×
Newsmax TV & Webwww.newsmax.comFREE - In Google Play
VIEW
×
Newsmax TV & Webwww.newsmax.comFREE - On the App Store
VIEW
Tags: text | message | fraud | crime

US Charges Two More in Multimillion-Dollar Text Message Fraud

Monday, 14 September 2015 04:37 PM EDT

Two men were charged on Monday with helping to run a so-called "cramming" scheme in which they earned tens of millions of dollars by charging unsuspecting mobile phone users for unwanted text messages.

Darcy Wedd and Erdolo Eromo were expected to appear in federal court in New York and Los Angeles, respectively, later on Monday.

The charges were brought by the office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in New York, which previously charged six other men in May in connection with the scheme.

In 2013, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission settled related civil charges with one of the six men, Lin Miao, and several corporate entities, taking more than $10 million in assets including a Beverly Hills, California, home and luxury cars.

Brian Sun, a lawyer for Eromo, said, "We are disappointed in this decision by the United States Attorney's office, we disagree with it, and we will do our talking in court."

Wedd's defense lawyer in New York could not immediately be reached for comment.

From 2011 to 2013, the defendants arranged for thousands of mobile numbers to be "auto-subscribed" to text messages containing horoscopes, celebrity gossip or trivia for $9.99 a month, prosecutors said.

Customers typically ignored or deleted the messages and did not notice the monthly charge on their bills, according to the indictment.

Wedd and Eromo were executives at a mobile aggregator, which functions as a middleman between text message companies and mobile carriers by aggregating monthly charges onto customer bills, prosecutors said.

In 2011, Wedd, who was chief executive, noticed the unauthorized charges and raised the issue with Miao, according to the indictment.

Wedd agreed to help perpetuate the scheme in exchange for $100,000 and a percentage of the proceeds, the indictment said. Eromo also met with Miao and agreed to participate for regular payments, according to the indictment.

Wedd and Eromo face charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering.

In a statement, Bharara said, "Although the text messages were often trivial, what the defendants allegedly did was far from a joking matter. Their criminal scheme allegedly fleeced hundreds of thousands of everyday customers from around the country out of millions of dollars."

Miao, Yong Jason Lee, Michael Pajaczkowski and Christopher Goff were all previously arrested in May. Two other defendants, Michael Pearse and Yongchao Liu, live in Australia and are not in U.S. custody.

© 2023 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.


Personal-Finance
Two men were charged on Monday with helping to run a so-called cramming scheme in which they earned tens of millions of dollars by charging unsuspecting mobile phone users for unwanted text messages.
text, message, fraud, crime
395
2015-37-14
Monday, 14 September 2015 04:37 PM
Newsmax Media, Inc.

Sign up for Newsmax’s Daily Newsletter

Receive breaking news and original analysis - sent right to your inbox.

(Optional for Local News)
Privacy: We never share your email address.
Join the Newsmax Community
Read and Post Comments
Please review Community Guidelines before posting a comment.
 
Get Newsmax Text Alerts
TOP

Newsmax, Moneynews, Newsmax Health, and Independent. American. are registered trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc. Newsmax TV, and Newsmax World are trademarks of Newsmax Media, Inc.

NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
NEWSMAX.COM
MONEYNEWS.COM
© Newsmax Media, Inc.
All Rights Reserved