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Washington Man Admits to Role in Multiple Cybercrime, Fraud Schemes

Marco Raquan Honesty has pleaded guilty to his roles in several fraud schemes, including smishing, identity theft, and bank account takeover.

A Washington man has admitted in court to being involved in multiple fraud schemes that caused losses of more than $600,000.

The man, Marco Raquan Honesty, 28, admitted that, throughout 2021 and into 2022, he engaged in COVID relief fraud, smishing scams, bank account takeover, forged money orders, and other fraud schemes.

Honesty engaged in SMS phishing, or smishing, targeting intended victims with text messages that alerted them of an unauthorized transfer of their funds and directed them to a phishing website that spoofed a legitimate bank site to steal victims’ login credentials.

Documents presented in court also allege that Honesty operated a Telegram channel on which he advertised stolen data such as credit cards, checks, bank credentials, and other fraud-related contraband.

He also accessed victims’ accounts to transfer money to himself and co-conspirators via Zelle and intrabank transfers.

According to court documents, the defendant used a smishing victim’s information to complete a purchase with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles as part of a scheme to defraud car dealerships. He also created fake IDs to sell to other individuals targeting dealerships as part of similar schemes.

Between April and October 2021, together with his co-conspirators, Honesty submitted fraudulent loan applications to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and created false tax returns to support those applications, authorities said.

The scheme caused losses of over $500,000 to the Small Business Association (SBA) and Honesty obtained kickback payments or fees for some of the loans he facilitated. In some cases, he received payments of $10,000 per loan.

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“Honesty procured PPP loans through this scheme for himself, his father, his two sisters, his grandmother, his cousin, the mother of his children, and various other friends and associates,” the US Department of Justice says.

Between December 2021 and January 2022, Honesty also engaged in a scheme involving fraudulent Western Union money orders, which totaled over $79,000 in intended losses.

When searching Honesty’s residence in September 2023, investigators seized 24 mobile phones, three laptops, blank IRS 1099 forms, blank Social Security card templates, SIM cards, a credit card embossing machine, blank cards, and a credit card reader.

The fraud schemes Honesty was involved in caused losses of roughly $622,000, but authorities believe that the intended losses amount to over $850,000.

Honesty faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud and a mandatory two-year sentence for aggravated identity theft. He is scheduled for sentencing on May 23.

Related: Ukrainian Malware Operator Pleads Guilty in US Court

Related: Two Members of LockBit Ransomware Group Plead Guilty in US Court

Related: WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange Will Plead Guilty in Deal With US and Return to Australia

Related: US Teen Pleads Guilty to Credential Stuffing Attack on Fantasy Sports Website

Written By

Ionut Arghire is an international correspondent for SecurityWeek.

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