The Perfect Scam

Employment scams are one of the fastest growing types of fraud. The recent surge can be traced to several post-pandemic factors that make these crimes even easier for criminals. In this episode, we will hear from a job seeker and an employer who've both been affected, as well as an expert who shares the red flags job seekers should be on the alert for.

In Part 2 of this 2021 episode, 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.

In this 2021 episode, recent graduate Whitney Kirkpatrick is starting her career as a nurse when she meets Gregory Thomas, young and driven, and already the CEO of an oil company. His Southern charm, ambition and lavish lifestyle win over Whitney, her friends and her family. Then strange things begin to happen: large withdrawals from her bank account, calls from creditors late at night and pieces of Gregory's story not adding up.

Linda Khandro is a busy college professor who spends her spare time playing her harp in hospitals and hospice facilities. One day her life is turned upside down when a virus alert on her computer leads to a threatening phone call and a four-and-a-half-months long nightmare. The ordeal has her doing things she couldn't have imagined: retiring early from the teaching career she loves and buying gold bars and putting them into a stranger's car.

In Part 2, Michael, an Iraq War veteran who has fallen on hard financial times, thinks he has found help from Voyager Financial Group, which pays him a lump sum in exchange for five years' worth of disability payments. But it has only made his money problems worse. He declares bankruptcy, and now Voyager is suing him. As he prepares to defend himself, Michael make a shocking discovery: The entire scheme is illegal and Candy Kern-Fuller and Andrew Gamber of Voyager have spent years getting rich brokering these deals, while veterans like Michael are left in financial ruin.

The men and women who bravely fight for our nation are too often the target of financial criminals. After serving four years clearing roadside bombs in Iraq, Michael returns home and is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. A divorce and a series of medical emergencies leave him struggling financially and searching for some relief. Michael finds the Voyager Financial Group, which offers lump sums for military disability benefits, but Michael soon finds out the scheme will leave him in even worse shape than before.

When a fire destroys his Wisconsin home, Royce Babcock and his family are forced to live out of their garage. Desperate to get his home rebuilt, Babcock hires Tyler Hansen, who has excellent reviews and reasonable rates. Delay after delay and myriad excuses leave Babcock with no choice but to take his complaints to law enforcement. This reveals a history of Hansen and his wife defrauding homeowners all over the state.

In Part 2, Homeland Security Agent Justin Deutsch and colleagues pursue Mary Marr, the leader of a fraud and money laundering ring that defrauded hundreds of victims who thought they were buying tech stocks. A member of an elusive organization called the Knights of Malta, Marr uses a diplomatic passport to evade capture across many countries before her arrest in a beauty salon in Serbia.

In 2014, Homeland Security Agent Justin Deutsch inherits a case concerning an international fraud and money laundering ring. Callers from "boiler rooms" pose as investment brokers and peddle stocks that don't exist. Working on tips about suspicious bank accounts in Florida, Deutsch and other agents follow the money – eventually leading to the ringleader, Mary Marr. The investigation unravels a scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims around the world out of millions of dollars.

Todd Alper is a recently retired lawyer and teacher in New York City. One day in 2020, he learns that there are many people trying to locate the lawyer Todd Alper, even though he hasn't actively practiced law in several years. To his astonishment, an online search reveals a website for a law office in his name. Criminals are impersonating him in an elaborate scheme targeting owners of timeshares. Todd is devastated that his name is being used to defraud innocent people, and he begins the long fight to regain his identity and his sense of control.