Info for arresting his accomplice is worth $750,000

Nov 19, 2014 15:39 GMT  ·  By
The FBI offers up to $1 million for info leading to Popescu's capture
5 photos
   The FBI offers up to $1 million for info leading to Popescu's capture

A Romanian national made it to the top of FBI’s Cyber’s Most Wanted list, with a reward of  $1 million / €796,000 being offered for information that leads to capturing or convicting him.

The fugitive’s name is Nicolae Popescu and he is the leader of an organized crime group running Internet fraud schemes by posting fake announcements for selling different goods on different online markets.

High-level online scamming

The criminal group was well organized, and in their advertisements, they shared images of the products they claimed to be selling. Fake invoices that were seemingly issued by legitimate online payment services were sent to the buyers, along with instructions for depositing the money in a US bank account, which belonged to the conspirators.

According to the FBI, Popescu ran a multimillion dollar cyber-fraud scheme on US-based car-trading websites Cars.com and AutoTrader.com. eBay and other similar sites were also used by the fraudsters, who posted advertisements for cars, motorcycles, boats, and other high-value items that had a price range from $10,000 / €8,000 to $45,000 / €36,000.

Obviously, none of the items were real, and after the victim would pay the money, the crooks would immediately pull it out of the banks and send it back home to co-conspirators. The US bank accounts receiving the money would be set up by the crooks using fake documents.

Fellow fraudster also earned an FBI bounty

Popescu was in charge of the fraudulent activity and he would hire or fire passport makers based on the quality of the documents they produced.

Additionally, he “supervised co-conspirators who were responsible for placing the fraudulent ads and corresponding with the victims, and ensured that the illicit proceeds transferred to the U.S. bank accounts were quickly collected and transferred to himself and others acting on his behalf in Europe,” a statement from the FBI says. It is estimated that the crooks made $3 / €2.394 million from their criminal activity.

Popescu is not the only one wanted by the US law enforcement in relation to this fraud scheme. Dumitru Daniel Bosogioiu is also on the list, with a bounty of up to $750,000 / €600,000 for details leading to his arrest.

Both of them have been charged along with 11 others. They managed to escape an international takedown in December 2012.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge George Venizelos said that “the sizeable reward money offered by the Department of State underscores the seriousness of these crimes and our joint commitment to putting these individuals behind bars where they can no longer target innocent victims.”

Fraud estimated at $3 million (5 Images)

The FBI offers up to $1 million for info leading to Popescu's capture
Up to $750,000 is offered for details leading to Bosogioiu's arrestPopescu is now at the head of Cyber's Most Wanted list of the FBI
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