Online vigilantes turn tables on scammers who victimize the elderly
(NewsNation) — Los Angeles-based Trilogy Media is trying to unravel complicated global scams that target vulnerable people, including the elderly, and sometimes the self-styled internet vigilantes are even able to turn the tables on fraudsters.
'These scammers are becoming so prolific and so successful. They are really good at making several different layers of separation between themselves and the victim,' co-founder Ashton Bingham tells 'CUOMO.'
With its online content, Trilogy Media primarily educates the public about how some of these elaborate scams work by coaxing victims to part with information or money. Bingham and co-founder Art Kulik say bringing the perpetrators to justice is challenging because of jurisdictional issues.
More than $35,000 recovered in stolen Bitcoin scam for Ohio woman
'Domestic law enforcement will say, 'Well, they're out of the country, we can't do anything,' but then foreign law enforcement will say, 'The victim is in the United States, so we can't do anything,'' Bingham said.
In certain instances, Trilogy Media has been able to find people in the U.S. who are working with the scammers overseas.
'You can talk to us, or we can report it to police,' Bingham tells a suspect in one episode.
Internationally, scammers are believed to siphon $1 trillion annually from victims.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
39 minutes ago
- Associated Press
1 officer killed, 1 wounded and another person dead in Los Angeles County shooting
BALDWIN PARK, Calif. (AP) — One police officer was killed and another was injured after a shooting Saturday evening in a city west of Los Angeles, authorities said. Another person was found dead. An adult male suspect was wounded but has been taken into custody, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna. He said the department is leading an investigation into a double homicide in Baldwin Park. Luna and Baldwin Park Police Chief Robert López held a news conference shortly after the shooting. 'It's extremely tragic to have to deal with this,' López said. The injured officer is in good condition and with his family, he added. Police in Baldwin Park responded to a call at around 7 p.m. of someone shooting rounds with a rifle. When the officers arrived, they were 'met by gunfire,' Luna said. At least one officer fired shots after police came under fire. It is unclear how many shots were fired, but the sheriff said that he believed the weapon used in the shooting has been recovered. The names of the victims have not been released as of Sunday morning. López said the officer who was killed was an 'amazing man' who liked snowboarding and traveled to see Dodger games across the United States.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
XRP (Ripple) Is Down 34%. Should You Buy the Dip?
XRP gained 255% from November 2024 to January 2025, outpacing Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin during the post-election crypto rally. Economic uncertainty and concerns about international payment volumes create headwinds for XRP's cross-border payment focus. A dollar-cost averaging approach, such as buying in thirds, could help you build long-term exposure while mitigating XRP's short-term volatility. 10 stocks we like better than XRP › The XRP (CRYPTO: XRP) cryptocurrency reached a multiyear record price of $3.31 per coin in January 2025. By May 30, the coin had retreated 34% to $2.18 per coin. So XRP investors face a dilemma: Is the cryptocurrency a no-brainer buy at these lower prices, or will the price drop continue? Here's how I see it. Two events boosted XRP's market price from November 2024 to January 2025. Together, they supported a third event with game-changing potential. The Trump campaign in the 2024 presidential election included heavy support for cryptocurrencies. As a result, many cryptos soared after the election, as the incoming administration had promised to update crypto regulations, promote crypto mining on American soil, and more. Leading names like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) posted double-digit price gains in November, and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) more than doubled. But none of them could keep up with XRP, as the coin formerly known as Ripple gained 255%. Trump's camp also wanted to set up a strategic cryptocurrency reserve, similar to the economy-calming reserve of physical gold in Fort Knox. Chatter about this future market-booster kept rising as the inauguration drew near. Crypto investors expected a "Trump bump" from the resulting influx of government-scale cryptocurrency orders, perhaps as early as the January 20 inauguration date itself. XRP was seen as a likely addition to the obvious Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin holdings of this hypothetical crypto reserve, so the good times kept going for XRP investors. A more crypto-friendly administration and the anticipated inclusion of XRP in federal crypto investments led to one inescapable conclusion. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit that has been hanging over XRP's head for four years would have to go away. This is arguably the biggest price-booster of them all, opening up the domestic business market for XRP and the Ripple Labs organization in a whole new way. XRP's price peaked a couple of days before the inauguration. Ethereum and Dogecoin have also seen price drops of 27% or more since January 18. Bitcoin fell 25% but gained some momentum more recently, reaching new all-time highs last week. None of these leading cryptocurrencies have experienced a Trump bump despite Republican majorities in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Even the Supreme Court leans Republican these days. Despite this overwhelming power base, Trump's team hasn't done much to support cryptocurrencies so far. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was announced in March, alongside a smaller Digital Asset Stockpile of cryptocurrencies not named Bitcoin. But this wasn't the huge crypto-buying spree many investors had expected. Instead, the two crypto portfolios will largely just manage existing federal cryptocurrency holdings. More coins and tokens will largely come in as government agencies collect them from criminal courtroom proceedings. That's not what the XRP camp had expected. The dream of a federal splurge on XRP coins was dead. Meanwhile, economic uncertainty weighed on all sorts of investment markets this spring. People worry about tariffs, trade conflicts, perhaps a return to sky-high inflation rates, and more. That adds up to an unfavorable environment for risky investment ideas, including most of the crypto market. XRP's focus on international money transfer services is particularly unhelpful, as border-crossing payment volumes could drop dramatically over the next few years. Despite a volatile economy and unpredictable government support, XRP still has several promising qualities. The SEC lawsuit has almost been settled, and the Digital Asset Stockpile exists. Several financial firms have filed the paperwork to open XRP-based exchange-traded funds. Ripple Labs launched a Ripple USD (CRYPTO: RLUSD) stablecoin to simplify the global management of payment-processing funds. And the RippleNet payment service, where XRP plays many parts in the cash transfer process, sees nearly a million payment transactions per day. That's up from about 150,000 daily transactions two years ago. Taken together, these traits make XRP one of the top 5 cryptocurrencies I'd buy in a downturn. Some might say that the current 34% price dip isn't big enough and that you should wait for a deeper discount. That's perfectly fine, of course. Then again, I have no idea where XRP's prices might go in the short term. The upcoming summer is a black box of continued uncertainty. Holding off could be exactly the right idea, but the coin could also skyrocket again on short notice. If you agree with my generally positive view of XRP's long-term prospects, you may want to start a small position today and add to it over time. Buying in thirds is one disciplined option. That way, you'll at least have some exposure to this exciting cryptocurrency, with the no-pressure option to add more if the price dips even lower. Before you buy stock in XRP, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and XRP wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 Anders Bylund has positions in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. XRP (Ripple) Is Down 34%. Should You Buy the Dip? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Crypto kidnapping victim's dizzying view during alleged weeks-long torture ordeal
This is likely the dizzying view forced on crypto kidnapping victim Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan when he was allegedly dangled over a five-story staircase while being tortured for his Bitcoin password. Real estate photos of the eight-bedroom $21 million-dollar townhouse on Prince Street in SoHo where authorities said Carturan, 28, was abused and held captive for 17 days show the spiral, multi-level plunge he is believed to have faced during the harrowing ordeal. The native of Italy, who is worth $30 million, suffered serious injuries in the horrific episode, during which Manhattan prosecutors alleged he was tied to a chair with electrical wire, tased while standing in water, cut on his legs and arm with a chainsaw, urinated on and forced to take drugs. His accused tormentors — crypto entrepreneur John Woeltz and Swiss business man William Duplessie — also allegedly destroyed Carturan's passport. Carturan was rescued after he fled the townhouse barefoot on May 23 and flagged down a traffic cop for help. The former captive has already contacted the Italian consulate on the Upper East Side in order to get a new passport, Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported. 'Only on Saturday did the first contacts take place between the family (who said little or nothing keeping the conditions and the account of what happened confidential) and the Italian Foreign Ministry,' according to the outlet. His family owns a herbalist shop, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. Carturan was living in Rivoli, a town in the city of Turin in northern Italy, with his family before venturing to the Big Apple on May 6 to meet Woeltz, according to authorities and sources. He had studied psychology before dropping out of school to trade crypto, the Italian press reported. He was apparently hoping to retrieve Bitcoin allegedly stolen from him by Woeltz and Duplessie, who then turned the tables, took him captive and threatened to kill him and his family unless he gave them the password to his bitcoin wallet, prosecutors said. Woeltz, 37, of Kentucky, is believed to be worth $100 million. Polaroids that were found at the property showed Carturan — who reportedly has a net worth of $30 million — with a gun pointed at his head and being forced to smoke crack cocaine, authorities said. The pair are due in court June 11.
