[00:00:22] Welcome back to AARP’s The Perfect Scam.
I’m Michelle Kosinski.
This scam, I have to say, is mind-blowing.
This is a scam you might have gotten wind of recently.
The FBI is now involved.
The scammer is preying on Hollywood, on the people who make Hollywood work.
Photographers, make-up artists, even chefs.
A 6'4" father of two with Hollywood star good looks.
But he tells it best.
[00:01:29] Joe Scarnici: I am a commercial and editorial photographer.
I work, you know, the Golden Globes, the Academy Awards, and Super Bowl.
I’m going to my fifth Olympics.
I’m definitely a working photographer.
I, I’m very lucky to do what I do.
[00:01:47] Joe Scarnici: Absolutely.
A lot of clients, a lot of larger jobs start off exactly like this.
[00:02:12] Joe Scarnici: I do.
A lot of, a lot of advertising, a lot of editorial.
[00:02:16] Michelle: Got it.
[00:02:16] Joe Scarnici: A lot of portraits, a lot of studios.
Studios can be anywhere.
It was, it was pretty bizarre.
It was really cool.
I think you’re just too cool for us.
[00:02:48] Joe Scarnici: No, not at all.
The start of a very wild ride.
[00:03:30] Michelle: What did Albert sound like?
[00:03:31] Joe Scarnici: Albert sounded very British.
He had a Queen’s accent, let’s say that, Queen’s English.
He was very polite, extremely polite.
He um, he spoke slowly.
He spoke very succinctly, um, and was very businesslike.
It wasn’t a lot of personal get to know you bang out of thing.
It was very much; I’m calling on behalf of my boss.
She would like to have a talk with you.
And he would never make his own phone calls.
He had an assistant call people, get them on the phone and then loop him in.
So this wasn’t a foreign thing to me, but I hadn’t encountered it since.
So I’m googling, and I’m like, what?
Is this the right, you know, is this the right person?
So I call my wife.
So it kind of like created a little bit of buzz between my wife and I.
You know, I’m holy cow, what, what, you know, what’s this?
[00:04:55] Michelle: Yeah.
A mystery boss lady.
[00:04:57] Joe Scarnici: Half of me is like, it can’t be the same person.
Like who is this?
Like these people don’t call me.
Billionaire women from Singapore don’t call me.
So, Albert called me back and said I’m going to loop through Christina Ong.
She was also, you know, the Queen’s English, speaking very polite.
She had a higher pitched voice.
[00:05:55] Joe Scarnici: Absolutely, absolutely.
It was an interesting conversation.
Like, what’s your philosophy behind portraiture, asked me really deep thinking questions about the creative process.
[00:06:13] Michelle: Did that just make you more intrigued?
[00:06:15] Joe Scarnici: Yeah, because that’s not something that anybody asks really.
[00:06:18] Michelle: Yeah.
But in a good way, right?
So it was–, it wasn’t like a red flag, was it.
[00:06:23] Joe Scarnici: No, not at all.
It definitely peaked my interest for her project, you know.
[00:06:35] Michelle: Sure.
[00:06:47] Michelle: So she said all the right things and then some.
[00:06:49] Joe Scarnici: She did.
She’s like, “No, no, no, I’m talking about now.
Let’s go do this right now.
[00:07:31] Joe Scarnici: I was like “Fly to Jakarta this weekend?”
And she says, “Yeah.”
It looked, it looked like they’re supposed to look.
[00:08:30] Michelle: And did that money indeed hit your account?
[00:08:32] Joe Scarnici: No.
And that’s the thing.
[00:08:43] Michelle: Are you excited about this job?
[00:08:44] Joe Scarnici: I was very excited about it.
[00:09:01] Joe Scarnici: I did.
[00:09:01] Michelle: Did that bother you at all?
[00:09:03] Joe Scarnici: No.
I do so many jobs where I book upfront costs, and then bill it back to clients.
[00:09:11] Michelle: Oh really.
[00:09:20] Michelle: God, and you never have trouble getting people to pay it back.
[00:09:23] Joe Scarnici: Not usually, no.
It’s already coming to your account.
So I’m like, okay, cool.
And where Albert called him with some details.
I just was at the Rio Olympics, and nobody likes the credit card over there either.
It’s like, oh, okay.
[00:10:34] Michelle: Got it.
This is through a translator app because they spoke no English.
We’re your drivers, we, here’s a receipt.
We need this money to bring you to your hotel and this covers your travel tomorrow.
It was 500 bucks.
And I said, “Okay.”
And they were like, “No, like right now.”
I said, “Okay.”
Drove me to my hotel.
I got a call from Christina.
She was saying, “Oh, I just want you to relax the rest of the day.
We have a busy day tomorrow.
[00:11:27] Michelle: And did you choose the hotel yourself?
[00:11:29] Joe Scarnici: They actually booked the hotel for me.
[00:11:32] Michelle: And was it amazing?
[00:11:35] Michelle: Oh.
[00:11:39] Michelle: Did that bother you?
Did that, that raise any uh hairs on the back of your neck?
[00:11:43] Joe Scarnici: When I, I first got there, no.
We went through some really rough parts of town to get there.
So I, I, we got to the hotel, and I was like, this is fine.
I was like, all right, at least I’m safe, I’m here.
I wasn’t kidnapped in Indonesia.
And here, and you know, here I am.
[00:12:01] Michelle: Next morning, a very early start.
The driver shows up along with that other guy whose job seems to be just to take the cash.
But now they need more money.
Seven hundred this time, because it’s far they say.
[00:12:24] Michelle: And what were these guys like?
I would say he was probably in his mid-20s.
He came in on a scooter every morning.
[00:12:52] Joe Scarnici: Not at all.
[00:12:53] Michelle: Okay.
[00:13:14] Michelle: Right.
And the trip was a six-hour trip to get out to where she was.
[00:13:26] Michelle: Whoa.
The, they’re turning the car around.
They want all their money or they’re not going to take you.
They don’t trust because they don’t know you.”
[00:14:08] Joe Scarnici: Yeah, they need more money because they don’t trust, exactly.
[00:14:11] Michelle: This is day one, but things keep getting weird.
She’s already left.”
Take a look at the stadium."
So I’m like I’m walking around in an abandoned stadium.
you know, with my translator app.
“Where’s the gym, where’s the fitness facility?”
And they’re like, “Oh, it’s over there.”
And nobody’s in there.
I said, “Well, I’m supposed to meet this person here to photograph her.
Do you know who she is?”
I was like, “Oh, okay.”
[00:15:16] Joe Scarnici: Disorganized client.
[00:15:18] Michelle: Okay.
[00:15:29] Michelle: Got it.
Just go back out there tomorrow."
And I said, “Oh.
How pregnant is she?”
And they said, “We think she’s 7 months pregnant.”
And I said, “Oh.”
And I didn’t say anything…
[00:16:04] Michelle: That’s unexpected.
[00:16:06] Joe Scarnici: I, I was very much like, okay.
[00:16:10] Michelle: On the phone again with Albert and Christina.
[00:16:32] Michelle: It sounds like a real story.
[00:16:35] Joe Scarnici: Absolutely.
And I was like, “Oh my god.
I, I had no idea.
I’m, I’m so sorry.
I, I shouldn’t have mentioned that.”
They’re like, “You don’t know, it’s not your fault.
Don’t apologize.”
[00:16:44] Michelle: Oh, God.
They’re wearing you down, man.
[00:16:53] Michelle: Okay, so the next day.
[00:16:55] Joe Scarnici: So this story just kept happening.
I haven’t shot anything, and I’ve been here for three days.
They’re on the phone with me.
They keep sending me to places.
We’re checking on…, I’m like, this can’t be fake, right?
And my wife’s like, “It can’t be.
And the other thing is…
[00:17:39] Michelle: This needs to be a movie.
[00:17:41] Joe Scarnici: I know, right?
It’s so crazy.
[00:17:42] Michelle: It’s scary.
[00:18:00] Joe Scarnici: Right.
I’m shelling out $1000 in cash every morning, by the way, to these drivers.
And I’m like, “Where are we going?”
It was a national park, and there was a fee to get into the national park.
Because I was giving $1000 a day in cash, I had no cash for myself.
And it ticks me off that the only food they had at truck stops was Starbucks and KFC.
And they both took credit cards.
And we go to this park I was like, this doesn’t look like a gym.
And I was, I was like, whoa, what’s going on?
She wanted you to have a down day and relax, and so you’re at a beautiful place.
[00:19:38] Joe Scarnici: Hours.
And Albert has another surprise.
Christina, he says, has flown in and wants to have lunch with Joe.
This does not make sense.
More delays, apologies, excuses.
Who are you shooting?”
I was like that night, she asked me if I could stay one extra day.
We’re rolling with the punches with all this.
[00:20:58] Michelle: So this is the fifth day you’ve been there now.
[00:21:01] Joe Scarnici: Yeah.
[00:20:46] Joe Scarnici: At this point, I’m getting frustrated with the situation.
[00:21:21] Michelle: Right.
She asks Joe to stay another extra day.
[00:21:37] Joe Scarnici: I said, “Christina, there’s no way.
I can’t.”
She said, “I completely understand.
Would you be available to fly back out?
You’ve been great, I want to work with you on this.
I really want to show my business partners your work.
[00:21:54] Michelle: You, you were willing to fly back out?
[00:22:00] Michelle: Wow.
Well you’re, you’re a good client.
[00:22:04] Joe Scarnici: I go whatever mile I need to go on on a photo shoot.
I was bummed that I hadn’t produced anything for this client.
I was still in the mindset of I’m letting my client down.
[00:22:24] Joe Scarnici: I fly home.
on Friday, no money in my account.
[00:22:39] Joe Scarnici: $15,000 in expenses.
[00:22:41] Michelle: Okay.
[00:22:49] Michelle: Right.
[00:22:51] Joe Scarnici: And KFC.
[00:22:53] Michelle: Yeah.
[00:22:59] Joe Scarnici: That was the only good thing.
(laugh)
[00:23:02] Michelle: A weekend passes.
Still, of course, no money lands in his account.
It’s ready to go.
When can you get back out to Jakarta?”
[00:23:27] Michelle: Good man.
[00:23:29] Joe Scarnici: And uh he says, Okay.
And Mrs. Ong wants to get on the phone with you."
So I’m like, “Okay.”
We’ve got this ready to go.
Come out for two days.
It’s got to be done on Thursday or Friday.
I really want you to be the person coming out.
[00:24:00] Michelle: Do you like Christina?
Like do you, do you feel like you’re friends now?
[00:24:05] Joe Scarnici: Yes.
I was speaking to these guys five, seven times a day.
[00:24:10] Michelle: Right.
[00:24:10] Joe Scarnici: Okay, she’s just like, “Are you okay with that?
Are you okay with this kind of discreet relationship?”
And I was like, discreet relationship?
That, that phrase was like, what?!
She’s, this, this is where it gets weird.
I’m real excited to meet you in Japan.
Blow me a kiss.
Where’s my kiss?"
And she started calling me darling.
“Where’s my kiss, darling?
Blow me a kiss.”
And I’m in the doorway like getting weirded out.
In my head, I’m speaking to a 72-year-old Singapore billionaire woman.
[00:25:09] Michelle: Boom.
Joe’s friend simply googled some of the details Joe had described and up popped the Hollywood Con Queen.
This scam that has deceived hundreds, hundreds of artists just like Joe.
And Joe is still on the phone with them.
I’ve just got to be careful.
He’s like, “Whoa, you don’t think this is a scam, do you?
Do you really think that we’re scamming you?”
And so we hung up the phone.
One my buddies is like, “You’re on suicide watch, bro.”
And I was, the first words out of my mouth were, “God, that is good.
This, these guys are good.”
[00:26:07] Michelle: Like, are you furious at them?
You must have just been numb.
[00:26:12] Joe Scarnici: I was pretty numb.
People are, I mean, it’s still working, it’s still happening.
Like, that’s like gone immediately.
That, that’s a big hit.
That’s what this was all about.
[00:28:02] Joe Scarnici: It does.
It seems really petty.
And immediately heard from others just like him.
I’m on my way there.
[00:28:32] Michelle: Spooky.
[00:28:32] Joe Scarnici: That question is very, it’s a very interesting question.
[00:29:38] Michelle: Yeah.
So Joe, how do you feel right now?
[00:30:08] Michelle: Great.
[00:30:09] Joe Scarnici: And not just photographers.
The people I spoke to last weekend were chefs, both of them.
[00:30:13] Michelle: Chefs?
[00:30:14] Joe Scarnici: Now she’s targeting chefs.
We’re trying to hey, we’re, we’re pleasers.
[00:30:53] Michelle: Whew, that was a journey of scamming in the absolute extreme.
The Olympic Gold Medal of scams.
But don’t think this story is over yet.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Michelle Kosinski.
The assistant says Joe was recommended to Ong by one of his past clients, Martha Stewart.
