The Perfect Scam

AARP
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.

  1. Archive Episode: Woman’s Inheritance Wiped Out in Crypto-Dating Scam

    2일 전 · 보너스

    Archive Episode: Woman’s Inheritance Wiped Out in Crypto-Dating Scam

    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.

    58분
  2. Job Seekers Targeted by a Work-From-Home Reshipping Scam

    2월 7일

    Job Seekers Targeted by a Work-From-Home Reshipping Scam

    When Cathy's disabled husband loses his Medicaid coverage, she must look for a job to help pay the rent. The retired Army Reserve veteran has impressive work experience, so when she puts her resume online, she almost immediately gets an offer. The job is for a shipping company, receiving, inspecting, and forwarding packages, and it allows her to work from home while caring for her husband. It seems like the perfect job for a while, but when they offer her a promotion to purchasing agent, it could end up putting their home in jeopardy.

    41분
  3. Phony Home Contractors Steal Over $450,000

    1월 31일

    Phony Home Contractors Steal Over $450,000

    80-year-old David lives in a tight-knit community, frequently helping his neighbors with yard care and other tasks. So when he gets a knock on the door from two brothers claiming they are working on his neighbor's home, and noticed a hole in his roof, David agrees to let them fix it. But one repair turns into many as the brothers find more and more work that needs to be done on his house. David's daughter is suspicious, and when she finds out that the work has cost her father over $450,000, she jumps into action to help catch the criminals.

    50분
  4. Minnesota Man Caught in Blind Mule Drug Trafficking Scam

    1월 24일

    Minnesota Man Caught in Blind Mule Drug Trafficking Scam

    Rodney Baldus, a retired truck driver from Minnesota, believes he is the recipient of a large inheritance belonging to his late wife. The inheritance is in Italy, but he is told he must first fly to Africa to sign papers before going on to Italy. Since his travel expenses are all paid for, Rodney is not suspicious of criminal activity. Unfortunately, Rodney is now sitting in a crowded jail cell in Mozambique with little hope of ever getting out, and his daughter, Nicole, fears for her diabetic father's life. Rodney is what is sometimes called a blind mule, a victim who was persuaded to transport money or contraband for a criminal gang, an unwitting participant in a serious crime. Journalist Mariana van Zeller, host of National Geographic Television's Trafficked, tells his story.

    49분
  5. Whiskey Investment Scheme Goes Barrel-Up

    1월 17일

    Whiskey Investment Scheme Goes Barrel-Up

    Ray is retired but always looking for interesting opportunities. So, when he gets a cold call from a whiskey brokerage firm asking if he wants to invest in some of the world's rarest whiskeys, he's intrigued. He meets with a wealth manager, Casey Alexander, who is well-mannered and professional. Ray feels confident investing over $300,000 in whiskey, although around this time, the investment scheme catches the attention of a U.S. attorney and the FBI.

    54분
  6. Archive Episode: YouTube Star Kitboga Fights Fraud With Humor

    1월 10일 · 보너스

    Archive Episode: YouTube Star Kitboga Fights Fraud With Humor

    In this 2023 episode, YouTube star Kitboga has turned scam baiting into performance art, delighting his 3.6 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.

    57분
  7. Archive Episode: Scams, Magic and the Art of Deception With Alexis Conran

    2024. 12. 20. · 보너스

    Archive Episode: Scams, Magic and the Art of Deception With Alexis Conran

    In this 2022 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.

    30분
  8. SIM Swapping: Scammers Hijack Smartphones and Steal Thousands

    2024. 12. 13.

    SIM Swapping: Scammers Hijack Smartphones and Steal Thousands

    We use our smartphones for just about everything these days, and that makes them a prime target for scammers. Online banking often relies on a code sent in a text message to verify the account holder's identity, but criminals have figured out a way to impersonate the phone and intercept these messages. This is exactly what happens when Jeff receives an SOS message on his phone, and before the day is over, thieves steal tens of thousands of dollars from him. The good news is, there's a simple thing we can all do to safeguard our phones and our accounts today.

    31분
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소개

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.

정보

  • 제작진
    AARP
  • 방송 연도
    2018년 - 2025년
  • 에피소드
    258
  • 등급
    전체 연령 사용가
  • 저작권
    © AARP
  • 웹사이트 보기
    The Perfect Scam

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