Former Epsilon employees convicted for conspiring with fraudsters

Former Epsilon Data Management LLC employees were convicted after selling millions of Americans’ personal information to scammers who used it for mail fraud. Based on reports, the convicted offenders worked as a senior executive and sales manager for the company before committing the crime.

The DOJ explained that Robert Reger and David Lytle were found guilty of conspiracy and multiple mail and wire fraud counts for participating in a decade-long scam that provided fraudsters with targeted consumer lists.

The affected entity is a data brokerage and marketing company that collects, analyses, and sells customer data to businesses for targeted marketing.

 

The Epsilon employees sold the transactional data necessary for identifying potential buyers.

 

Investigations revealed that Robert Reger and David Lytle used the Epsilon transactional data from marketing customers, processed through the firm’s systems, to predict new “responsive buyers.”

Fraudsters purchased these databases, which included full names, home addresses, email addresses, age, consumer preferences, and purchase histories, and used them to send targeted emails to everyone.

These emails promised prizes, wealth, and other enticements that led consumers to donate money to the scammers. The plan lasted for nearly ten years, and hundreds of thousands of Americans lost a lot of money to fraudsters in a targeted, sophisticated scam.

Though Epsilon was not directly involved in the plan, the business addressed its criminal liability in 2021 through a deferred prosecution agreement. The resolution requires the company to pay $150 million in fines and compensation. Reports revealed that the company has set aside $122 million to compensate the 200,000 fraud victims.

However, this is not the first time that Epsilon suffered such an incident. Previously, three Epsilon workers and the company’s former Vice President pleaded guilty to involvement in the fraud. These individuals testified together and helped convict Reger and Lytle, who did not plead guilty.

The two former executives now face a potential maximum verdict of 20 years imprisonment for every mail and wire fraud count they were convicted of. Lastly, the US government stated that the decision on this matter will be made in September this year.