The U.S. Marshals Service has concluded Operation North Star II (ONS II), a high-impact fugitive apprehension initiative aimed at combating violent crime in 10 cities with a significant number of homicides and shootings.

This 30-day initiative resulted in the arrest of 833 fugitives, violent criminals, sex offenders, and self-identified gang members in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Buffalo, New York; Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Oakland, California; and Puerto Rico.

  more...

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced today the disbursement of over $115 million to 38,889 victims in connection with fraud schemes processed by MoneyGram International Inc. (MoneyGram). The victims, many of whom are elderly, will recover the full amount of their losses.

  more...

People are reporting a new twist on a banking imposter scam targeting the military. In this latest con, imposters call servicemembers and pretend to be from or working with DFAS (for us civilians, that’s the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, a Department of Defense agency that handles getting pay to servicemembers). Here’s how the scam plays out.

The caller says the servicemember was (supposedly) underpaid. They demand the servicemember’s name, rank, and confirmation of a myPay payroll deposit. They then demand that the servicemember wire money to them immediately — supposedly to return the incorrect deposit. The caller says this is the only way for DFAS to then deposit the correct amount in their account. But these are all lies.

  more...

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Mike Rogers (R-AL), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, and Jim Banks (R-IN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Personnel, sent a letter to Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, pressing the Department of Defense to provide answers to Congress on the effects of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on service members.

In the letter, the members expressed their displeasure that the Department of Defense has been slow to respond to committee inquiries, “A letter of December 23, 2022, requested 'your plan to implement this statutory requirement.' Your four-sentence reply to the letter on January 26, 2023, failed to include any implementation plan.   more...

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has finalized consent orders against Google LLC and iHeartMedia, Inc. settling allegations that they produced and aired nearly 29,000 deceptive first-person endorsements by radio personalities promoting the personalities’ use of and experience with Google’s Pixel 4 phone in 2019 and 2020.

  more...

CALEXICO, Calif., - Strike one, strike two! U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers are in the zone as they seize another narcotic shipment concealed within pallets of radishes, at the Calexico Port of Entry.

On Jan. 31, at approximately 7:15 p.m., CBP officers encountered a 24-year-old male driver of a tractor trailer, with another shipment manifested for radishes. During initial inspection, a CBP officer referred the driver and tractor trailer for further examination.

  more...