Feds: Florida man caused 22 victims to lose $1.5M
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Florida man participated in an “international fraud conspiracy” that targeted senior citizens across the country, including in West Michigan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan.
Jorrel Tyler Jackson, 31, was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison, the attorney’s office announced Thursday in a release. According to the office, Jackson, of Seffner, Florida, caused 22 victims to lose nearly $1.6 million and was also ordered to pay restitution in that amount.
The office says Jackson met with victims, collected money from them and gave it to other members of the conspiracy. One West Michigan victim lost nearly $400,000, according to the release.
According to the attorney’s office, there were different versions of the scam: one telling victims their bank accounts had been compromised, another warning them of a virus that had infected their devices and a third telling them they had been identified in a criminal investigation. In each case, the office says, scammers convinced the victims to turn over money — sometimes in person to a scammer posing as a federal agent, other times by mail, wire transfer or gift cards.
“To protect yourself, never click on unsolicited pop-ups, links sent by text message or email, don’t download software at the request of someone you don’t know, and always remember that the government and law enforcement will never call and ask you for money,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says seven people, including Jackson, were charged in 2023 with participating in the conspiracy. Five of them have pleaded guilty, it says.
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