Investigations

On October 24, 2019, Andre Wilburn pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, to access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. The investigation revealed that from about April 2016 through July 2018, Wilburn and others engaged in a scheme to defraud Amtrak and consumers by using unauthorized or stolen credit card account numbers—obtained from the “dark web”—to make reservations on Amtrak’s ticketing system. They then canceled the reservations, and as a result, Amtrak issued eVouchers, which the defendants sold online at a discount. Amtrak refunded approximately $450,000 in unauthorized purchases to victimized consumers. Federal Railroad Administration grant monies were used for the upgrade to Amtrak’s computer ticketing system, which includes the eVoucher system.

 

DOT-OIG is conducting this investigation with the Department of Homeland Security–Homeland Security Investigations and Amtrak-OIG.