TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Attorney and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Tampa are looking to the public for help to identify possible victims of a major real estate fraud scheme.
On Monday, federal prosecutors announced the indictment of Brandon Mendenhall on mail fraud charges, but federal officials say this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Investigators said the 46-year-old Brandon man was caught over-inflating his personal income while applying for a $1.2 million mortgage, which prosecutors say was fraud. He had his first appearance in federal court Monday.
But the FBI isn’t done investigating Mendenhall. He ran several real estate investment trusts, according to prosecutors, who say he solicited investors in properties by falsely promising high returns.
Federal officials are looking for more of Mendenhall’s victims to help their case against him.
“We can always be helped and…
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.