[00:00:17] Will: Welcome back to AARP - The Perfect Scam.
I’m here once again this week with AARP Fraud Watch online grid Ambassador, Frank Abagnale.
[00:00:30] Frank Abagnale: Glad to be here, thanks.
Have you dealt with scams originating from Jamaica?
[00:00:50] Frank Abagnale: Yeah, many, many scams come out of Jamaica.
And of course, law enforcement agencies arent really interested in one guy.
Again, this is a couple living in an Austin, Texas, neighborhood.
They were the victims of a lottery scam.
His one purpose, to investigate and bring JOLT scammers to justice.
[00:02:17] Dominic Reilly: The average Jamaican citizen is, is a wonderful person.
As soon as I leave out of the house, a couple days later they’re sending more money.
[00:02:59] Will: That’s exactly what happened with a couple in Texas.
US Postal Service Agent Brian Witt has been investigating JOLT scams for more than 10 years.
His office can hear about 10 to 20 JOLT cases a month.
And when he visited the husband and wife near Austin, he finds them at a breaking point.
The wife had developed what she believed to be a romantic relationship with one of the scammers.
The husband knew what was going on.
It was out in the open.
The day after leaving the couple’s home, Brian gets a call.
That wasn’t all.
[00:04:03] Will: Wow.
It’s a scene Brian Witt will never forget.
Surely there’s some way other than me killing him."
[00:05:50] Will: And you could hear that conversation.
You could hear him on speaker.
[00:05:53] Brian Witt: Yes.
[00:05:54] Will: Brian Witt was there just in time.
He’s convinced her husband’s life was at stake.
I would never do that, whatever the circumstance.
The comment of crisis was over.
The couple’s children are called, and the parents are safely taken away.
But the investigation is in high gear.
[00:07:35] Will: That takes time and effort, months and sometimes, years.
One of those tricks is the use of VOIP, or Voice Over IP.
Just go from there.
[00:09:09] Will: Another tool they use is Google Maps.
So now I can convince you that hey, I’m coming to your house.
I was just by there yesterday.
I saw you had a red door with two plants on the side of the door.
[00:09:57] Will: They also disguise their accents.
[00:09:59] Dominic Reilly: Yes, they do.
[00:10:12] Will: Even fake websites play into the scams.
[00:10:27] Will: And the cost of all this to Jamaicans is significant.
The murder rate in Jamaica in 2017 is one of the highest on record.
Scammers are targeted for their money by gang members.
[00:10:44] Will: It’s all intertwined.
JOLT scams lead to other illegal activity.
[00:11:05] Will: another huge component of the business is lead lists.
And with all that money floating around, people need protection.
Scammers are willing to pay for that protection.
Joanna Callen works for CAPRI; a public policy think tank in Jamaica.
[00:12:08] Will: So it’s complicated.
The scams, extortion, protection, gang violence, even murder.
It’s all linked together.
Joanna believes that the spotlight is even brighter on Jamaica because it’s such a small island.
[00:12:21] Joanna Callen: We have a population of 2.9 million persons roughly.
And I can see dividing lines with the same hardships experienced by Americans.
Western Union has their own investigations going on.
Money Gram has their own investigations going on.
[00:13:32] Will: For Postal Inspector Dominic Reilly, the tide is starting to turn.
He believes when Jamaican scammers are extradited and convicted, it sends a clear message.
But now we’ve had probably 20, 25 extraditions.
[00:13:58] Will: The other key component is education.
Give them a better option, and, and that’s what we make a run at do.
It’s also making sure we’re looking out for each other here at home.
They’re just not aware that these scams even exist.
They’re not at the support groups that I’m speaking at.
But so often, these are the people who lose everything.
It’s somebody to talk to.
They’re willing to get to know them on a personal basis and have personal conversations.
They really do begin to develop almost a personal bond with these people.
I just have to do this.
And, and that’s important, because that’s how the Jamaicans phrase it.
That’s how the fraudsters phrase it.
[00:18:35] Will: So Frank, thankfully this couple in Austin, Texas, they’re okay.
It ends without any major issues.
But certainly, they lost a lot of money.
Can you talk about that though?
Is this a prominent neighborhood, a retirement neighborhood?
The people there mostly likely have money don’t live there.
[00:19:57] Will: Wow.
So it’s just not that hard.
I mean scammers are going online to databases that any one of us can get onto.
[00:20:45] Will: What’s this all going to look like in 20 years?
Where, where are we going?
[00:22:02] Will: Right.
[00:22:03] Frank Abagnale: Well when I, this was at uh Atlanta.
And I looked in, and she goes, “Go ahead and board.”
It was facial recognition.
[00:22:14] Will: I’ve never seen that at the airport.
[00:22:15] Frank Abagnale: And that was Delta Airlines, that’s who does this.
It’s not a secret, and many people have seen it already.
They take all that data and immediately know who I am and confirm it’s me.
Two seconds look in the camera, and, and that was it.
[00:23:04] Will: Wow.
[00:23:09] Will: I had no idea.
[00:23:10] Frank Abagnale: Yeah.
[00:23:10] Will: When are we going to get to just scanning our, our eyeball?
That’s in movies all the time.
[00:23:20] Will: That seems cool.
[00:23:21] Frank Abagnale: Uh, yeah.
That’s when it’s going to go…
[00:23:33] Will: Haywire.
[00:23:34] Frank Abagnale: Yeah.
[00:23:35] Will: Well hopefully not, wow.
[00:23:42] Frank Abagnale: Right, thanks for having me.
For The Perfect Scam, I’m Will Johnson.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
In a Texas suburb, a typical lottery scam has turned into something much more sinister.
With their life savings gone, the victims are forced to sell their home.
He realizes that she has grown fond of him and pivots from a lottery to a romance scam.
He promises her a beautiful life together on the sandy beaches of Jamaica, where hes based.
To come up with the funds, he proposes a disturbing plan.
He demands that she kill her husband and flee to Jamaica with the proceeds of their home sale.
When the agent arrives, little does he know hes about to walk into a murder plot.
For instance, if you are looking for a job you are more vulnerable to a work-at-home scam.
