Extortion Scam Aimed at Asian Community

Robert E. Casey Jr., Special Agent In Charge, Dallas, FBI, provides the following crime alert advisory:

The FBI and local law enforcement is investigating a rash of alleged extortion scams involving threats against Asian-American business owners. This alleged scam has occurred on the east and west coasts of the United States and appears now to be occurring in the Dallas metroplex area.

The extortion scam involves threats made by a Chinese-speaking male, via telephone, to Asian-American business owners. The caller threatens to injure the victims and damage their businesses if the caller is not paid a sum of money, usually in the range of tens of thousands of dollars. The caller purportedly alludes to his ties with Chinese organized crime and includes references to the call recipients’ personally identifiable information to promote the appearance that the caller actually knows the call recipient and their location.

Similar threats across the United States have been reported by Asian-Americans, though none of the victims were contacted afterwards and none of the threats have been carried out. The phone calls in other offenses across the nation appear to be originating from China via VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) Internet phone services.

If you are a victim of this extortion scam, please call the Dallas FBI at 972-559-5000 or your local law enforcement agency.

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