By Seanna Adcox | Editor-in-chief
The Medicare scam that Skylar wrote about below involved selling elderly patients’ information. There’s no telling how many of them became victims of other scams online. The commentary below is about the rising problem of cybercrimes, particularly among seniors. It offers advice on what to do if you or a loved one becomes a victim.
“You’re literally taking from the elderly. You’re taking from people in need. You’re taking resources that could have been used for someone’s grandmother that needed it or someone else.” - U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling on why healthcare fraud is not a victimless crime.
Prosecutor Samantha Usher and U.S. Attorney Bryan Stirling talk to reporters outside the federal courthouse in Columbia on Monday. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)
By Skylar Laird
In 2019, the ringleader of a $1.2 billion Medicare scam brokered a deal to stay out of prison. Then he lost money through bad investments and fled to the Philippines. Yesterday, a federal judge sentenced him to 20 years and ordered him to pay back what he made through the scheme.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Chief Counselor Chris Klomp speaks at the launch of Project Lifeline 250 at Newberry Health on Monday. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)
By Jessica Holdman
The average hospital has more than 26,000 internet-connected devices, all of which could be subject to a cyberattack. A federal pilot project aimed at better protecting rural healthcare from virtual attacks was launched yesterday at the Newberry hospital. The State Law Enforcement Division will help oversee the program.
In 2025, South Carolinians reported about 14,700 cybercrimes to the FBI that robbed them of $264 million. The total numbers are likely much higher. (File/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Angela Ramos
Last year, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 1 million complaints about cybercrimes. This commentary from a cybersecurity educator at the University of Tampa has a section that focuses on Florida, but it’s about a problem on the rise nationwide. (I put South Carolina-specific numbers in an infobox next to that section.) Scammers target seniors, the author writes, for reasons including “access to a nest egg and a lack of comfort with newer technology to loneliness and declining cognitive abilities.” I republished this from The Conversation.
ELECTION NEWS FROM OUR NEWSROOM...
President Trump to return to SC days ahead of midterms | By Skylar Laird
(This announcement came as I was sitting in a dentist chair. Thanks to Jessica and Skylar for scrambling while I was unavailable.)
Early voting in SC sets new midterm record | By Seanna Adcox
MORE FROM OUR AFFILIATES…
After a series of drug thefts in four states, nurse wins back Iowa license | From the Iowa Capital Dispatch (North Carolina is among those states.)
2026 ballot measures are written at a graduate-school reading level, report finds | From Stateline (There are no statewide referendums on South Carolina ballots.)
Trump DOJ’s demand for emergency order in California vote counting dismissed by appeals court | From States Newsroom’s Washington, D.C., team
Feds allege over 400 noncitizens vote in WA; Hobbs disputes data | From the Washington State Standard
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