“I’m so in the mood to f**k Amazon”: WhatsApp thread cited in alleged $19M ‘overshipping’ scam
Prosecutors are citing a series of profane and derogatory WhatsApp messages as evidence against four brothers charged with defrauding Amazon of at least $19 million by abusing the Seattle tech company’s vendor ordering and payment system.
“I’m so in the mood to f**k Amazon,” read one of the
messages, sent by Yoel Abraham in May 2018, according to a press release about
the indictment, handed down Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York. “Did anyone try to overship and make a million
profit in a week?”
The indictment describes the thread as encrypted, without
disclosing how it was obtained by investigators. We’ve contacted the U.S.
Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York for more information. WhatsApp,
owned by Facebook, offers end-to-end encryption as one of its signature
feature.
Amazon points to its participation in and support of the
investigation as an example of the steps it’s taking to weed out fraudulent
activity on Amazon.com. The company faced larger questions about the actions of
fraudsters and counterfeiters on its platform in a recent antitrust hearing,
despite a range of efforts by the company to crack down on such illicit
activity.
“Amazon is grateful
to have worked with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern
District of New York, the Department of Homeland Security, and Homeland
Security Investigations on their vigorous prosecution of these individuals,“
said Cristina Posa, Associate General Counsel and Director of the Amazon
Counterfeit Crimes Unit, in a statement.
Posa added, “While our proactive controls ensure the vast
majority of sellers in our store are honest entrepreneurs, fraudsters attempt
to violate our policies, victimize our customers, and damage our store, and we
look forward to working with law enforcement agencies to hold these bad actors
accountable for their illegal activities.”
According to the indictment, which refers to Amazon as
“Online Retailer-1,” the brothers opened a variety of vendor accounts with
Amazon and accepted purchase orders to supply small quantities of products.
“Instead of supplying the requested goods, the defendants
manipulated Online Retailer-1’s invoicing systems and billing procedures using
a practice known as ‘overshipping,’ ” the indictment alleges. “The defendants
shipped, invoiced and received payment for goods that Online Retailer-1 had not
agreed to purchase, or for prices and quantities to which Online Retailer-1 had
not agreed.”
After the company suspended their accounts, the indictment
alleges, the brothers opened new accounts using fake names, new email accounts
and VPNs to hide their identities. Prosecutors allege that the brothers
attempted to obtain at least $32 million in this way, and ended up successfully
obtaining at least $19 million.
Named in the indictment are Yoel Abraham, 28, of Suffern,
N.Y., Heshl Abraham, 32, of Spring Valley, N.Y.; Zishe Abraham, 30, of Spring
Valley; and Shmuel Abraham, 24, of Airmont, N.Y., each charged with conspiracy
to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. The maximum sentence
for wire fraud is 20 years in prison, and the maximum for money laundering is
10 years under federal sentencing guidelines.
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