In partnership with ACAMS-Chicago, CAFC, and IAFCI, the 2026 Cook County State’s Attorney Regional Organized Crime Task Force Conference includes Erin West and Barry Jonas as key speakers. Erin is the founder of Operation Shamrock and host of the Stolen podcast. Barry Jonas is a former federal national security prosecutor.

Erin will deliver two presentations.

• The Scamdemic: How Modern Fraud is Fueling Global Crime: An urgent briefing on the industrial-scale scam operations undermining American wealth and the transnational criminal networks behind them. Erin will share frontline insights from her travels and investigations, breaking down the human and financial toll - and what we can do to fight back.

• The First 48: What Law Enforcement Can Actually Do When a Pig Butchering Victim Calls: The brutal truth is most agencies don't know what to do — and victims lose months. Build a practical triage protocol with freeze requests, crypto tracing resources, and FinCEN 314(b) referrals.

More than 500 professionals will attend from organizations including the FBI, Dark Watch, USPIS, AARP, State Department, CCSO, Verizon, Wintrust, and NORTAF.

Additional session topics include:

• Uncovering the Dark World of Nation-State Scams

• Identifying Fraud in Domestic & International Documents

• AI in Financial Crime Investigations: From Hype to Reality

• Exploiting Seniors: Plans & Scams

• What’s Next? Inside Bank Fraud Trends

• Cyber Crimes: Evolving Trends & Case Studies

• How a Bank Can Help: Understanding a Bank Investigation