Thirteen individuals have been charged in connection with operating fraudulent call centers based in the Dominican Republic that scammed over $5 million from around 400 elderly Americans nationwide.
Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts announced the charges on August 12, 2025. The scam targeted older adults with an average victim age of 84, exploiting their trust by pretending to be their grandchildren or close family members in urgent distress, a tactic known to the FBI as the “grandparent scam.”
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley of Massachusetts stated, “Their goal was to trick our parents, grandparents, neighbors, and friends into handing over their life savings on false pretenses. And they succeeded.”
The defendants face charges including conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, as well as money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, they face potentially decades in prison.
Nine of the thirteen accused are currently in custody. Two suspects remain at large in the United States, and two others are still in the Dominican Republic. The operation was uncovered after a two-year joint investigation involving U.S. federal authorities and Dominican agencies, including the Dominican National Police.
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Oscar Manuel Castanos Garcia, 33, identified as the ringleader and chief operator of the call centers, was arrested in the Dominican Republic on August 12. He allegedly directed scammers through call centers set up in residential homes in Santiago de los Caballeros and Puerto Plata.
His role involved guiding callers to use a scripted narrative designed to convince victims that a loved one was calling from jail after a car accident and needed bail money.
The script instructed scammers to say, “I was granted a 5-minute phone call, and I called you because I know you can help me. Please, promise that you will keep this between us until I get out, I am ashamed about this,” before ending the call with “I love you.” These call centers used commercial telemarketing software and purchased victim information from the dark web to organize and target older adults efficiently.
🚨 Thirteen charged for allegedly stealing over $5 million from more than 400 senior citizens. Allegedly tricked victims into believing that grandchildren were in trouble and needed money, operating out of “call centers” in the DR.
READ: https://t.co/mnct621EXX pic.twitter.com/zdc0ni3qJT— U.S. Attorney Massachusetts (@DMAnews1) August 12, 2025
The elderly victims were often subjected to repeated calls demanding more money, with scammers falsely claiming escalating emergencies, such as a lost baby in a car accident. Call center operators divided roles among themselves, such as “openers” who made initial contact, “closers” who impersonated public defenders or lawyers to demand bail payments, and “runners” who collected and laundered the money back to the Dominican Republic.
Castanos Garcia and his associates flaunted their ill-gotten gains, with court documents revealing luxury home renovations and purchases like yachts, including photographs showing Castanos Garcia relaxing in a hot tub aboard a yacht.
This case is part of a disturbing national trend of elder fraud. FBI officials highlighted in June 2025 that elder fraud losses in the U.S. reached nearly $4.89 billion in 2024 alone, a 43% increase from the previous year. Complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) rose by 46%, with 147,127 complaints filed in 2024, which marks a sharp rise in such targeting of older Americans.
🚨BREAKING: An FBI Boston investigation results in charges against 13 individuals in connection with a sophisticated transnational elder fraud ring, based in the Dominican Republic, that allegedly tricked seniors into handing over their life savings by pretending to be a… pic.twitter.com/QDASyUhFJw
— FBI Boston (@FBIBoston) August 12, 2025
Federal officials emphasize that elderly individuals are particularly vulnerable not only because they tend to be more trusting but also because they often do not report scams out of embarrassment or unawareness.
Kimberly Milka, acting special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, called elder fraud “a growing problem and a shameful crime,” adding, “Not only does it rob an already vulnerable population of their sense of security, but it leaves them with devastating financial losses.”
Authorities have urged vigilance and awareness among seniors and their families so that they can be saved from such scams, which can have both severe financial and emotional consequences.
