Federal authorities in Manhattan busted an Internet extortion ring that aimed to rip off online buyers of Viagra and other illegal prescription drugs as part of a $3.5 million nationwide scheme that included victims in Manhattan and the Bronx — and a Texas woman who killed herself over the scam.
Twenty-one citizens of the Dominican Republic were busted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and charged with impersonating federal agents, extortion and wire fraud, according to an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court Wednesday. Seventeen of them have been arrested and await extradition while the others remain at large.
Authorities say the scammers pretended to be DEA agents and duped people who historically buy Viagra and other prescription drugs online. The scam artists called and threatened their marks that they’d be arrested for illegal purchases if they didn’t wire money to avoid prosecution. The scheme ran from 2008 to March 2013
The DEA set up a telephone hotline in 2010 for victims to report extortion attempts, and says it received about 6,500 complaints through January 2013. The complaints totaled more than $3.5 million extortion attempts.
The defendants got away with at least $880,000, the feds said.
Carolyn Sirek, a legal secretary from Joshua, Texas, fell prey to the extortionists and committed suicide over it, sources said.
Her husband, Dan Sirek, told ABC News in 2012 that Carolyn went into a local Wal-Mart and wired the scammers money through Western Union. The blood money payment “depleted our savings account,” he said.
Sirek said his wife was so upset that she shot herself dead in their backyard.
It’s unclear how much the couple lost but two other victims lost $500,000 and $100,000 a piece, sources said.
“These alleged criminals not only bilked thousands of dollars from unsuspecting Americans, but they also called into question the integrity and honor of the DEA and all law enforcement,” DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart said. “The DEA, with the assistance of our Dominican Republic counterparts, have worked diligently to identify, target and, ultimately, dismantle this group of alleged scam artists.”
The DEA says the scam artists targeted Americans they felt had illicitly purchased prescription meds through call centers located in the Dominican Republic.
They would call a victim and identify themselves as a DEA agent or representative of another federal agency. The victim would then be told they were under investigation for illegally purchasing prescription drugs, and that the only way to avoid arrest and jail would be to pay a “fine” or some other fee to the DEA.
The defendants face up to 45 years in jail and $750,000 in fines.
The DEA says anyone who receives a similar threatening phone should hang up and contact local or federal law enforcement immediately.