The Perfect Scam

The Perfect Scam returns February 11th with more shocking tales of fraud and deceit. Host Bob Sullivan, along with fraud experts, helps equip listeners with the tools to protect themselves against scams.

In the 2019 episode, the FBI is on to Farid Fata, an oncology doctor in Michigan who has been administering unnecessary cancer treatments in order to steal $34 million from Medicare. George, the practice's office manager, has gathered enough evidence to bring the case to the authorities. It lands of the desk of Agent Drake during his first week with the FBI's health care fraud team. Investigators are disgusted by what they find and work to bring Fata to justice.

In this 2019 episode, when oncologist Soe Maunglay moves to Michigan, he's excited to join Farid Fata's practice. But Fata's controlling and odd ways make him question his decision to take the job. When Maunglay looks into a patient's records, he's shocked at what he finds: Fata is giving chemotherapy and other treatments to patients who don't need it, some of whom don't have cancer at all. His motive? Stealing money from Medicare.

In this 2019 episode, a bustling oncology practice in Michigan is hiding something sinister. Patients come to Farid Fata at their most vulnerable, after they've been diagnosed with cancer or to receive the life-altering diagnosis. But when Angela, an oncology nurse, arrives at one of Fata's well-regarded clinics for an interview, she finds that nothing is as it seems. Horrified by what she sees, she reports the doctor for committing an unthinkable form of Medicare fraud.

When 96-year-old Mary steps off the plane in California for a vacation with her sisters, her niece can tell that something isn't right. Her normally vibrant aunt looks tired and frazzled. But the truth is even wilder than she thinks: Aunt Mary believes she's in the midst of an elaborate operation working with a government agent to catch the criminals who have stolen her identity.

In this 2019 episode, journalist Alex Palmer tells the story of his great-granduncle, colorful conman John Duval Gluck, who created the Santa Claus Association. Before Gluck started his charity, letters from New York City children to Santa were destroyed, unopened, by the U.S. Post Office. Gluck saw an opportunity and created the Santa Claus Association in 1913. The organization claimed to use the donations it collected to answer children's letters to Santa and deliver them Christmas gifts. For a time, the charity did just that. For 15 years money and gifts flowed to the association, and Gluck became a Jazz Age celebrity. But efforts to crack down on corruption in New York ultimately resulted in the uncovering of irregularities that would lead to the charity's downfall.

When Shirley Gibson learns that her property in Miami's historic West Grove neighborhood has been sold by someone using a forged deed, she is determined to fight. Working together with journalist Phil Prazen and lawyer David Winker, they uncover an elaborate real estate scam targeting dozens of elderly property owners in this historically Black neighborhood. Law enforcement is soon on the trail of the criminals, but will Shirley get her land back?

Miami's historic West Grove neighborhood has recently become a hot real estate market. So hot, in fact, that it has attracted the attention of scammers. It wasn't always so. Shirley Gibson's family has owned property in West Grove since her great-grandmother immigrated from the Bahamas over 100 years ago. Now in her 80s, Shirley had hoped to pass on the property to her niece and nephew. But when Shirley goes to pay her taxes one day, she learns that her property has been sold without her knowledge for $230,000. When another of her properties shows up on Zillow, it becomes clear this is not a fluke but an elaborate real estate scam, targeting property owners in this historically Black neighborhood.

Rochelle scores a great deal on a house in northern Virginia, only to have her dream home transformed a few months later into Pet Scam Central. Day after day, strangers show up on her doorstep, claiming they've arrived to pick up a puppy they paid for. Some have driven over six or twelve hours with their family. Unfortunately, Rochelle must break the news that she has no puppies to sell, and the hopeful would-be owners leave heartbroken, confused and out hundreds of dollars. Even worse, over the course of a year, Rochelle finds herself accused of being the con artist. Desperate, she turns to a local news station for help in putting an end to the scam.

Young ICU nurse Whitney Kirkpatrick's life is turned upside down when the police show up at her door looking for her boyfriend of nine months, Gregory Thomas. He is not the wealthy, successful oil executive he claims to be. Instead, Gregory has spun an elaborate web of lies — and he's been funding his extravagant lifestyle with Whitney's money. With the support of family and friends, Whitney finds the strength to move on and to educate others about identity theft and white-collar crime.