Types of White-Collar Crime
For this assignment, you are going to become a white-collar criminal! Using the proper terminology, write a report in Microsoft Word describing how you would orchestrate one of the following types of white-collar crimes:
- Bait and switch
- Telemarketing fraud
- Ponzi scheme
- Charity-based fraud
Your report should clearly demonstrate your understanding of the type of crime you have chosen. Be sure to complete the assigned reading. Your report should cover the following points:
- Define and describe the white-collar crime you picked from those listed above.
- Describe what your goals would be if you were to engage in this crime.
- Provide detailed descriptions of the methods you will use to carry out the crime.
- Mention who your victims will be and why you selected these victims.
Support your responses with examples.
Cite any sources in APA format.
Types of White-Collar Crime
Introduction
The advent of technology has made lives on a worldwide scale, much easier. One of the biggest innovations introduced by technology is undoubtedly communication. Some decades ago our forefathers were dependent on slower modes like letters to establish relationships with people established in far-off places. Though, the advent is accompanied by a certain level of hazard. This hazard formulizes itself as Telemarketing Fraud.
Description of Telemarketing Scam
Telemarketing Fraud in basic terms is defined as any kind of swindling that occurs over the phone. Over the years with new innovations, this definition has also evolved, as other evolved forms of communications have made their foray. Initially, the telephone was the formative step in such fraudulent schemes, but that necessity is disbarred now, as communication can be initiated on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. In such frauds, there is a higher frequency of ‘Victim Facilitation’. The criminals involved in such operations articulate themselves in such a manner that victims can become subjected to attraction and fall into pitfalls. Naivety plays a big role as in most of these cases the victims are required to surrender private information. This private information is almost always delivered without any hesitancy in successful heists (Gupta & Kumar, 2020, p. 50).
One of the most common forms of telemarketing crimes is Advanced Fee Scams. The Advance Fee Scam will be covered in this topic. In these kinds of incidents, the victim is encouraged to provide some money to gain better returns in the future. The Pyramid Scam is done to people who show reserve to the caller and do not invest a ton of money in one go. Through this Scam, the perpetrator provides the investor with initial profits, and after getting a huge sum disappears. This case will also involve a Letter Scam somewhat to an extent as the victim will be coerced into giving credit card information. In such scams, the operation is mostly widespread.
Goals of this crime
Engaging in this crime, my main aim would be to develop trust within my clients but not a particular closeness. The trust would enable the passage of private information while having a non-intimate relationship will keep the aspect of identity private. By creating a proper online presence, I would encourage the clientele to invest in fake shares. After gaining the investment the operations would be shut down with immediate effect, as quickly as possible (Dodge, 2020, p.30). The victims in all probability would be citizens of foreign countries to bring difficulties in the legal procedures.
In one case, 60 assailants were all based in 14 states, 16 judicial districts, and two Canadian provinces. Such a spread made it increasingly difficult for them to get apprehended. Several accused like Vijay Mallya, with the usage of a certain amount of time, manage to shift places and save from getting incarcerated. Inter-country laws are extremely complicated and time-consuming due to which the criminals in many cases prefer victims from outside their own country borders or try to transfer the acquired funds to another country, in order to safeguard the stolen money and escape law (Guha & Indurkar, 2020, p. 116).
Detailed descriptions of the methods used to carry out the crime.
Initially, to facilitate the telemarketing fraud I would create a social media account, preferably on Instagram, and thereafter buy followers through some sources. This would require a certain amount of investment, but the fraud is going to hopefully bring it all back. The Instagram page would be styled as an investment company that deals in shares. A Google presence would also be facilitated. This Google account will be accompanied by believable fake reviews, to solidify the online presence. Online Presence is a necessity as most of the victims ‘verify’ the value of a brand through the reach it pertains to in the world of the Internet (Grabosky, Smith & Wright, 2018, p.8).
After choosing the victim, communication over the phone would be established. This is to make the whole operation feel more authentic to the clients. In this communication voice modulation equipment will be used so that there is no link. This will make it difficult for legal officials to trace the real perpetrator since there would be no evidence. To reduce evidence prepaid numbers will be used in the operation. The acquirement of prepaid numbers through fake documentation is a pretty easy task to achieve, as there is no real check and balance system in place. This is the typical methodology of telemarketing crimes.
Before communicating on the phone, the profiles of proposed shares need to be carefully built. The proposed shares should have an internet presence. It would seem more factual if they have a made-up connection to an actual corporation. The detailing should be immaculate so that the clients don’t notice any discrepancy whatsoever (Pillai & Lokanadha Reddy, 2021, p.64). The documentation provided to the client must be perfect from top to bottom, starting from the corporation stamp to the government inscribe. These steps are essential as they not only sought to increase the client’s trust but also help to not raise any red flags that could lead to a shutdown and judicial custody.
The private details would be sought in two to three phone calls, which would be the adequate time to have enough of a connection to appropriately ask for such details while at the same time not enough for the clients to do adequate research beyond the internet. If the clients do not readily provide the details the operation would be scrapped up immediately. The instantaneous reaction is key in such crimes. If a person takes some time to reconsider they can easily see the error of the ways that are being operated. Hence people who take time to confirm their actions usually don’t fall into these traps, and therefore as a criminal the victims who give an instant reaction to my request would be preferred.
The instantaneous reactions come into play in situations titled Tech support scams. In such situations, a call is made to people preferably technologically ignorant. The call claims that their computers have been infected with a virus. The caller disguises themselves to be from a corporation like Microsoft.
After garnering the required details, related to withdrawal, a fund transfer would be facilitated preferably at the time when it would be a night for the client so that they are not immediately notified. The transfer would take place through the internet so that there are no real-life footprints. If possible the cash should be taken out in hand so that it is out of any system that can be monitored. Though this method has become increasingly difficult to achieve due to CCTV cameras, and in such cases, the funds should be distributed to multiple constituents and transferred to accounts belonging to different countries (Alshammari & Singh, 2018, p.6). This methodology allows for complications of inter-country jurisdiction. In case of an enquiry, it would take the legal authorities a considerable amount of time to gain permission to investigate funds present in other countries. This time would allow the criminals more pathway, and duration to camouflage their stolen funds. Distributing enables criminals to ensure that they at least get a portion of their stolen funds.
Reasons behind selecting particular victims
The important step of the process is to scrape through the victims. An appropriate victim is a necessary facet to properly transpire the crime. These crimes generally tend to target people in an older age group. The reasoning behind it is that they are less informed about happenings over the online forum. Any doubt could be easily explained, and their potential for investment is also larger compared to their younger counterparts. Another aspect that makes older folks the preferred target, is the lack of reporting. A larger part of this age group has a huge amount of savings and their reputation doesn’t equate to the lost funds. Therefore to save themselves from embarrassment most of them don’t report the crime. This adds to the appeal for criminals. Hence, the preferred target of this operation would be older people.
The popularity of this choice was witnessed in a recent high-profile case where a Telemarketing fraud scheme led to the theft of almost 300 million dollars from vulnerable and elderly people. This fraud scheme involved near about 60 people with many still out of the reach of law. The criminals over the course of 2 decades set up inauthentic magazine sales companies to lure these older people. These companies formulated call centers, which used an incredibly manipulative script to influence people to make large and repetitive payments to the accounts associated with the company.
Similarly, Grandparent Scams have become a hugely used method. In such scams, a grandparent is usually called by the fraudsters claiming to be their relatives, mostly their grandsons or granddaughters. The fraudsters identify to be in particular distress in such a manner that the grandparents become increasingly anxious. Communication is established the time of night so that the clarity of thinking is lost in such people, and they are not in the right state. The excuses used are that they are in an accident, or they are in jail and need money instantly to relieve themselves from this stress. Then an emotional feature is added to the situation by the ‘child’ ferociously begging, for nobody in the family to know about the fact. The moment the victim is perceived to be in the clutches then the phone is quickly given to the accomplice who demands or requests the money depending on the fabricated situation (Sheckels & Farer, 2018, p.42).
Telemarketing fraud is a comprehensive effort. It requires a large amount of coordination to come through, and therefore the key to catching the perpetrators is in this coordination. Rarely are these crimes a result of individual efforts. These crimes can be best figured out by looking at the connections these perpetrators have established with each other. If law forces can grasp the details of these connections, they can easily catch the accused.
Conclusion
Telemarketing Crimes as this incident suggests play on the trust and selfishness of people. Through the use of incredibly influencing scripts and certain technological aspects, the criminals garner trust and then disappear. Apprehending them is extremely complicated because of the detailed and vast system they put in place. Therefore in the case of Telemarketing crimes, the best way of protection is patience. The more patience employed by people in their steps, the more protected they would be from these scams.
Reference List
Alshammari, T. S., & Singh, H. P. (2018). Preparedness of Saudi Arabia to defend against cyber crimes: An assessment with reference to anti-cyber crime law and GCI index. Archives of Business Research, 6(12).
Dodge, M. (2020). A black box warning: The marginalization of white-collar crime victimization. Journal of White Collar and Corporate Crime, 1(1), 24-33.
Grabosky, P. N., Smith, R. G., & Wright, P. (2018). Crime in the digital age: Controlling telecommunications and cyberspace illegalities. Routledge.
Guha, E. A., & Indurkar, S. K. (2020). A study on cyber crime and data breach management. Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 11(2), 113-117.
Gupta, C. M., & Kumar, D. (2020). Identity theft: a small step towards big financial crimes. Journal of Financial Crime.
Pillai, R., & Lokanadha Reddy, M. (2021). Digitisation of Financial Markets: A Literature Review on White-Collar Crimes. Innovations in Information and Communication Technologies (IICT-2020), 61-66.
Sheckels, J. M., & Farer, J. L. (2018). Investigating and Prosecuting Transnational Telefraud Schemes: The India-Based Call Center Scam and Costa Rica Telemarketing Fraud Cases. Dep’t of Just. J. Fed. L. & Prac., 66, 213.
