A Grandparent Scam Charged as Organized Crime: Two More Plead Guilty to RICO Conspiracy

But in this case, the "organized crime" was a phone scam. Calls to grandparents. Fake emergencies. And money moved through cryptocurrency.

So what happened?

In May 2022, two more members of a "grandparent scam" network pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced both pleas.

• Anajah Gifford, 23, of North Hollywood, California, was the third defendant to plead guilty. The DOJ announced it on May 9, 2022.
• Joaquin Lopez, 46, of Hollywood, Florida, was the fourth. The DOJ announced it on May 26, 2022.

Each faced up to 20 years in prison. Charges in the case were announced in August 2021.

According to the DOJ, here's how the network worked:

• Members called elderly Americans and impersonated a grandchild, another close relative or a friend.
• They convinced victims their relatives were in legal trouble and needed money for bail, for medical expenses for car accident victims, or to keep more charges from being filed.
• Victims paid thousands to tens of thousands of dollars each.
• The money came in through in-person pickup, mail and wire transfer, and was laundered, including through cryptocurrency.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) San Diego Field Office investigated, with help from the San Diego County District Attorney's Office. The DOJ's Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California prosecuted. When Lopez pleaded, two co-defendants were pending trial and two more were charged but at large.

Here's the thing ...

RICO is the big gun. Prosecutors use it when they see an organization, not just a few bad actors. Roles. Structure. A business.

And that's what a phone scam network is. Somebody makes the calls. Somebody picks up the money. Somebody launders it. That's an org chart.

U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said it plainly: "It's heartless to tell grandparents they must pay tens of thousands of dollars to rescue their beloved grandchildren from terrible trouble." I don't know about you, but I agree.

Why should you care?

Because emotional manipulation over the phone is exactly what regulators and carriers are trying to stamp out. Urgent calls. Fake emergencies. Pressure to pay right now.

If any part of your sales process leans on panic, you're closer to this world than you want to be.

What to do this week

• Kill urgency scripts built on fear or emergencies.
• Never accept payment through couriers or crypto for a phone sale.
• Train your team to spot customers who sound like they're being scammed.
• Report scam traffic you see on your lines.

Look, protect the grandparents. They're somebody's whole world. That's it.