On January 16, 2024, the Tulare Police Department in California arrested 24-year-old Los Angeles resident Manuel Rivera Cueto for serving as a money mule for a Dominican bail bondsman scam against a 79-year-old woman. How the scam worked was:
- The victim would receive a call from a Dominican, who posed as a bail bondsman to falsely claim her grandson was arrested.
- The scammer would arrange a courier to collect the money the victim was asked to pay under the guise of releasing her grandson.
- After the money was collected, the victim will be asked to pay an additional $22,000 (which can be reduced to $5,000).
Cueto, an Uber contractor who was unaware of the scam, was arrested at a restaurant in Castaic, California, and admitted to having served as a mule in similar schemes about 10 times. Cueto had an outstanding warrant against him in Las Vegas for 14 counts of theft by false pretenses.