On November 23, 2025, the Izard County Sheriff’s Office in Arkansas arrested 30-year-old Clarksville, Tennessee resident Darren James Burton Jr. for serving as a money mule for a tech support scam operation, where:
- The scammers will send fraudulent text messages to their victims, in this case an elderly woman, falsely claiming that $19,400 was taken from their bank account.
- Once the text message is sent, the scammers will then call their victim to falsely claim their accounts were compromised by seven “hackers.”
- In order to “protect” their assets, the victim was asked to make a “duplicate charge” by withdrawing $19,400 from their bank account, putting it into a box with “Merry Christmas” written on it, and handing it off to a designated courier, or money mule.
- The victim will also be asked not to disclose anything about the scam on the grounds that the victim and their family would “be in danger.”
Burton fled from police after attempting to pick up a package at a nearby hotel, but was eventually apprehended and is currently being held on a $250,000 bond at the Izard County Jail on charges of
- Criminal attempt to commit theft by deception
- Criminal attempt
- Abuse of an endangered or impaired person
- Unauthorized use of another person’s property to facilitate certain crimes
- Use of a communication device during a felony crime.
Burton has even gone as far as to deny being a money mule by falsely claiming he “operates a legitimate business that moves packages containing cash.”
