $3.4 billion annually to grandparent schemes. Scammers use stolen data or social media information to develop elaborate narratives involving multiple characters, convincing victims to send money while warning them not to tell anyone.
The scheme Bisono Rodriguez was involved in is believed to be part of an international crime ring based in the Dominican Republic, with partners orchestrating fraudulent activities from abroad. The case is just a fraction of the fraudsters targeting elderly people nationwide, with reports of a significant increase in financial fraud targeting elder adults. Other cases, such as an indictment involving Canadian nationals who scammed over $21 million from elderly victims in the U.S., highlight the widespread nature of these schemes.
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