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PARKERSBURG - U.S. Attorney Moore Capito was in Parkersburg Wednesday to talk with local law-enforcement about combating fraud that affects many vulnerable populations throughout the state.
Capito, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, was at the Wood County Resiliency Center meeting with representatives from the Wood County Prosecutor's Office, the West Virginia State Police, the Wood County Sheriff's Department, the Vienna Police Department, the Parkersburg Police Department and others.
"Our focus was discussing fraud," Capito said. "Nationally, there has been an initiative to crack down on fraud across the country."
Capito said they are focusing on all fraud, including government benefit fraud, medical fraud, welfare fraud, defrauding seniors, veterans and children.
The US Department of Justice tasked the US Attorney Offices to find ways to attack fraud in their districts and states.
Capito is joining with Matthew L. Harvey, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia to come together and create a statewide taskforce, called the Mountain State Fraud and Diversion Task Force which will officially debut on Nov. 10.
"The purpose of that is to bring the resources, the weight, the skills and the knowledge of both the Northern and Southern District together to try and increase efficiencies and improve overall outcomes as well as clear more cases when it comes to fraud," Capito said.
This was the third roundtable they have done in the Southern District, having been in Kanawha County two weeks ago, Cabell County last week and Wood County this week.
"I want the people of West Virginia to know that I'm not just a talker, I am a doer," Capito said. "Before I do stuff, I listen. When we show up on Nov. 10, it will not just be a lot of empty talk. It is going to be things we found out from people on the ground that are going on in our communities and happening to everyday West Virginians."
In working to make communities safe, officials have tended to overlook fraud with the number of things law-enforcement has to do.
"The emphasis today was making sure we don't," Capito said. "We want to ensure that the message here in Wood County and the Southern District is clear that the US Attorney's office is committed to using our resources to help all of the communities across West Virginia and to root out fraud and corruption."
He wants the task force to be viewed as a "clearing house" and creating an information flow where they can field intelligence, triage that information and use the resources of the federal government to help state and local law-enforcement clear cases.
"There are multiple levels of fraud," Capito said.
Social programs always start with good intentions, but fraud can happen.
"We need to be good stewards of the taxpayer's money," Capito said. "I can tell you that in the Southern District in West Virginia the misuse of taxpayer dollars is egregious and we will prosecute that. We consider that to be one of the most serious crimes."
Different types of cyber-enabled criminal activity, includes Phishing/Spoofing, Extortion. Personal Data Breach, Tech/Customer Support, Non-Payment/Non-Delivery, Confidence/Romance, Government Impersonation, Identity Theft and Investment, according to figures released by Capito's office.
West Virginians lost more than $92.6 million in 2025 in cyber-enabled criminal activity, including $23.2 million in cryptocurrency losses, his office reported.
Quoting numbers from the FBI, West Virginians over the age of 60 lost nearly $19 million to cyber-enabled fraud last year, Capito's office said.
The top categories of fraud included investment schemes at $6.2 million; romance fraud with $3.7 million; and tech support scams with $3.3 million. $6.4 million of this fraud involved cryptocurrency, they reported.
"People work their entire lives, pay taxes and we are not going to have them ripped off," Capito said. "The other part is protecting West Virginians from scams that are going on."
Many retirees have their savings stolen.
"I hear those stories day in and day out," Capito said. "They are heartbreaking, but we are going to protect the vulnerable which always means children, veterans and elderly."
There was a recent case where a person was prosecuted and sent to prison for stealing a veteran's benefits. Elderly fraud is rampant throughout the state.
They are working to reduce jurisdictional issues that might slow down the response to these cases.
"It all starts with information," Capito said. "State and local law-enforcement components are the most knowledgeable base of individuals we have in West Virginia."
However, many local and state law-enforcement agencies are strapped for resources. Fraud cases require a lot of work, search warrants and investigation.
"What we came to say to our local law-enforcement agencies, give us that homework," Capito said. "Let us do that work. Let us use the resources we have, the technological resources that we have, the databases we have to do the homework and give it back to the local authorities.
"I don't care who spikes the football, as long as the bad guy goes away."