Akron, OH – The U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force (NOVFTF) Akron Division and the U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force (GCRFTF) arrested Lashaun Reed, age 23. Reed was wanted by the Wooster, Ohio Police Department on charges of murder.

Reed’s charges stem from the shooting death of Clifford Johnson, 21, of Wooster, that occurred on the evening of December 10, 2011. Johnson was shot in the back in a front yard of a residence on E. North St. in Wooster. At the time of the murder Reed was on bond awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to felonious assault and assault charges. Those charges stem from a June 12, 2011 stabbing of two individuals in the 600 block of N. Buckeye St. in Wooster, OH.

In December 2011, directly after the incident, the Wooster Police Department referred the case to the NOVFTF for assistance with locating and apprehending Reed. The NOVFTF Akron and Richland County Divisions along with the Wooster Police Department spent numerous man hours on this case over the course of their investigation. When it was determined that Reed was believed to be in Mississippi, the NOVFTF requested assistance from the U.S. Marshals GCRFTF.

Earlier today, GCRFTF Task Force Officers spotted Reed in the 400 Block of Inez St. Greenville, MS. Task Force Officers conducted surveillance of the area until back up arrived. At approximately 4:00 p.m. today, Task Force Officers along with Officers of the Greenville Police Department jumped into action and apprehended Reed who was found hiding in a closet. Reed was arrested at a boarding house on the 400 block of Inez St, where he was renting a room. Reed was apprehended without incident, and transported to the Greenville Police Department Jail, Greenville, Mississippi. Reed is awaiting an extradition hearing to return back to Ohio to answer his charges.

U.S. Marshal Pete Elliott stated, “Great job by our investigators in Ohio and by the officers in Mississippi, working together to locate and safely apprehend this dangerous fugitive. This is a fine example of what we can accomplish working with our fugitive task force network across the nation.”

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of a known fugitive is encouraged to contact the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force at: 1-866-4-WANTED or text keyword WANTED and the tip to 847411(tip411). Tipsters may remain anonymous and a cash reward may be available. The Task Force’s “Dangerous Dozen” fugitives can be viewed at http://www.usmarshals.gov/district/oh-n/fugitives/pdf/dangerous_dozen.pdf, which is updated monthly.

The NOVFTF Akron Division consists of the following federal, state and local agencies: Akron Police Department, Barberton Police Department, Bath Township Police Department Boston Heights Village Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, Copley Township Police Department, Cuyahoga Falls Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hinckley Police Department, Kent Police Department, Medina Police Department, Montville Township Police Department, New Franklin Police Department, Northfield Village Police Department, Norton Police Department, Ohio Adult Parole Authority, Portage County Prosecutor’s Office, Portage County Sheriff’s Office, Ravenna Police Department, Reminderville Police Department, Stow Police Department, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Twinsburg Police Department, United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, University of Akron Police Department, Wadsworth Police Department.

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

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America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency

YARDLEY, Pa., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- LifeShield Security is pleased to partner with SpotCrime, the leader in internet crime search and information services, to offer its customers the ability to access city and county crime maps that show local crime incident data, and to deliver that information via text and email notifications.

Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo and Albemarle County Police Chief Steve Sellers took time Wednesday afternoon to talk with folks from the city and county during a meeting of the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. The two say they are interested in hearing feedback and showing neighbors what they are doing to keep them safe.

‘Gameover’ Malware Targets Bank Accounts

— filed under: Cyber Crimes, Cyber Crimes Stories, Top Story

A new phishing scheme involves spam e-mails aimed at accessing recipients’ bank accounts.

Malware Targets Bank Accounts
‘Gameover’ Delivered Via Phishing E-Mails

01/06/12

Cyber criminals have found yet another way to steal your hard-earned money: a recent phishing scheme involves spam e-mails—purportedly from the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA), the Federal Reserve Bank, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)—that can infect recipients’ computers with malware and allow access to their bank accounts.

The malware is appropriately called “Gameover” because once it’s on your computer, it can steal usernames and passwords and defeat common methods of user authentication employed by financial institutions. And once the crooks get into your bank account, it’s definitely “game over.”

Gameover is a newer variant of the Zeus malware, which was created several years ago and specifically targeted banking information.

How Can You Protect Yourself? - Obviously, make sure your computer’s anti-virus software is up to date. - Don’t click on e-mail attachments from unsolicited senders. NACHA, FDIC, and the Federal Reserve all say they don’t send out unsolicited e-mails to bank account holders. If you want to confirm there’s a problem with your account or one of your recent transactions, contact your financial institution directly. - Don’t accept unsolicited jobs online that require you to receive funds from numerous bank accounts and then wire the money to overseas accounts—you could get caught up in a criminal investigation.

How the scheme works: Typically, you receive an unsolicited e-mail from NACHA, the Federal Reserve, or the FDIC telling you that there’s a problem with your bank account or a recent ACH transaction. (ACH stands for Automated Clearing House, a network for a wide variety of financial transactions in the U.S.) The sender has included a link in the e-mail for you that will supposedly help you resolve whatever the issue is. Unfortunately, the link goes to a phony website, and once you’re there, you inadvertently download the Gameover malware, which promptly infects your computer and steals your banking information.

After the perpetrators access your account, they conduct what’s called a distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attack using a botnet, which involves multiple computers flooding the financial institution’s server with traffic in an effort to deny legitimate users access to the site—probably in an attempt to deflect attention from what the bad guys are doing.

But that’s not the end of the scheme: Recent investigations have shown that some of the funds stolen from bank accounts go towards the purchase of precious stones and expensive watches from high-end jewelry stores. The criminals contact these jewelry stores, tell them what they’d like to buy, and promise they will wire the money the next day. So the next day, a person involved in the money laundering aspect of the crime—called a “money mule”—comes into the store to pick up the merchandise. After verifying that the money is in the store’s account, the jewelry is turned over to the mule, who then gives the items to the organizers of the scheme or converts them for cash and uses money transfer services to launder the funds.

In many cases, these money mules are willing participants in the criminal scheme. But increasingly, as part of this scheme, we see an increasing number of unsuspecting mules hired via “work at home” advertisements who end up laundering some of the funds stolen from bank accounts. The criminals e-mail prospective candidates claiming to have seen their resumes on job websites and offer them a job. The hired employees are provided long and seemingly legitimate work contracts and actual websites to log into. They’re instructed to either open a bank account or use their own bank account in order to receive funds via wire and ACH transactions from numerous banks…and then use money remitting services to send the money overseas.

If you think you’ve been victimized by this type of scheme, contact your financial institution to report it, and file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Resources:
- Scams & Safety
- More Cyber Crimes stories
- FBI Cyber Division

what crimes have recently been committed in the neighborhoods around you (SpotCrime), and dozens more.

nice little mention from David Pouge!

Las Cruces, NM - On December 28, 2011, Deputy U.S. Marshals and the Las Cruces Police Officers apprehended murder suspects Armando and Mando Lopez. The twin brothers are Norteno gang members wanted out of Los Banos, California for a double homicide that occurred at a night club in Los Banos on August 7.

Both Armando and Mando Lopez have lengthy criminal histories including numerous weapons charges, possession of controlled substances and charges relating to their involvement in a criminal street gang. The brothers are among other suspects that are accused of murdering two Mongol outlaw motorcycle gang members in Los Banos, California. Investigators with the Marshals Service worked closely with the Las Cruces Police Department and were able to determine the brothers were living at a residence in Las Cruces and it is believed the pair have been in the Las Cruces area since November. Both were apprehended separately without incident on Wednesday evening by the Las Cruces Police Department SWAT unit and the United States Marshals Service. The brothers will be booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center awaiting extradition back to California.

Conrad E. Candelaria, United States Marshal for the District of New Mexico “the Marshals Service is built upon a foundation of generations of Deputy U.S. Marshals that relentlessly pursue and investigate the whereabouts of hardened criminal fugitives and it is this ‘relentless’ pursuit that allows justice to prevail and in this apprehension, these violent and career criminals will answer to the crimes they have committed.”

Additional information about the U.S. Marshals Service can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov.

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America’s Oldest Federal Law Enforcement Agency