A new federal task force and its website are now available for people who believe they were victimized by scammers and fraudsters who stole their money.
The United States Attorney’s Office of the Central District of California tells the NBC4 I-Team the Vulnerable Communities Task Force began last October.
“The victims are very often vulnerable communities. What I mean by that is groups that historically have had less access to legal resources. So, for instance, older adults, immigrants and indigent individuals who are using public benefits,” E. Martin Estrada, United States Attorney for the Central District of California, said.
He told the I-Team one of the main reasons for creating the group is to assist with the difficult process of reporting what people have experienced.
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
It’s now a click away.
A new link has been added to the Department of Justice website that gets people to a form where they can submit their complaint.
"We will then work with federal law enforcement authorities to look into investigating the case. I will say we cannot investigate every case, but those cases that truly affect victims in a profound way, we will open and investigate,” Estrada said.
As for those who perpetrating the crime, Estrada said many of them are overseas.
"We have these criminal networks operate overseas that reach into this country to commit fraud,” he said.
“That's because they use things like the internet, mail, phones and text messages, and that means it can be a federal case. Now we look for the cases that have the biggest impact on the community. So where we see repeat conduct, we investigate those cases,” Estrada added.
Several cases have been filed or sentenced since the announcement of the task force in October 2023.
A Department spokesperson told the I-Team most recently the team has opened at least five new investigations.
“To me, the difference between a civil case and a criminal case is the presence of lying, cheating and stealing,” Monica Tait, Assistant U.S. Attorney in charge of the Vulnerable Communities Task Force, said.
She urged people to be as specific as possible when reporting potential fraud.
“The first thing I want to hear is that you're a potential victim of something. And I want to hear who did it to you, when did it happen, how much money did you lose and how did it affect you? And if you can crystallize the part about how you're a victim of fraud and put that as your top sentence, that will get people's attention,” Tait said.
Estrada said no one should feel fear or embarrassment to report their experiences.
“My very clear message is to not have shame, not be embarrassed. We know that anyone can be a victim of fraud. In fact, just a month ago, we learned that one of the most famous and the most successful baseball players ever, Shohei Ohtani, was a victim himself of fraud. If Mr. Ohtani can be a victim of fraud, anyone can be a victim of fraud,” Estrada said.
The Vulnerable Communities Task Force reporting claims form can be found here.
Connecting with this task force does not mean that what may have happened to you will rise to the level of a federal crime but the group believes it is a step in seeing if there is possible legal action
