{"id":33733,"date":"2020-03-23T07:32:14","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T11:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/?p=33733"},"modified":"2020-03-23T10:35:23","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T14:35:23","slug":"us-attorney-urges-public-to-report-suspected-covid-19-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/us-attorney-urges-public-to-report-suspected-covid-19-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"US Attorney Urges Public to Report Suspected COVID-19 Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"27492\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/nyc-law-firm-will-challenge-new-state-commission-aimed-at-dealing-with-district-attorney-misconduct\/ny-district-attorneys-association\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?fit=312%2C312&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"312,312\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"NY District Attorneys Association\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?fit=312%2C312&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-27492\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?resize=312%2C312&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"312\" height=\"312\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?w=312&amp;ssl=1 312w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association.jpg?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 312px) 100vw, 312px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a>BUFFALO &#8211; U.S. Attorney <strong>James P. Kennedy, Jr.<\/strong> is urging the public to report suspected fraud schemes related to <strong>COVID-19<\/strong> (the Coronavirus) by calling the <strong>National Center for Disaster Fraud<\/strong> (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or to the NCDF e-mail address disaster @ leo.gov.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In coordination with the Department of Justice, Attorney General <strong>William Barr<\/strong> has directed U.S. Attorneys to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of <strong>Coronavirus<\/strong> fraud schemes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMy message to those who seek to exploit the pandemic for their own personal gain by stealing others\u2019 money, or identity, or both, is simple,\u201d stated U.S. Attorney Kennedy.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a treatment for you and that treatment includes prosecution and federal prison.\u00a0 While others may get sick from the virus, most will recover. Sadly, I am not so sure these predators will ever recover from their affliction\u2014as it seems to have rotted their hearts and souls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some examples of these schemes include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Individuals and businesses selling fake cures for COVID-19 online and engaging in other forms of fraud.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phishing emails from entities posing as the World Health Organization or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Malicious websites and apps that appear to share Coronavirus-related information to gain and lock access to your devices until payment is received.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Seeking donations fraudulently for illegitimate or non-existent charitable organizations.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medical providers obtaining patient information for COVID-19 testing and then using that information to fraudulently bill for other tests and procedures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a memorandum to U.S. Attorneys issued March 19, Deputy Attorney General <strong>Jeffrey Rosen<\/strong> also directed each U.S. Attorney to appoint a Coronavirus Fraud Coordinator to serve as the legal counsel for the federal judicial district on matters relating to the Coronavirus, direct the prosecution of Coronavirus-related crimes, and to conduct outreach and awareness activities. U.S. Attorney Kennedy appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney David Rudroff to serve as Coronavirus Fraud Coordinator for the Western District of New York.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NCDF can receive and enter complaints into a centralized system that can be accessed by all U.S. Attorneys, as well as Justice Department litigating and law enforcement components to identify, investigate and prosecute fraud schemes.\u00a0The NCDF coordinates complaints with 16 additional federal law enforcement agencies, as well as state Attorneys General and local authorities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To find more about Department of Justice resources and information, please visit\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/coronavirus\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/coronavirus&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1585059992429000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfjt0ZDZ4fM06ffnADAV2kev-o3Q\">www.justice.gov\/coronavirus<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BUFFALO &#8211; U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. is urging the public to report suspected fraud schemes related to COVID-19 (the Coronavirus) by calling the National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) hotline (1-866-720-5721) or to the NCDF e-mail address disaster @ leo.gov. In coordination with the Department of Justice, Attorney General William Barr has directed [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":27493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[4],"tags":[9931,9930,7220,9956,9955,4225,9301],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/NY-District-Attorneys-Association-1.jpg?fit=332%2C190&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YlJ4-8M5","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33733"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33734,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33733\/revisions\/33734"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wrfalp.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}