Data Broker Lists Sold to Scammers Target Older Americans, DOJ Cases Show
Federal prosecutions reveal how marketing lists labeled «opportunity seekers» were sold to fraud operations, generating millions in losses for older and vulnerable Americans.
Marketing lists that label consumers as «opportunity seekers» have become a pipeline for fraud schemes targeting older and vulnerable Americans, according to federal court records and Department of Justice cases spanning more than a decade. The records show that data brokers compiled names, addresses, phone numbers and behavioral profiles of people most likely to respond to sweepstakes, astrology offers, auto warranties, dietary supplements and government grants — then sold those lists to clients that included known fraud operations.
In the case of data broker Epsilon Data Management, employees used the term «opportunity seekers» for people targeted by certain solicitations, and referred to the clients sending those offers as «opportunistic.» According to Epsilon's deferred prosecution agreement, those opportunity seekers frequently came from the same group: older and vulnerable Americans. The company used transactional data and algorithms to identify «responsive buyers,» or people most likely to respond to particular offers, across a database covering about 100 million U.S. households. The DOJ said Epsilon's clients included businesses sending deceptive solicitations involving sweepstakes, astrology, auto warranties, dietary supplements and government grants.
Epsilon eventually agreed to pay $150 million, including $22.5 million in criminal penalties and $127.5 million for victim compensation. Two former employees, Robert Reger and David Lytle, were later convicted. A federal judge sentenced Reger to 10 years in prison and Lytle to four years. According to the DOJ, they sold nearly 100 lists of names and addresses to one fraudulent client. That client used the information in a scheme that defrauded more than 218,000 people out of more than $23.7 million. More than 12,000 people were defrauded by that single scheme more than 20 times each.
Other cases followed. KBM Group entered a deferred prosecution agreement requiring a $33.5 million victim compensation payment and an $8.5 million criminal fine. The DOJ said employees sold data tied to millions of Americans to more than a dozen clients they knew were engaged in fraudulent mass-mailing schemes. Macromark, a Connecticut direct-mail services company, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and admitted that lists it provided to fraudulent clients resulted in at least $9.5 million in losses. Wiland Inc. later entered a non-prosecution agreement with the DOJ that included $4.4 million in victim compensation over data sold to operators of fraudulent schemes.
The problem is not confined to older direct-mail operations. In May 2026, a federal judge sentenced Troy Murray of North Carolina to 121 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The DOJ said Murray collected and sold lists containing names, phone numbers, home addresses and, in some cases, ages and email addresses of older Americans. His customers included people in Jamaica running lottery fraud schemes. From 2016 through 2023, Murray sent scammers at least 22,000 lead lists containing information on more than 7 million older Americans. Those lists typically sold for $500 for 100 to 300 names. Murray made more than $5.2 million while victims lost more than $9.5 million.
By June 2025, the DOJ said its Consumer Data Victim Compensation Fund had returned more than $129 million to more than 100,000 victims across the country. The cases illustrate how response data from a single sweepstakes entry or seminar signup can become a signal that a person is likely to respond again — a signal that fraudsters use to decide who to target first.
Such marketing lists are legal and can be used for legitimate advertising. But the language used to describe them today remains familiar. As of September 2026, Geon Media advertises a list called «Prime Opportunity Seekers - Buyers Only!» with 397,532 names, focused on people who purchased business opportunities after responding to marketing campaigns. Marketers can narrow the list by age, income, net worth and location, and Geon requires buyers to provide a sample mail piece. NextMark advertises a list called «Sweeps Winners Only,» made up of people who recently responded to sweepstakes offers, describing that audience as «highly impulsive.»
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