The DOJ Sued to Shut Down a Seattle Man's Tech Support Money Pipeline

So what's alleged?

On March 1, 2019, the United States filed a civil complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against Joy Emmanuel of Seattle, No. 2:19-cv-309. The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked for a permanent injunction under 18 U.S.C. § 1345, a law that lets the government go to court to stop ongoing fraud and banking law violations.

You can read the whole thing here: DOJ complaint against Joy Emmanuel and Tech Support Hub.

Here's what the government alleged:

• Emmanuel owned Tech Support Hub LLC, a Washington company.
• Since at least 2017, telemarketers in India used calls and infrastructure Emmanuel maintained to run a tech support fraud scheme, mostly aimed at elderly consumers.
• The telemarketers reached people with cold calls, paid search ads for computer services and pop-ups dressed up as security alerts telling people to call right away.
• They often claimed to work for big tech companies, asked for remote access, "confirmed" a scary virus, sometimes showed a screen claiming a hacking attack was happening live, and then sold "high-quality" security software.
• Victims handed over checking account info, which was used to create remotely created checks payable to Emmanuel's accounts. Charges ran from several hundred to several thousand dollars.
• Some victims got follow-up calls with brand new fake threats. Others got a phony "refund," where money was shuffled around inside their own accounts to make it look like they'd been over-refunded.

According to the complaint, Emmanuel then wired the money to accomplices in India. These are allegations in a civil complaint.

Here's the thing ... the "veneer of domestic legitimacy"

That's the government's phrase, not mine. The scheme allegedly used a U.S. company and U.S. bank accounts to look legit.

Read that again. The overseas callers needed someone here to make it look real.

Why should you care?

Because search ads, pop-ups and inbound calls are the same tools legit businesses use every day. If you buy or sell tech support calls, you're swimming in the same water as these guys.

What to do this week

• Know who gets paid at the end of your calls. Who actually owns the bank account?
• Ban "virus alert" pop-ups and fake brand claims. No exceptions.
• Watch for remotely created checks and remote access. Those are classic red flags.

Do the boring stuff. That's how we keep the fun stuff alive.