Tag: crime

FBI Warns That Fake FIFA Website Being Used to Steal Personal Information

The FBI on June 16 advised people to be wary of fraudulent websites that try to mimic World Cup or FIFA sites, as the agency warned that such websites have been used to steal personal information and sell counterfeit tickets.

In a public service announcement, the FBI stated that scammers and fraudsters have launched spoofing attempts designed to mimic FIFA’s official website as the World Cup games hosted in North America continue.

“Threat actors often create spoofed websites by slightly altering characteristics of legitimate website domains, with the purpose of gathering personally identifiable information entered by a user into the site, including name, home address, phone number, email address, and banking information,” the FBI statement reads.

The individuals behind such websites may be attempting to trick people into entering sensitive information that could be used to “create new accounts in a victim’s name and ultimately defraud the victim,” the FBI stated.

The federal law enforcement bureau noted that it has identified individuals who had attempted to collect personal information, sell counterfeit World Cup tickets or “hospitality products,” or engaged in other forms of malicious activity in connection with the scams.

The fraudulent website domains could include alternate spellings of words or use a different top-level domain, or TLD, referring to the final segment of the web address, such as .com, .gov, .org, and more, according to the notice.

Scammers may also create a deceptive version of a legitimate website, such as fifa.com, that tricks people into thinking they are going to the official website, it stated. Some include website domains that use alternate domain extensions such as “.blue,” “.beer,” “.city,” and more. Dozens of fraudulent domains were identified by the FBI that have been linked to the scheme, including fake domains related to FIFA jobs, merchandise, or tickets.

FBI officials advised people to first verify website URLs before they enter potentially sensitive or personally identifying information and to go to FIFA’s official website by typing the URL into their browser rather than relying on results produced by search engines, while also verifying that it reads fifa.com.

An Epoch Times review found that many of the websites listed by the FBI in the alert appeared to be down. However, the FBI stated that the “public should be aware that new websites will continue to appear.”

“Exercise caution when clicking on advertisements. Before clicking on an advertisement, check the URL to make sure the site is authentic,” the notice reads. “Malicious advertisements may redirect users to a different website than indicated.”

The June 16 public service announcement did not say whether anyone was victimized by a FIFA website-related scam. But victims who believe that they were targeted in a scam should file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, it states

Aside from combating fake websites, the FBI has also acted to keep drones away from World Cup games. Earlier this week, an illegal immigrant with a prior criminal history, including a cocaine-trafficking conviction, was arrested for flying a drone near a World Cup event in Atlanta, the FBI announced.

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Disgraced Former Prince Andrew Demands British Taxpayer-Funded Security Detail After Confrontation With Balaclava-Clad Attacker

Do British taxpayers have to pay to protect Andrew from the consequences of his actions?

After the deluge of damaging information related to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s long relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his popularity (if we can even call it that) tanked, and he became one of the most hated men in Britain.

That, of course, leads to consequences.

In the violence-filled UK, it was not a surprise when Andrew was confronted by an armed man near his new home in Sandringham.

Now, the disgraced second son of the late Queen Elizabeth wants taxpayer-funded security to protect him.

GB News reported:

“The former prince is said to remain concerned that he is not provided enough protection and feels as though he is more at risk than other royals, who have round-the-clock security.

The concerns grew after he was allegedly confronted by a ‘balaclava-clad’ man near his Sandringham Estate home.”

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FBI Captures Fugitive Who Scammed $1.2 Billion in Medicare Fraud Hiding in the Philippines

Earlier in June, the FBI announced the arrest of a 60-year-old fugitive found residing in the Philippines who fled the United States after failing to appear for his sentencing in connection with pleading guilty to numerous federal charges involving healthcare fraud back in 2019.

FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrest of 60-year-old Herbert Leon Kimble via social media on June 19th, highlighting how the apprehended fugitive was among those listed on the agency’s “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list.

According to authorities, Kimble had run a Medicare fraud scheme between 2014 and 2019, reportedly amassing $1.2 billion in ill-gotten gains from the scheme which largely targeted elderly beneficiaries. The aforementioned operation reportedly consisted of call centers attempting to convince patients to acquire medically unnecessary orthopedic braces.

In April of 2019, Kimble reportedly pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and mail fraud among other similar charges, reportedly entering into an agreement with the federal government to help build cases “against other co-conspirators” which lasted for years. However, when Kimble was scheduled to appear in court on October 7th, 2024, for sentencing, he reportedly went on the run.

An international manhunt ensued, with authorities suspecting he was residing in Manila, Philippines. After nearly two years on the lam, authorities located the fugitive in the Philippines and he has since been returned to the United States, according to Director Patel.

In Director Patel’s statement regarding Kimble’s arrest, he emphasized, “President Trump set a mandate to end the abuse of hardworking taxpayer money and each and every day this team will be committed to delivering.”

Kimble’s arrest serves as the second high-profile apprehension carried out with respect to the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters in recent weeks, with 47-year-old Said Abdullahi Ereg having been arrested earlier in June after self-surrendering to authorities in Minneapolis. Officials claim Ereg engaged in fraud totaling $4.2 million during the pandemic via submitting false claims of hot meals served to those in need under the Federal Child Nutrition Program.

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DERANGED Anti-Trump Leftist Charged with Hate Crime After Burning Cross With MAGA Hat on Top in Chicago’s Grant Park Released From Jail — Judge Only Bans Him From Possessing Wood or Kerosene

A 21-year-old anti-Trump activist charged with multiple felonies, including hate crimes, was released from jail Thursday after burning a cross in Chicago’s Grant Park and placing a Make America Great Again hat on top of it.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, what was initially hyped by Chicago officials, Rev. Michael Pfleger, and media as a racist “white supremacist” or KKK-style attack in Grant Park turned out to be the work of a deranged anti-Trump, anti-MAGA leftist.

On June 9, 2026, police and firefighters responded to a burning cross in Chicago’s Grant Park.

The incident prompted immediate backlash, and one local church offered a $10,000 reward to help make an arrest, and local officials were quick to blame the incident on racism and ‘white supremacists.’

Block Club Chicago reports that Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina Church, who offered the reward,  noted, “Racism has always been a part of America’s DNA, and this week it has raised its head boldly and loudly,” Pfleger said in a statement.

“This bold rise of racism must be condemned by every race, faith community, and Chicagoan as was done with the swastika and treated as a hate crime.”

As it turns out, however, the cross-burner is an Asian man, Merlin Lu, 21, a University of Illinois Chicago senior, who burned the cross, adorned with a MAGA hat, to protest President Trump and MAGA.

Lu allegedly told police that “The greatest threat to the American people is [President] Trump, [Jeffrey] Epstein, their billionaire pedophile friends, and their MAGA Christian nationalist base.”

Now, the same Merlin Lu,  has been released back onto the streets by a Cook County judge after facing serious felony charges for torching a cross with a MAGA hat tied on top.

On Thursday, Lu appeared in Cook County court. Despite the gravity of the charges, multiple felonies targeting a protected class and using fire to intimidate, the judge refused to detain him. Lu was released pending trial (next court date June 22).

The judge’s tough-talking condition? Lu is prohibited from possessing fire-starting materials like wood or kerosene. That’s it.

Not held without bond. Not monitored aggressively. Just “don’t buy wood or kerosene,” as if this unhinged individual who openly frames Trump supporters and Christians as existential threats alongside pedophile billionaires will suddenly become harmless without kindling.

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Trump-Appointed Judge Orders ICE to Release Hamas-Linked Milwaukee Mosque President Salah Sarsour Despite Terror Convictions and Immigration Fraud Allegations

A federal judge on Thursday ordered the immediate release of Salah Sarsour, the president of Wisconsin’s largest mosque. Sarsour had been locked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who flagged him as a serious foreign policy and national security threat.

As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, ICE arrested Salah Sarsour, president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (Wisconsin’s largest mosque) and board member of the pro-Palestinian group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), on March 30.

DHS labeled him a terrorist. He was convicted by an Israeli military court of throwing a Molotov cocktail at Israeli forces and later attempting to possess weapons and ammunition. He allegedly lied on his U.S. immigration forms to secure a green card under President Bill Clinton.

Sarsour also raised funds for the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), the Hamas front group convicted of funneling over $12 million to terrorists. An FBI memo from 2001 listed him as a Hamas fundraiser in the U.S. through HLF. His brother Imad was similarly flagged.

Now a federal judge has set him free.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Patrick Hanlon, nominated to the bench by President Trump in 2018, ordered ICE to immediately release Sarsour from the Indiana county jail where he was being held, according to CNN.

Hanlon ruled that Sarsour raised a “substantial” claim he was targeted for speaking out in favor of Palestinian rights. The judge said ICE and DHS failed to provide enough evidence to refute allegations of retaliation for protected speech or explain why Sarsour suddenly became a national security threat after more than three decades as a legal permanent resident.

“The mere invocation of foreign relations concerns does not automatically trump First Amendment rights,” Hanlon wrote in the decision, according to CNN.

Sarsour was released within hours. He returned to Milwaukee, where supporters greeted him as he headed back to the Islamic Society of Milwaukee.

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SHOCKING: Fired Florida Juvenile Probation Officer Kept Access to Sensitive Court Database for YEARS – Used It 106 Times to Tip Off Drug Traffickers About Active Arrest Warrants

A 32-year-old former Florida Department of Juvenile Justice employee who was terminated in 2022 after a battery arrest has been hit with 113 felony counts after allegedly exploiting her still-active access to the state’s Comprehensive Case Information System (CCIS) to warn members of a drug trafficking organization about impending arrests.

Crystal Lawson was hired in February 2022 as a Juvenile Probation Officer. She was fired later that same year following her arrest on a battery charge. Critically, her access to the sensitive statewide court database was never revoked, WFTV9 reported.

Between January and May 2026, Lawson unlawfully accessed the CCIS database 106 times, specifically targeting active criminal cases involving a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) under investigation by law enforcement.

She searched for and located multiple active, unserved arrest warrants, identified co-defendants in the case, and then leaked that information directly to members and associates of the DTO.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) did not mince words in its official statement:

“These leaks resulted in lost evidence, unrecovered assets, and at least one flight to avoid arrest.”

Lawson now faces 113 felony counts of Computer Crimes – Unauthorized Access. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, meaning she could be looking at 565 years behind bars if convicted on every charge.

OCSO Intelligence agents made the arrest, and the sheriff’s office released footage of Lawson in custody.

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RAPE GANGS: New Report Exposes How Woke Ideology Enabled One of the Most Horrific Scandals in British History

It sounds too horrible to be true: Predominantly Muslim gangs reportedly kidnapped, raped, and trafficked 250,000 young white girls in Britain over a period of decades, and authorities repeatedly looked the other way due to “political correctness,” the woke ideology preaching that men from certain foreign countries could only ever be considered victims, not perpetrators.

A horrifying new report provides further evidence clarifying the phenomenon, however, and it reveals the astonishing extent to which woke ideology can blind people, even to direct threats against Britain’s vulnerable young girls.

The Rape Gang Inquiry published a report Tuesday, finding that these “coordinated operations” extended “to all corners of the country,” in 149 local authority districts, about 40% of all such districts. Member of Parliament Rupert Lowe, leader of the Restore Britain party, led the initiative, and his report heavily criticizes both the leftist Labour Party and the establishment Conservative Party.

The report accuses Labour leaders of having “framed legitimate concerns as ‘far-right’ agitation,” and claims the government “failed to impose mandatory ethnicity recording or launch a full statutory inquiry despite clear evidence.”

Why ignore or suppress the investigations? Because they’re politically inconvenient.

“Political correctness, fear of accusations of racism, and fear of losing electoral support from certain demographics have taken precedence over the protection of British children,” the report states.

Naturally, Lowe has an axe to grind, and the British government is running a separate investigation into the issue, but there’s good reason to take Lowe’s report seriously.

The rape gang issue is politically explosive—and extremely problematic for the woke leftist worldview.

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FRAUD CRACKDOWN: ICE Arrests 8 Illegal Aliens Using Stolen Social Security Numbers While Working at Kentucky Window Supply Business

ICE arrested 13 illegal aliens in Paducah, Kentucky, and discovered that eight of them were using stolen Social Security numbers while working at a window supply business.

“This investigation demonstrates our commitment to upholding the integrity of the nation’s employment and immigration systems,” said HSI Nashville acting Special Agent in Charge Dennis M. Fetting.

“By uncovering and addressing the fraudulent use, our team has sent a clear message that those who attempt to circumvent federal law will be held accountable. This case underscores the importance of coordinated enforcement and collaboration in safeguarding American workplaces by combating fraud in all forms,” he said.

Per ICE:

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations and its federal partners arrested 13 illegal aliens during an operation that uncovered fraudulent use of Social Security numbers to work at a window supply business in Paducah.

Eight of the illegal aliens have been indicted for using the stolen Social Security numbers. Those not charged criminally will be held in ICE custody pending removal proceedings and potential deportation.

The HSI Bowling Green investigation revealed that, between June 2021 and August 2025, eight illegal aliens used Social Security numbers belonging to U.S. citizens to complete employment eligibility verification forms and secure jobs.

The Form I-9, required by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, is used to confirm the identity and work authorization of employees.

This scheme resulted in unauthorized employment and the misuse of personal information.

“These are not victimless crimes,” ICE adds. “Using fraudulent social security numbers to take jobs from American citizens hurts our communities and American workers,” said ICE Louisville acting Assistant Field Office Director Luis Aguirre. “Using fraudulent social security numbers to take jobs from American citizens hurts our communities and American workers. I am so proud of our officers and partners who work tirelessly to enforce our immigration laws.”

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U.K. Actress Emaa Hussen Charged with Importing $208m Worth of Meth into Australia

British actress Emaa Hussen was charged in Sydney after allegedly trying to smuggle roughly $208 million worth of methamphetamine into Australia through concealed “charcoal” shipments coming from Ghana, outlets reported.

The BBC reports that Hussen was arrested in a drug bust after allegedly trying to smuggle a massive amount of 320 kilograms of meth from West Africa into Australia. She appeared before a Sydney court on Thursday after being charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine into Australian territory — which carries a maximum life in prison sentence.

Hussen, 34, is known for her roles in the 2013 film Redemption  and in a spinoff of British soap opera EastEnders that first aired in 2010.  The actress was refused bail last month and is due back in court in August.

The Australian Federal Police informed that it launched an investigation in April after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers in Sydney detected anomalies in shipping containers coming from Ghana. The illicit substance was found concealed in purported bags of coal. Further testing determined the substance to be methamphetamine.

Hussen allegedly attended the storage facility and supervised over several men as they unpacked the container, with a number of bags transported to a house in Blacktown. AFP investigators later executed a search warrant and arrested the British actress.

“Police located 32 bags at the house, which were allegedly those that had previously contained methamphetamine,” AFP said on Thursday. “Electronic devices and a notebook were also seized and will be subject to further forensic examination.”

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Dem Mayor Running for Congress Posed with Crips-Linked Lounge Operators Months After Scranton Detective Shooting

Scranton Mayor and congressional candidate Paige Cognetti (D-PA) promoted a violence intervention program involving a “safe space” for people who had entered the justice system or were recently coming out of it after a gang-related shooting wounded a city detective, months after photos were posted showing her with operators of a Crips-linked hookah lounge that authorities had repeatedly associated with criminal activity.

Cognetti, who is running against freshman Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Bresnahan, faced a rise in juvenile and gang violence in Scranton in 2024, including the January shooting of Scranton Police Detective Kyle Gilmartin, who was shot twice in the head during a “gang-related crime spree.”

In the aftermath, Cognetti acknowledged the city’s gang violence problem, saying her administration had “sent legislation to City Council to reallocate $580,626 in ARPA funds to enable the creation of a gang violence initiative that mirrors successful programs in other cities.”

In 2025, WNEP reported that the Gilmartin shooting “thrust gangs into the spotlight in Scranton,” and that Cognetti’s answer was a Group Violence Intervention (GVI) program. Cognetti said of the program, “This is not an arm of the police department; it’s not an arm of the county. It cannot be. By nature, this organization needs to be a safe space for people who have either entered the justice system and don’t want to go back in or are coming out of it freshly.”

In November 2024, before Cognetti promoted the GVI program, a photo was posted showing her with Dwight Smith and Damion Williams, operators of Blueface Global Hookah Lounge. The business, previously known as the Castle after-hours club, was described by District Attorney Mark Powell as a “notorious hotbed of criminal activity and violent incidents.”

Smith and Williams were both among a group of nine people arrested for their involvement in a Crips-run drug operation at Blueface Global Hookah Lounge. Williams’s criminal history dated to 2010, while Smith’s dated to 2014.

Smith pleaded guilty in July 2014 to conspiracy: theft by deception and was sentenced to up to 23 months in prison, according to the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas. In November 2014, Smith pleaded guilty in Lackawanna County to manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver and was sentenced to up to four years in prison. In May 2022, he pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and was sentenced to six months in prison.

Smith was also charged in 2024 with manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, corrupt organizations, and possession of a firearm, according to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. In October 2025, he pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 48 months for each of the latter two charges and 24 months for the first charge. In March 2026, Smith pleaded guilty to doing business without a license.

Williams pleaded guilty in September 2010 to firearms not to be carried without a license and was sentenced to up to three years in prison, according to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. He later pleaded guilty to driving under the influence in June 2015, November 2015, and July 2016, receiving sentences of up to six months, up to 60 months, and up to six months in prison, respectively.

Williams was charged in 2024 with manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, corrupt organizations, and possession of a firearm, according to the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. In September 2025, he pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to up to 72 months in prison per offense.

The building had drawn law enforcement and neighborhood concerns years before it became Blueface Global Hookah Lounge. WNEP reported that Blueface Global Hookah Lounge was previously known as the Castle after-hours club, where a man was killed outside the building in 2019, and that the Castle was owned by Nasser Mohammadzad.

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