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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Timeshare Owner? The Mexican Drug Cartels Want You

Summary: The FBI is warning timeshare owners about telemarketing scams tied to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, which runs boiler-room call centers that pose as buyers and escrow firms to collect advance fees. A retired Ontario couple, the Dimitruks, lost more than $50,000 over nearly a year of document exchanges and wire transfers across at least two dozen phony escrow, title and realty domains. In July 2024 the FBI and FinCEN said the cartel uses these proceeds to fund other crimes, including fentanyl trafficking, and CBS News reported eight young workers were found dead after apparently trying to quit a Jalisco cartel call center.

Bottom line: The same criminal organization manufacturing fentanyl for the U.S. market runs the call centers behind these losses, and victims often stay silent out of shame or fear, which leaves the FBI without a record of who was robbed when seized funds are eventually returned.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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