Massive telemarketing scam being prosecuted in Asheville

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Here’s the story. Snippet:

The Justice Department describes Juan Llamas as a room manager of a telemarketing call center operating out of Costa Rica, and that he participated in the telemarketing scheme.

He is the 30th defendant to be sentenced on conspiracy and wire fraud charges from a series of indictments returned by federal grand juries in Charlotte and Asheville, North Carolina, according to the Justice Department.

Indictments charged defendants with conspiring to defraud U.S. residents, most over the age of 55, by making believe they’d a “sweepstakes contest,” the federal agency said.

Calls to victims were made from Costa Rica using Voice over Internet Protocol, which used computers to make telephone calls over the Internet and disguise the origin of the calls, the Justice Department said of indictments in the case. Callers identified themselves as from the “Sweepstakes Security Commission” and victims were to wire thousands of dollars to Costa Rica for “refundable insurance fee,” the Justice Department said.

A total of 33 defendants have pleaded guilty and three have been convicted in jury trials, the Justice Department.