DuPage County joint operation shuts down 350 fraudulent investment websites

DUPAGE COUNTY, Ill. - A sting operation targeting online scams in DuPage County shut down hundreds of fake foreign websites attempting to extract money from consumers.

The three-month-long investigation combined the DuPage County State's Attorney and the U.S. Secret Service.

Those two organizations, along with DuPage County's IT department, stated they shut down more than 350 fake websites designed to deceive visitors through fraudulent investment scams.

The scams involved three individuals from another country who posed as successful, friendly individuals or romantic interests to deceive their victims into providing funds for fictitious emergencies, investments, employment opportunities or other schemes. The goal was to take their money and disappear.

No prosecutions or arrests resulted from this sting operation. However, DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said they saved consumers millions of dollars by diverting them away from these fraudulent websites.

"We were able to actually take control of those websites and divert people, residents in Dupage County and surrounding areas, divert them from those websites to a safe website so that they would not fall victim to any of these fraudulent schemes, which were attempting to get their personal identifying information and get them to invest in these fraudulent schemes and defraud them out of money," said Berlin. 

Berlin noted that you should never provide personal or financial information to someone you have only spoken to online or by phone, and trust your instincts. If something doesn't feel right, don't complete the transaction.