Baby formula shortage: scams and Cincinnati black-market ring case
The baby formula recall and shortage have prompted the Better Business Bureau to issue a warning about people taking advantage of the situation and scamming buyers.
In the warning issued last week, the BBB said buying formula online from sellers on Facebook and other social media platforms is especially risky.
However, the high price of baby formula has made it an attractive target for criminals and the black market for decades. A 2018 report from the New York Times outlined the nationwide issue.
There have been two major cases involving the alleged theft and resale of baby formula in the Greater Cincinnati area with one of those cases still pending in federal court.
Download today: Get the Cincinnati.com/Cincinnati Enquirer news app on Android and iOS
Colerain convenience store at center of 2019 black-market baby formula ring
In 2019, three Butler County men were accused of paying people, including some struggling with addiction, to steal baby formula, then shipping the goods across the country, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Khalil Yacub's family owns the Pit Stop convenience store on West Galbraith Road in Colerain Township, prosecutors said, which served as a depot for those wanting to sell stolen formula. FBI investigators reported all defendants in the case worked there.
According to court documents, informants told police they would get $5 for a specific-sized can of Enfamil powder formula, which retails for about $17.
Prosecutors said the "boosters," who shoplifted the formula, were paid straight out of the Pit Stop register. An informant said the men would take a photo of each booster's ID card to keep as "insurance" in case any of them went to the police, according to court documents.
Court documents state one of the men told an undercover informant: "Don't let us find out that you are being followed" and made a throat-cutting sign across his neck.
The documents say witnesses were intimidated with a gun and a Taser, and at one point, the formula was tracked to a Fairfield storage unit where cases of the product were stacked "chest high," investigators said.
An informant told police that the men would remove the security tags from the formula in a process they called "cleaning the milk," the documents said.
The FBI said a GPS unit hidden in a can of the formula was traced to a Liberty Township home, then Indiana and eventually California.
Two of the men have pleaded guilty in the case, but one died before he was sentenced. The third defendant's case is still ongoing, according to U.S. District Court records.
Scheme in 2001 targeted poor, inner-city neighborhoods
The second case which grabbed news headlines in 2001 also involved neighborhood corner stores, but in this case, some of the stolen baby formula was relabeled and sold to large national chains, investigators said.
Authorities called in an elaborate fencing operation involving everything from cigarettes to appliances, but police said the group's biggest item was formula.
"What kind of thinking goes into fencing baby formula?" then-Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen said. "What kind of individuals would illegally traffic in baby food and, for a fast buck, actually ship it away from the mouths of babies in low-income, inner-city neighborhoods?"
Of the 12 people charged in the 2001 scheme, at least seven were convicted and three of those served time behind bars.
These tips could keep you from falling victim to a baby formula scam
The Better Business Bureau offers these tips to keep you safe from scams:
Check to see if positive reviews have been copied from honest sites or created by scammers.
Beware of sellers with no indication of a brick-and-mortar address or the address.
Check for misspellings, grammatical errors, or other descriptive language that is inconsistent with the product.
Beware of sellers that are communicative until the payment is made, but once the payment clears, they are unreachable.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Baby formula shortage: scams and black-market cases
