The Perfect Scam

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.