The Perfect Scam

Retiree Susan moves from California to a beautiful Victorian home in Montana to be closer to her son and his growing family. One day, Susan notices some unusual charges from her Amazon account. She takes all the necessary steps to dispute and resolve the charges, but a few weeks later, she receives a call from "Amazon" informing her of additional fraudulent activity on her account. This call and the subsequent investigation by a man posing as a DEA agent, will put everything that Susan has, including that Victorian home, in jeopardy.

Derek Alldred has spent decades using fake identities to date and steal money from hundreds of women around the country. He's been arrested numerous times on fraud charges, but Derek skips town as soon as he is released on bail, and resumes committing his crimes in a new location. This time is different: After Derek drains Linda's retirement account and leaves her in debt, she is determined to see him get his due. She bands together with other women also deceived by Derek, and they finally bring this serial romance scammer to justice.

After her divorce, Linda decides to take a chance on online dating. She's pleasantly surprised to make an instant connection with a man named Rich. He's handsome, charismatic and has an impressive résumé — a Navy reservist working on his PhD. The relationship progresses quickly, with Linda and her young son moving into Rich's new house. One day Linda receives a troubling message from a woman name Missi who claims to also be dating Rich. Linda discovers that he's been lying to them both. His real name is Derek Alldred and he has a criminal record a mile long, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from numerous women. Linda and Missi decide they have to do something to keep this serial romance scammer from finding his next target.

In this bonus episode, Bob sits down with David Etue, CEO of Nisos, The Managed Intelligence Company®, to discuss a fascinating study his team recently conducted to learn more about criminal online activity to better protect online users. For the study, "Catphishing the Catphisher," researchers set up fake social media profiles and waited for criminals to connect in hopes of engaging in conversation. Although they expected the study to take several months, maybe even a year, Etue and his team were quite surprised with such quick results. Wait until you hear what happens.

In part 2, a call from Reuters journalist Brian Grow confirms Diana's worst fears about what really happened to her stepfather's remains. As Brian digs deeper into the story, the truth he uncovers about Sunset Mesa Funeral Home and the body brokering scheme is worse than anyone could have imagined. The conviction of Megan Hess brings some needed closure to families devastated by her shocking betrayal of trust.

Planning a loved one's burial or cremation is a difficult experience under the best of circumstances. When Diana's stepfather, Cactus, gets sick during the early stages of Alzheimer's and sees a billboard advertising simple cremations for $695 at Sunset Mesa Funeral Home, he requests that his family cremate him and not spend a lot of money. But when Cactus dies and his cremains go missing under mysterious circumstances, it sets off a series of events that not only exacerbates the family's grief, but also tips off a lengthy investigation by Reuters journalists that rocks a small community in western Colorado and exposes the dark, unregulated side of the body trade industry.

In part 2, Philadelphia homeowners fight to be released from their 40-year contracts with MV Realty. Complaints from all over the city and the state reach the Pennsylvania attorney general, who files a lawsuit against the company for allegedly misleading consumers. Attorneys general in several other states follow suit, and state lawmakers race to take action against what they call unfair real estate agreements.

Homeowners all over Philadelphia are being inundated with ads for MV Realty's Homeowner Benefit Program on social media, through robocalls, and some people even receive a knock on their door. The pitch is simple: Get a quick cash payment in exchange for a promise to use MV Realty as their real estate agent if they decide to sell their home in the future. Many homeowners say they were never informed that the contract is for 40 years and MV Realty can take out a mortgage on their home.

After the loss of the family dog, Tana is determined to find a new canine companion for her husband who suffers from dementia. Hoping to surprise him for Christmas, Tana finds a breeder online and sends payment, but the puppy doesn't arrive, and the breeders keep asking for more money for expenses. Hear how investigators from Google's CyberCrime Investigation Group follow leads on these types of crimes every day, leading to international arrests and litigation.

Huntington, West Virginia, is an idyllic college town on the Ohio River, but it's also the epicenter of a massive international internet crime ring. Federal prosecutor Katie Robeson hasn't been on the job long when she learns that a woman in Huntington is acting as money mule, transferring millions of dollars overseas. Following the money, Katie and her team uncover an elaborate network of criminals, based in Huntington, targeting people all over the country.

In this special episode of The Perfect Scam, Bob hosts a roundtable discussion on changing the conversation around victim blaming. Far too often, the blame for financial fraud is directed at the victims rather than the criminals. This keeps victims from speaking up and enables the crimes to continue. Bob welcomes special guests: Kate Kleinert, a romance scam survivor-turned-advocate; Paul Greenwood, a former prosecutor and head of San Diego's Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit; and Mark Solomon, former police detective and president of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators.

This April marks five years of "The Perfect Scam" podcast! Since launching in 2018, we've brought you stories of fraud told by the people who lived them, stories of trauma but also of bravery and triumph. With the FTC reporting a staggering $8.8 billion in losses to scammers in 2022, we remain committed to continue bringing you the very latest information and resources to give you power over scams.

In Part 2, criminals are running the grandparent scam all over the San Diego area. Often crimes like this go unsolved, but FBI agent Brady Finta and his law enforcement partners believe this situation is unique. There is a video and an eyewitness. Arresting the messenger who took Susan's $9,000 might just bring down an entire criminal operation. But investigators must proceed carefully.

When Susan gets a frantic call from her "grandson" saying he's been in a terrible accident, she doesn't waste any time. She rushes to get him the $9,000 he requested for legal fees, but as soon as she hands the money to the courier, the phone line goes dead. She knows instantly that it was a scam. Similar crimes are popping up all over her area, and the stack of case files is pretty big by the time it lands on FBI agent Brady Finta's desk.

As FBI Special Agent Cook and partners at the Department of Health and Human Services dig deeper into the records of Novus Healthcare, they are shocked to find fraud every step of the way. From falsifying required doctor visits to providing kickbacks to referring doctors, Novus CEO Bradley Harris and doctors, nurses and administrators are driven by greed. Together, the hospice group defrauded Medicare of more than $27 million and may have contributed to the premature deaths of countless patients.

Hospice is an essential service that many families depend on during a difficult time, but the combination of loved ones under emotional stress plus hospice benefits provided by Medicare can attract unscrupulous operators. When Judy's mother enters care with Novus Healthcare, a Dallas-based hospice provider, Judy soon realizes that something isn't right. Rather than providing comfort, Novus staff push back on even the most basic care requests. Meanwhile, Novus and its CEO, Bradley Harris, are attracting the attention of FBI Special Agent Thomas Cook. What he and his colleagues uncover is even worse than they imagined.

In this bonus episode, Bob Sullivan invites anti-fraud activists Frank McKenna and Ayelet Biger-Levin to take stock of where we are in the fight against fraud and look ahead to the trends listeners should watch for in 2023. Learn how criminals exploit advances in technology (such as bots, deep fakes and ChatGPT) and how an old scam is making a big comeback.

In part 2, Jill Alper has already made a $10,000 investment in Dr. Dan's medical spa business when her friend Holly Saunders learns that he is a con man with a lengthy criminal record. Determined to stop him from targeting his next victim, the friends team up with the FBI to lay a trap for Dr. Dan, culminating with a dramatic sting operation at a restaurant.

Longtime friends Jill Alper and Holly Saunders are dazzled when they meet Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. Dan, a man of many talents and interests. When Dr. Dan invites them to invest in his medical spa business, Jill dives in with a $10,000 offering. Holly, though, is beginning to think Dr. Dan may not be the man he claims. Will this scammer be any match for these friends when they team up with the FBI?

Five months after a hung jury, Chemirmir is again brought to trial. This time a conviction brings a much-needed feeling of justice. But family members brought together by this tragedy won't stop until they've made a difference by helping protect all seniors. In Part 4, the last in our series, AARP's Tina Tran shares how ageism and missed opportunities on the part of institutions and law enforcement allowed Chemirmir to go undetected, and she offers tips on how we can best protect our loved ones.

The arrest of Billy Chemirmir and the identification of more victims confirm the suspicions of many family members. Chemirmir has even been working as a home health care worker under an assumed name in the home of one of his victims. Law enforcement builds its case and takes it to trial, but will the families get the justice they deserve?

Reports of a suspicious person, posing as a maintenance worker, entering Dallas-area independent living communities are followed by an attack on a resident. The survivor's description leads police to a man who has a history of trespassing. Could a victim's jewelry box be the evidence they need to catch him?

Four women move to independent living communities in the Dallas area, hoping to continue enjoying their active lives in the security of their new homes. They are each found dead in their apartments in 2016, and their deaths are ruled as due to natural causes, but missing jewelry and strange circumstances raise suspicions among family members.

The Perfect Scam returns on December 2nd with a special 4-part series in connection with AARP – The Magazine. Host Bob Sullivan takes a deep dive into this tragic tale of deceit, stolen identity, murder, and ultimately, the fatal ageism that permitted a killer to continue his spree for years.

After 25-year-old Niki Hutchinson loses her mother, she uses some of her inheritance to start fresh in California. Not knowing anyone, she does what many people do today and joins a dating app to make connections. She develops a friendship with a man named Hao and, in time, he offers to teach her how to invest in cryptocurrency. With some small successes and lots of encouragement from Hao, she dives in and invests her inheritance, plus some of her dad's money as well. That's when her friend becomes less helpful.

When Sheratan Johnson receives a call from an unknown number, she's startled to hear the man on the other end of the line claim he's kidnapped her daughter from gymnastics class. Hearing her daughter's screams, Sheraton follows all the kidnapper's demands, and also texts her ex-husband, Brian, who goes into battle mode. Armed and ready to take on the kidnapper, he races across the city to get their daughter back, leading to a dramatic confrontation at a foreclosed house.

In Part 2 of this special report, we look further into the dark side of the gift card market, where criminals turn gift cards into a tool to steal money from unsuspecting consumers in a way that's completely untraceable and irreversible. We'll hear from University of Minnesota researcher Marti DiLiema, who conducted a study with undercover shoppers, and delve into whether retailers' efforts to combat gift card fraud are successful.

Many people see the colorful racks of plastic gift cards in checkout lines as convenient last-minute gifts. But criminals see a tool to steal money from unsuspecting consumers in a way that's completely untraceable and irreversible. The crime is so common that Americans report the theft of $50 million via gift cards every three months, and many other cases are never reported. In this two-part special report, we meet three people who share their experiences with scams involving gift card payments and find out what researchers have discovered about measures to combat this pervasive form of fraud.

Remote work, which was a necessity for many during the pandemic, is now commonplace. While it's hard to beat the commute, criminals are paying close attention to this trend too. In this episode, a recent MBA graduate lands what feels like her dream job at a start-up that advocates for women's empowerment. The company culture is great and the job is interesting. But when her paychecks never show up, she begins to suspect the work-from-home job is too good to be true.

Phone scams are about as old as the telephone itself, and while the world keeps changing, phone scams stick around … and the criminals get savvier. These days, the typical American consumer gets around 200 robocalls a year. In this bonus episode, our host Bob Sullivan sits down with Alex Quilici, the CEO of YouMail, a robocall data center, to discuss why these phone scams are still so common, how they've evolved and what you can do to protect yourself.

Devastated to learn that her fiancé, celebrity surgeon Paolo Macchiarini, has been lying to her, journalist Benita Alexander calls off the wedding and begins investigating the man she was planning to give up her career and move halfway around the world for. When she goes public with her story, she learns that a Swedish journalist, Bo Lindquist, is about to expose the deadly truth behind the doctor's miracle surgeries.

Journalist Benita Alexander is swept off her feet by a dashing Italian doctor, Paolo Macchiarini, while filming a documentary about his miraculous surgeries. They become engaged and plan a lavish dream wedding, to be attended by celebrities and officiated by none other than Pope Francis himself. But before the wedding can happen, Benita makes a discovery that may prove the doctor is not all he claims to be.

In Part 2, after Tom and Dianne's computer and bank accounts are hacked, they rely on a bank fraud investigator named Marcus to guide them through the lengthy process of moving their money to safe accounts. But when Tom asks to see a paper trail, Marcus suddenly disappears — with their $600,000 in life savings. Tom and Dianne are left to pick up the pieces with the help of friends and family.

For many, computers have been the connection to the outside world during the pandemic. When Dianne and Tom are hacked, they find that connection suddenly cut off. Worse yet, the retired professors' bank accounts and entire life savings are now at risk. Frantic, they work with a bank employee to move their money to safe accounts, which includes meeting couriers to transfer boxes of cash.

In Part 2, Darlene Asher, as the head of her local dart league, has been leading the charge to help Jeremiah Jon Smith, who they believe is dying from cancer. But when Jeremiah's wife leaves him, she shares her doubts with Darlene about his illness. A police investigation reveals the devastating truth: Jeremiah has been faking his cancer and exploiting his friends' generosity in order to line his pockets.

Darlene Asher is the head of her local Minnesota dart league, a close-knit group of dart enthusiasts who rally around champion dart player Jeremiah Jon Smith when they learn he is dying from cancer. They raise thousands through fundraisers and a GoFundMe page, going as far as paying for Jeremiah's wedding. It seems like they're doing the right thing, so why does Darlene have doubts?

In the second part of our special report, Bob sits down with experts to learn why cryptocurrency-based scams, like the one Mei Mei experienced, are exploding in popularity. Amy Nofziger, director of victim support, shares stories from the AARP Fraud Watch Network™ Helpline, and Kathy Stokes, director of fraud prevention, discusses changes that are needed to protect consumers. Cryptocurrency scholar Lee Reiners provides a big-picture view of why crypto enables scams.

The first part of our special report delves into one cryptocurrency scam. Mei Mei, who is looking for her dream job, starts building her professional network on LinkedIn. When one of her connections invites her to invest in cryptocurrency, she is cautious, doing her research on the company and making only a small initial investment. When it pays off, her confidence grows and she decides to invest a significant amount of money, with devastating results.

When a scammer posing as a Bank of America employee steals the money for Lura's new baking business, she is left feeling hopeless. But with a little encouragement from her sister, Lura seeks help from her local TV station and gets results, at the same time bringing needed attention to a growing problem of fraud in person-to-person payment apps.

After many years in the corporate world, Lura decides to turn her passion for baking into a small business. She secures a loan, perfects her recipes and then, the day after her big launch, her bank calls. They tell her she's been hacked and helpfully walk her through the steps to recover the funds. When she calls back the bank, though, she's stunned to learn that it wasn't her bank who called at all, but an impersonator. Her money is gone. Will her dreams of owning her own business also disappear?

With over 2 million subscribers, Scammer Payback captivates YouTube viewers with his ability to spot scams and flip the script on the scammers. In this special interview, host Bob Sullivan sits down with Scammer Payback (also known as Pierogi) and learns more about the man and the methods behind his successful channel. They'll talk about how Pierogi got started, his most interesting confrontations, his experiences inside the call centers where these scammers work, and his tips for listeners on how to stay safe and keep their information secure.

In this bonus episode, host Bob Sullivan welcomes special guest Alexis Conran. Conran's insight into the mind of a con man comes from acting as one on the popular BBC show The Real Hustle. On the series, Conran, an actual trained magician, and his team perpetrate scams on unsuspecting consumers and then reveal the crimes to the victims (now in the hundreds), all in the name of educating the public. Conran discusses what he's learned about the criminal mindset and what he has identified as the elements of deception.

Matthew, a one-time wealthy investment star, has a rare and deadly form of brain cancer. In Part 2, on a trip to the bank, Matthew's mother, Jan, is shocked to discover that her son's bank accounts are nearly empty. Even worse, Matthew is convinced the police are coming to arrest him at any moment. Jan, who lives in California, and Matthew's brother, Justin, who lives in North Carolina, have to work across the country to unravel what has happened and find a way to put a stop to the scam.

Matthew, a successful Chicago investment analyst, is diagnosed with a rare and fatal form of brain cancer, which he fends off at first. Four years later, though, the disease takes a turn for the worse and his life is turned upside down. Partially paralyzed, suffering from brain fog and in a great deal of pain, he goes looking for relief online. What he finds are the worst kind of internet criminals lurking on the dark web, looking for people just like him, suffering in their darkest hours.

When investigators from the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission begin showing up at the homes of Dominion Investment Group clients, it becomes clear that Daryl Bank is not the trustworthy adviser and radio host he presents himself to be. Bank, Roger Hudspeth and their associates have been skimming 20 percent to 70 percent off the top. At this point, there are hundreds of victims, who've lost around $25 million — much of it spent on Bank's lavish lifestyle.

On his Saturday-morning radio show, Daryl Bank advises listeners on retirement investments and avoiding scams. He and his firm, Dominion Investment Group, target retirees like Charlotte Annas and her husband, Pat, who decide to invest their hard-earned retirement savings, and Richard Fairchild, who is working and wants to save more for his daughter's college tuition. But when federal and state investigators start looking into the company, it's clear that that trust has been broken.

When Therin Miller walks into the FBI office to throw himself on the mercy of the government, he's not sure if he will leave a free man. To clear his name, he becomes an FBI informant, recording conversations with his roommate and business partner, Brant Holloway, and his associate Lyle Livesay. Therin's work results in indictments on multiple counts of bank fraud related to the luxury car scheme, plus the arrest of a Russian mobster in Ukraine. But even with the criminals behind bars, will Therin's life ever go back to normal?

Therin Miller's exciting new business venture with his roommate, Brant Holloway, is quickly becoming a nightmare. Not only does the luxury-car dealership seem to be part of an elaborate scam, but his girlfriend, Kirsten, uncovers a connection to some very dangerous people, including notorious Russian-born mobster Mani Chulpayev. Therin could be an accessory to some serious crimes. Terrified of going to prison, or worse, he and Kirsten come up with a plan.

National Guardsman Therin Miller never imagined that placing an online ad for a roommate would result in something far scarier than anything he faced on two tours of combat zone duty. His new roommate, Brant Holloway, is a friendly, well-mannered local business owner. The two become fast friends, so when Brant suggests they go into business together, Therin is intrigued. Before he realizes it, Brant and his adviser, Lyle Livesay, have drawn him into a crime ring involving luxury cars and the Russian mob. His escape ― helped by his girlfriend, also a National Guard member ― is a tale of courage and honesty.

Brad is in an uphill battle he never expected: He can't convince his father that he's the victim of a classic lottery scam. Even after talking to a veteran police detective and having a judge declare his son the conservator of his finances, Brad's father just won't stop sending money to the criminals. By the time his father has lost almost all of his life's savings, Brad can't believe it could get any worse. Then, he learns his father is not only a scam victim, but is also working for the scammers ― as a money mule.