Social Engineering Scam Targeting Four Winds Casino Results in Conviction

Written By Alex Weldon on January 20, 2025 - Last Updated on January 21, 2025
Red and blue police lights, handcuffs, criminal suspect arrested

A Chicago-area man has been found guilty of using social engineering to steal $700,000 from Four Winds Casino in 2023, the Associated Press reports. Jesus Gaytan-Garcia was arrested last March following an FBI investigation into the crime.

Four Winds is a Michigan tribal casino, located in the southwestern corner of the state, just across the border from Chicago.

Social engineering is a technique popular with fraudsters and hackers. It involves emotionally manipulating the victim into violating standard protocols by creating a sense of urgency. Often, the attacker poses as a high-ranking executive within the victim’s company or other authority figure in order to make the victim uncomfortable saying “no” or asking questions.

Casinos have become popular targets for social engineering scams in recent years. In 2023, the National Indian Gaming Commission issued a warning to tribal gaming operators about a spike of attacks very much like the one Gaytan-Garcia was convicted of committing against Four Winds.

Employee stuffed a Michael Kors bag with $700,000 in cash

Casino cage cashiers or vault employees are often the victims in these scams. They handle large sums of cash but, being rank-and-file employees, remain vulnerable to pressure tactics.

That was the case for Four Winds. A “key employee” with access to casino cash received a series of texts and phone calls. The caller posed as a tribal official and claimed to need $700,000 in cash urgently.

The employee reportedly put the requested money into a Michael Kors handbag and drove to a gas station across the border in Gary, Indiana. There, she turned over the cash to two men in a minivan, one of whom was Gaytan-Garcia.

After realizing she’d been the victim of a scam, the employee was cooperative with investigators.

Investigators eventually linked Gaytan-Garcia to the vehicle in question and arrested him, but it took seven months. They managed to recover only $18,000 of the stolen money. However, searches of Gaytan-Garcia’s trailers also found evidence of money transfers, antique coins, and foreign currency.

 

Photo by zef art/Shutterstock
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