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PODCAST

The Perfect Scam

AARP"s weekly podcast The Perfect ScamSM tells the stories of people who find themselves the target of a scam. Host Bob Sullivan introduces listeners to those who have experienced scams firsthand, as well as professional con artists and leading experts who pull back the curtain on how scammers operate.

true crime

All Episodes

56:17

YouTube Star Kitboga Fights Fraud With Humor

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/12/01

YouTube star Kitboga has turned scam baiting into performance art, delighting his 3.3 million followers with his many characters and laughs at the expense of online criminals. It started out as pure curiosity, and a way to avenge his grandparents who'd been victims of scams, but along the way, he's helped return money and hijacked accounts to victims, and he's taught a lot of viewers how online scams work. Bob sits down with Kitboga for a humorous and enlightening conversation.

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48:05

SIM Swapping: A Multimillion Dollar Scam

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/11/24

Our smartphones contain access to just about everything that’s important to us, so when criminals figure out how to exploit vulnerabilities in security on mobile devices, the results can be disastrous. In this episode, we’ll hear about a group of young criminals who use the technique of SIM swapping to target the cellphones of high-earning crypto investors and steal millions of dollars. We’ll also learn what steps you can take to safeguard your own accounts.

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32:12

Holiday Scams: What to Look Out For This Season

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/11/17

While we are busy planning holiday gatherings and travel and buying gifts, scammers are working overtime coming up with ways to target us. In this special bonus episode, Bob sits down with Amy Nofziger, from the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline, to talk about the ways criminals are following seasonal trends to exploit common scams. These include social media ads, shipping text messages, gift cards, charity giving, pet scams, seasonal work and holiday travel.

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49:48

Phone Scams and the Human Trafficking Connection

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/11/10

Have you ever thought about who might be on the other end of those scam calls and messages we all receive? The answer could be far more sinister than you might imagine. The “scammer” may also be a victim of human trafficking. These people are lured by the promise of well-paid jobs to travel to countries in Southeast Asia and are then forced to work in prison-like scam compounds. A BBC journalist and brave volunteers work to expose this brutal practice.

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45:37

A Veteran Rebuilds His Life After a Scam Takes...

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/11/03

When David meets a woman, based in the Philippines, on a dating app he feels he’s made a real connection. While not romantic, over the course of a year they develop a deep friendship. One day she comes to David with a problem: She needs some help dealing with a property owned by her ailing grandmother. It starts with a small loan, but as the issues pile up, David exhausts his personal resources and borrows money from family and friends. His life spirals out of control when he loses his home, and the

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45:13

Criminals Deceive Search Engines With Fake Results

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/10/27

You’ve heard the advice: When you receive an unexpected phone call from a company, hang up and call its verified phone number. But can you trust an internet search to find a valid number? Criminals have figured out how to deceive search engines including Google and put fake phone numbers in search results that look like the real thing. This malvertising, or malicious advertising, can lead to disaster for consumers like Marcia whose search for Amazon’s customer service number goes very wrong.

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52:46

AI and Scams: What You Should Know

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/10/20

This week, we are bringing you a very special episode about a new development in the tech world that threatens to make things much easier for criminals – artificial intelligence. AI is already being used to supercharge the common grandparent and imposter scams because it’s relatively cheap and easy to clone a person’s voice and make it say whatever you want. We use examples with Bob’s own voice to show you how it’s being done and what to look out for.

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57:24

Psychic Mail Fraud Scheme Enabled by Data Firm

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/10/13

In 2018, The Perfect Scam brought you the story of the French psychic Maria Duval mail fraud impostor scheme. For decades, criminals, led by a man named Patrice Runner, used Duval’s name and image on letters sent all over the U.S. and the world, promising good fortune in exchange for regular payments, and threatening disaster for those who ignored the solicitations. Federal investigators estimate the scam impacted 1 in 300 Americans and raked in over $200 million. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service

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49:47

Dog Hospice Victimized by Bank Impersonation Fraud

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/10/06

Caring for ailing senior dogs is a passion project for Helen and her husband, who run the nonprofit dog hospice Old Dogs Go to Helen. They rely on donations to pay for the dogs’ medical and comfort care until they pass on. One day, they receive a text message appearing to be from the nonprofit’s Bank of America account, which leads them through a familiar series of steps to secure their accounts from a possible fraud. While Helen thought she was averting a crisis, she was actually the victim of a

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30:19

Archive Episode: Honolulu’s Power Couple Caught:...

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/09/29

In part 2, Gerard Puana stands accused of stealing the mailbox of his niece, the deputy city prosecutor, Katherine Kealoha. Surprisingly, this strange crime will lay bare that Katherine’s luxurious lifestyle is fueled by a reverse mortgage on her grandmother’s home, and that her husband, Louis, is using his power as police chief to cover up the crime.

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34:27

Archive Episode: Honolulu’s Power Couple Caught:...

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/09/22

In this 2021 episode, Katherine and Louis Kealoha report that their mailbox has been stolen, a strange occurrence in the upscale Honolulu neighborhood of Kahala. Even stranger is that Katherine claims that her uncle Gerard Puana is the mailbox thief, an accusation he vehemently denies. When the case goes to court, though, the Kealohas’ secrets are exposed, revealing a terrible case of family financial fraud.

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29:25

Bonus: Top 5 Things to Know About Crypto Scams

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/09/15

Thieves think that stolen cryptocurrency is the perfect crime — anonymous, secret and safe from seizure. But prosecutor Erin West and her team are proving them wrong, recovering millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency and returning it back to victims. West is a six-year veteran of REACT (Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team), a cross-agency task force addressing the escalating problem of high technology crime. In this special episode, Bob talks with Erin about the top five things everyone

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39:45

One Woman’s Story of Survival After a Scam, Part 2

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/09/01

In part 2, after a scammer she meets playing Words With Friends steals most of her family’s savings, Kathy is so distraught that she attempts to take her own life. She survives thanks to the quick actions of her husband and police, and with the support of her family and professional help, Kathy starts on the road to recovery. The emotional wounds of scams are deep, but Kathy is healing by sharing her story. She hopes that others who might be feeling the way that she did know that there is life and

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31:54

One Woman’s Story of Survival After a Scam, Part 1

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/08/25

Like many of us, Kathy struggles in the early days of the pandemic to adjust to isolation from family and friends. She enjoys the diversion of playing Words With Friends and soon strikes up a friendship with a fellow player. For months the friends continue playing online games and chatting on WhatsApp, until one day he asks Kathy for a loan. He says he is stuck in Mexico and having trouble accessing his accounts. Kathy sees no harm in helping out a friend, especially when he promises to quickly pay

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45:16

Scam Victim Turns Movie Star

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/08/18

Jerry Hsu, a retired engineer living in Florida, receives a phone call from someone claiming to be his cellphone provider. They are threatening to cut off his service because the Shanghai Police Department says Jerry is speaking out against the Chinese government and engaging in money laundering. As a Taiwanese immigrant, Jerry is frightened; there must be a misunderstanding. The person on the other end of the line is very persistent and convinces Jerry to work as a secret agent for the police, and

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36:10

Taylor Swift Fans Targeted in Concert Ticket Scams

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/08/11

Lisa is an avid concertgoer with extensive experience buying and selling tickets online. So when pop megastar Taylor Swift announces she’s coming to town, Lisa is determined to find the highly sought-after tickets for her teenage daughter and her three friends. After messaging dozens of online ticket sellers and weeding out apparent scams, she finally finds a local man selling four tickets. She is reassured when he offers to transfer the tickets to her via Apple Wallet before receiving payment. The

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44:46

‘Garbage Into Gold’ Ponzi Scheme

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/08/04

Wayde McKelvy and Troy Wragg stir up enthusiasm for their company, Mantria, and a green energy revolution they promise in the form of a product called “biochar.” Their “garbage to gold” scheme attracts scores of investors and even the attention of former President Bill Clinton. But soon the Securities and Exchange Commission discovers that Mantria is a Ponzi scheme, laced with bogus claims and false promises of enormous returns, ultimately defrauding investors out of millions of dollars.

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15:17

Archive Episode: The Hidden World of Psychic Scams,...

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/07/28

In Part 2 of this 2019 episode, after losing her job and breaking up with her boyfriend in the same day, a distraught Debra pays a visit to a psychic. Little does Debra know that the shop is part of a larger criminal organization, and psychic Sylvia Mitchell is a scammer who has stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from her clients. A series of readings leads to Sylvia stealing $28,000 of Debra’s money and cutting off communication. Debra enlists the help of Bob Nygaard, a private investigator

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25:06

Archive Episode: The Hidden World of Psychic Scams,...

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/07/21

In this 2019 episode, Debra is a divorced mother and ballroom dancer who travels between her home in Florida and her boyfriend’s home in New York City, where she trains with her dance partner. When Debra loses her part-time job in New York and breaks up with her boyfriend on the same day, she’s distraught. Without the extra income from her job and a place to stay with her boyfriend, Debra knows she’ll have to quit ballroom dancing — even though she and her partner have been climbing the ranks on the

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45:17

A Reality TV Star’s Telemarketing Scheme

The Perfect Scam ·

2023/07/14

Hoping to build her hobby into a business, Penny takes an online training course in social media marketing. After this initial small investment, she is flooded with calls from companies selling different website services. They promise big returns, but her investment of more than $30,000 with multiple companies doesn’t lead to a single sale. Penny reports the scam, but it’s not until she gets a call from a news producer that she learns that the person behind the scheme is none other than The Real

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