Ring sale on KSL Classifieds uncovers international cyber crime ring


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SALT LAKE CITY — When Jennifer Smith posted her diamond wedding ring for sale on KSL Classifieds, she hoped she'd be helping a happy couple somewhere.

"I thought, 'This is going to lead to somebody else's happily ever after,’ Smith said.

She was divorced and needed extra money to pay bills, and she felt confident about an offer she received via text. The person who sent the text claimed he lived out of the area and wanted to purchase the ring for his cousin who was to be married soon.

"He said the easiest way to transfer the money was through PayPal. I'd never used it before," Smith said.

She set up a PayPal account and began receiving what she thought were legitimate email notifications from PayPal. One stated she'd received an "instant payment of $1,050.00."

Not realizing the purchaser of the ring was sending her phony emails that looked like they were from PayPal, Smith packaged up the ring and sent it overnight delivery from Utah to a man who lives in a small town in Maryland, as instructed by the buyer.

Then came another email saying her payment of $1,050.00 had been delayed. Confused, Smith called PayPal directly.

"PayPal notified me I was being scammed," she said.

Smith had given the buyer her email address and he used that to his advantage, tricking her into thinking she'd been paid and it was safe to ship her wedding ring.

"It was horrible," Smith said. "I was in tears."

Fighting back

By then, Smith had started to believe the person orchestrating the fraud didn't live in the United States at all and was part of a crime ring operating out of Nigeria.

Even after she figured out she'd been tricked, the con artist still tried to convince Smith the deal was legitimate.

"You stole my ring and you scammed me," she told the person via text.

She pleaded for her money or the return of her wedding ring, "but that will be hard for you to do since you're in Nigeria," she wrote.

The buyer texted back: "No, nothing like a scam here it is real, real and real."

In an odd twist, he tried to fool her again with another phony email, this time using the FBI logo. He was attempting to intimidate her to send $300 to release the payment for her ring into her PayPal account.

Smith didn't fall for it.

KSL Classifieds: How to avoid ad schemes

As vice president of E-commerce for Deseret Digital Media, Eric Bright works hard to make sure buyers and sellers on KSL Classifieds don't fall victim to online advertising schemes.

The site warns sellers to beware of buyers who state they are out of the area, or those who offer more than the asking price. Both happened in the case of Smith's transaction.

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Bright also suggests buyers and sellers contact KSL.com or PayPal with questions.

"It's becoming easier for them to create what may look like a legitimate authorized PayPal email," Bright said.

He recommends sellers make sure the buyer is in the area, not out-of-state or overseas. He suggests meeting in the daytime, away from your home, in a well-traveled place. He also suggests taking a friend or relative with you.

If the buyer will only communicate via text, like what happened in Smith's case, that is a red flag.

"If they're trying to limit the way you can contact them, that's fishy in any circumstance," Bright said.

As for people who use KSL Classifieds to perpetrate crimes, Bright warns the organization works with law enforcement to fight fraud.

"Fraud management is a big key for us here. We have fraud management tools to identify individuals who are coming on to the site or working through the site. We have fraud analysts who moderate the site on a daily basis," he explained.

Uncovering an international cybertheft ring

After speaking to Smith about her ordeal, the KSL Investigators contacted the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force in Salt Lake City about her stolen wedding ring.

The task force is composed of FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) agents and analysts who investigate computer hacking and online schemes.

Agents urged Smith to immediately file a criminal complaint on the website IC3.gov.

Once they received her information, task force officers began investigating.

"The reality is, these are scams that bring in millions of dollars," said DPS Commissioner Keith Squires. "That's why they've been successful."

In Smith's case, it didn't take long for agents to unravel an international scheme that involved other victims from Utah.


The reality is, these are scams that bring in millions of dollars. That's why they've been successful.

–Keith Squires, UT Dept. of Public Safety


Police in Maryland found several items inside the home where Smith had sent her wedding ring. It turned out other sellers had been conned into shipping jewelry and electronics to the same home.

The man inside the house, agents say, was duped into receiving the merchandise and was unwitting in the scheme. He thought he was helping a woman he'd met through Facebook, who claimed to live in Africa, according to investigators. The items were to be shipped to New York and then shipped again somewhere else in the world.

In the meantime, agents found addresses in Nevada and Michigan which were also used as delivery points for merchandise — again, the folks accepting the packages had no idea what was really going on.

One of the package recipients thought she was involved in a legitimate work-at-home venture, not a re-shipping scheme.

Agents don't believe the people receiving the merchandise were texting and emailing sellers like Smith; someone else was orchestrating the transactions. Agents are now following leads overseas to see if they can make an arrest in the case.

Squires said this case is an example of why it's important to report cyber crimes to IC3.gov.

"If nobody ever reported, that information would never have been there and there would be nothing we could do," he said.

Wedding ring returned

It's not every day these schemes result in a good outcome for victims, but Jennifer Smith is the exception.

"It's just amazing what you can accomplish sometimes," Squires said. "It was really great that she got her ring back."

About six weeks after she shipped her ring across the United States, and learned she'd been scammed, Smith's diamond ring showed up at her front door. Police officers in Maryland found it among the other items in the home they'd searched.

"Oh, I did cry. It was tears of joy. I was so ecstatic," Smith said.

She voiced gratitude to FBI and DPS agents who investigated the criminal case, and to KSL.

"I'm thrilled by KSL. I'm thrilled I was able to get in contact with you guys and was able to put my story out there so hopefully other people can learn and not make the same mistakes that I did," she said.

Not only did Smith get her ring back, but agents have located some of the owners of other property that was recovered in Maryland. Those items have also been returned.

PayPal offers tips on avoiding schemes

PayPal wants consumers to beware of schemes that illegally use the company's name and logo to trick online buyers and sellers. The company encourages customers to report fraud.

A company spokesman sent the following tips to KSL Investigators:

  • Look for a PayPal greeting: PayPal will never send an email with the greeting "Dear PayPal User" or "Dear PayPal Member." Real PayPal emails will address you by your first and last name or the business name associated with your PayPal account. If you believe you have received a fraudulent email, please forward the entire email, including the header information, to spoof@paypal.com. PayPal investigates every spoof reported. Please note that the automatic response you get may not address you by name.
  • Don't share personal information via email: PayPal will never ask you to enter your password or financial information in an email or send such information in an email. You should only share information about your account once you have logged in to www.paypal.com.
  • Don't download attachments: PayPal will never send you an attachment or software update to install on your computer.

Catching cyber criminals overseas

Just because perpetrators aren't in Utah doesn't mean they can hide from the long arm of the law.

DPS Commissioner Keith Squires said state and federal agents assigned to the FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force in Salt Lake City are working closely with Nigerian National Police to catch cyber thieves.

Although Smith's case is still under investigation, it does mirror other schemes based in Nigeria. The Utah-based task force has experience investigating similar fraud cases that have resulted in arrests in Nigeria.

"Because of that, the Nigerian National Police were impressed that a state law enforcement agency was working these cases with the FBI," Squires said.

Recently, Nigerian police sent a unit commander to Utah for two weeks to share information and build relations, he said.

"I'm confident that it will increase our opportunities to actually disrupt and stop some of these fraud scams that are perpetrated on Utah victims and others throughout the country," Squires said.

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Debbie Dujanovic

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