If you’ve been a victim or know a victim, please contact us at [email protected]. We’re here for you.

Overview

• 20 Year Scam Finally Comes to an End

• Unraveling the Magazine Scam

  • What is the Magazine Scam?

    • The Subscription Scam

    • The Recovery Scam

  • Victims of the Magazine Scam

    • Can I Get My Money Back?

20 Year Scam Finally Comes to an End

Another week, another scam revealed. This one is very painful though because devastated the lives of over 150,000 senior citizens. For over 20 years, criminals from the US, Canada, and the Philippines, preyed upon seniors to steal over $300 million dollars.

Scroll to the bottom if you or someone you know was a victim. The FBI and Postal Inspection Service are actively trying to locate victims and assist them.

Stay safe out there,

Unraveling the Magazine Scam

The Magazine Scam case is a massive case involving a collaborative effort by the United States Postal Inspection Service, FBI, and other agencies. In the end, 64 were arrested with 58 guilty pleas, three people found not guilty and three found guilty at a trial. The defendants came from 14 states, Canada and the Philippines.

The two masterminds were Anthony Eugene Moulder, of Fort Myers, Fla., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and Abdou-Rahmane Diallo, who was sentenced to 7.5 years for two counts of wire fraud.

What is the Magazine Scam?

The scam is cunningly simple yet devastatingly effective. There were two parts - the initial subscription scam and the recovery scam.

The Subscription Scam

Anthony Eugene Moulder bought a list of names and phone numbers for senior citizens that subscribed to magazines. He then directed his team to call these senior citizens and offer to reduce the cost of their current subscription.

In reality, the criminals were tricking the victims into signing up for entirely new magazine subscriptions, requiring victims to make payments to Moulder's four Florida businesses.

This resulted in many victims being billed by several—even dozens—of magazine companies every month. Some victims were scammed out of hundreds or thousands of dollars. Other so-called “mega victims” were scammed out of $50,000 or more.

Through the scheme, Moulder scammed nearly $86.6 million from 2008 to 2020.

The Recovery Scam

Once victims were in debt for all of these subscriptions, Abdou-Rahmane Diallo would step in to steal even more money from the victims.

Diallo co-owned a Canadian company called Readers Services that preyed on these victims. Diallo and his team of criminals pretended to be from a magazine cancellation department. They would offer to pay off the victims' outstanding balances to cancel their subscriptions in exchange for large lump-sum payments.

Diallo stole over $30 million from victims in this cancellation scam.

Victims of the Magazine Scam

The FBI and Postal Inspection Service are actively trying to reach victims.

Law enforcement has identified many of the victims and have reached out to some by phone and by mail.

If you are a victim and haven’t been contacted, you can fill out the FBI online survey available HERE. A federal agent will review your responses and contact you accordingly.

A list of companies involved in this scheme is available HERE—look for these companies when you check your credit card statements for possible fraudulent charges.

Can I Get My Money Back?

If you were scammed by any of the defendants, you can apply to get “restitution.” While each victim may get some amount of restitution, it is unlikely you will be paid back 100% of what was stolen from you.

To submit your restitution, please fill out the form attached HERE. Scan and email questionnaire and attachments to [email protected] or mail questionnaire and any additional materials to:

FBI Minneapolis

Attn: Magazine Victims

1501 Freeway Boulevard

Brooklyn Center, MN 55430