U.S. and Canada Release Five-Year
Report on Mass-Marketing Fraud
Details Current Trends, Outlines Progress and Future Action Plan

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV, May 21 /CNW/ - Today U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Solicitor General of Canada Wayne Easter released the joint Canada-US 5-Year Report on Mass Marketing Fraud at the 7th annual Canada-U.S Cross-Border Crime Forum. The report is a product of the U.S. - Canada Working Group on Cross Border Mass-Marketing Fraud created in 1997 and includes a new Joint Action Plan to continue combating cross-border fraud.
"This report makes it clear that bilateral cooperation against cross- border fraud schemes is more important than ever," said Attorney General John Ashcroft. "As mass-marketing fraud becomes increasingly international in scope, both the United States and Canada are fully committed to combating these schemes with all of the law enforcement tools at our disposal."
"Mass-marketing fraud is increasingly perpetrated by organized crime groups and creates victims on both sides of our shared border," said Solicitor General of Canada Wayne Easter. "We must do whatever we can to protect our citizens and fight mass-marketing fraud in all its forms. This report and action plan will help us do just that." The report identifies current trends related to mass-marketing fraud, specifically telemarketing fraud, Internet fraud, and identity theft.
The working group found that cross-border telemarketing fraud has increased substantially from 1997 to 2002 in the areas of: fraudulent lottery schemes; fraudulent loan offers; and fraudulent low-interest credit card offers. The report also highlights the growing involvement of organized crime groups in Canadian-based cross-border telemarketing fraud operations, using proceeds from fraudulent telemarketing to fund other illegal activities such as narcotics, gun running, and prostitution. The report cites substantial increases in Internet fraud and identity theft in both countries. Canada and the United States created a binational working group to examine the problem of cross-border fraud in 1997.
The working group provided recommendations that laid the groundwork for substantial improvements in combating cross-border fraud. The report released today highlights the actions both governments have taken since 1997 to meet the recommendations. Both the United States and Canada have: enacted substantive and procedural legal changes; established multi-agency task forces to coordinate criminal prosecutions and enforcement actions; created consumer reporting and information-sharing systems; increased public education and public-private sector partnerships.
The final section of the report contains an appendix listing of select criminal and civil prosecutions involving cross-border mass- marketing fraud from January 1998-March 2003. The report outlines a new twelve-point Joint Action Plan to further combat mass-marketing fraud. A full list of the action plan can be found in the third section of the report.
The U.S. and Canada have agreed to: continue sharing strategies against cross-border fraud, examine existing working groups on this issue; increase mutual legal assistance; continue information sharing between law enforcement, prosecutive, and regulatory agencies; increase cooperation with the private sector; and continue holding an annual conference where investigators and prosecutors can exchange information about current developments in cross-border fraud.
Members of the Binational Working Group which produced the report include: (1) federal law enforcement and regulatory agencies, such as the United States Department of Justice, RCMP, FBI, Solicitor General Canada, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, United States Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly the United States Customs Service), Canada Post, United States Postal Inspection Service, United States Secret Service, Competition Bureau of Industry Canada, and the FTC; (2) state, provincial, and local law enforcement agencies, such as the Ontario Provincial Police, Toronto Police Service, and the Sûreté du Québec; and (3) federal, state, and provincial prosecutive organizations, such as the United States Attorney's Offices in Los Angeles, Boston, Concord (N.H.), the Ministries of the Attorney General in Ontario, British Columbia, and Québec, and the National Association of Attorneys General.
The joint Canada-US 5-Year Report on Mass Marketing Fraud and more information about the Cross-Border Crime Forum are available at either: www.usdoj.gov  or www.sgc.gc.ca