[00:00:03] She changed her voice at any given time.
She was able to pretend to be somebody from various countries, to male/female.
She could change and pretend to be a victim versus an employee of a credit card company.
It was very impressive.
[00:00:32] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
At the time, many consumers hadn’t even heard of identity theft.
Criminal imposters were just getting started.
Imposters can wreck people’s credit, cause endless paperwork hassles, and inflict emotional trauma.
I’m very neat and organized.
I couldn’t work with a million pieces of paper on my desk.
No, I have four bookkeepers now that work for me.
At the time I had one other bookkeeper.
She doesn’t miss a thing.
She even does house calls.
She knows her clients.
So when something out of the ordinary happens, she usually catches it right away.
So we reached out to the client to ask them if this was legit, and it was not.
And so luckily, we checked, we caught these within five days.
There was $185,000 worth of charges.
[00:03:02] Bob: This was no ordinary credit card crime, and no ordinary identity thief.
[00:03:29] Bob: The imposter has expensive taste and impressive skills.
At first, Judy thinks it must have been an inside job.
She calls the police who go to her client’s home where everyone is a suspect.
[00:03:43] Judy Heft: They had a lot of caregivers in their house.
We weren’t sure who had access to what.
There were a lot of papers laying around in this house.
We didn’t know, at first, if it was an inside job or not.
All the caregivers were interviewed, and it turned out it wasn’t, but it was really scary.
It was upsetting and, you know, it was such an invasion of privacy.
I had known this client for a long time, it’s just horrible.
And they’re like, “You’re not at Nordstroms, you know, shopping in Florida?”
And I said, “No, I’m not, I’m in Connecticut.”
And they’re like, “Do you have your American Express card?”
And I said, “Yes.”
And they’re like, “Are you sure?”
And I’m, you know, I take out my wallet.
And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m looking at it.”
And um, they’re like, “Are you sure?”
And I’m like, “I’m positive.
I’m looking at it.”
And they’re like, “We’re going to call you back.”
[00:04:41] Bob: Patty doesn’t even have a personal credit card.
The single mom in Connecticut is really careful about how she spends her money.
[00:04:55] Patty: I t was just shocking.
Like it was, like what is going on?
Is this really like happening?
Like, what the heck is going on?
A lot of them.
That’s how Lauren Vumbaco gets involved.
[00:05:43] Lauren Vumbaco: We had so many running theories.
As you’re developing a case it could be this person that had access.
Someone is stealing the identities of wealthy residents up and down the New England coastline.
John Pierpont from the Connecticut US Attorney’s Office is on the case too.
How does she get around fraud filters?
It’s not high tech wizardry at all, it’s just good acting by one very talented criminal.
This is Lisa Reid.
[00:07:28] “I made a charge today at Bloomingdale for my daughter.
And what happened is I hadn’t used the card since a long time.
[00:07:36] Bob: And this is Lisa Reid.
[00:07:38] “I want to give you my new address and phone number like.”
“Okay, was that what we’re needing to do?”
“I need it immediately; I’m making a charge at Saks 5th Avenue.”
[00:07:46] Bob: And yes, even this is Lisa Reid.
[00:07:48] And I, the last time I used my card was in June.
So I think that’s where the problem came in when I made the large charge.
I don’t want to be going through this.”
[00:08:01] Bob: All that so Lisa Reid can trick banks into sharing information like this.
[00:08:06] “What’s my last payment?”
“$345.36.”
“What is my available credit?”
“$8,390.”
“Oh, you’re very much welcome, sir.”
There is no really intact, no tech wizardry involved in Lisa Reid’s crimes.
Her con game is straight forward.
[00:08:51] Lauren Vumbaco: She changed her voice at any given time.
She could, was able to pretend to be somebody from various countries to male/female.
It was very impressive.
[00:09:17] Bob: She was a master actress it sounds like.
[00:09:20] Lauren Vumbaco: Yes, yes.
[00:09:22] Bob: Did she have a cast of characters that were sort of her go-to.
Did you recognize any patterns after listening to a bunch of these calls?
She keeps probing away at different angles until she finds a way in, Pierpont says.
Appearing to transfer people to a third party is a really persuasive technique.
How can I help you?"
[00:11:10] John Pierpont: Yeah, two uh, sometimes three.
I certainly do not claim to be a fashionista, or fashion plate, by any means.
They were easier to sell.
I mean she lived off of this.
This was basically her job.
I’m sure she used it, you know, to put food on the table.
While she must have known authorities were closing in, she commits one more crime.
She buys a $50,000 watch using a compromised account.
And it was definitely a wow moment.
It was, it was definitely interesting, for sure, and that was definitely a wow moment.
[00:14:50] Bob: Reid pled guilty.
There were 50 victims.
And most consumers were made whole by their banks, but this was no victimless crime.
Going through all the credit cards.
There was a lot of hours involved in that, so that cost them.
It was very stressful, and yeah, they were devastated.
[00:15:23] Bob: At Lisa Reid’s sentencing, Patty shows up.
Here’s her statement.
[00:15:34] Patty: “Ms. Reid, we are all human and we all make bad decisions.
Some more than others.
You are free to make any and every decision you want to make in life.
But you are not free from the consequences of those choices.
I would like you to know one last thing, which is that I forgive you.”
[00:16:28] Bob: I forgive you?
I don’t think most people would say that.
What made you say that?
And I need to let that go.
[00:17:02] Bob: Judy, the bookkeeper, says the story taught her an important lesson.
[00:17:05] Judy Heft: Yeah, I think it’s really important to be vigilant.
I mean, for instance, I check my accounts online every morning.
It probably doesn’t hurt to have a second pair of eyes on everything.
They really know how to get in there and twist things around.
And that’s a pretty low tech, pretty easy way to do it.
Spoofing is obviously a little, a little more complex than that, but not even very complex.
So you certainly cannot trust the caller ID.
I don’t know how many times someone has called my house with my own phone number.
I mean it happens all the time.
So I would say, you know, trust your instincts.
you could always not answer the phone.
you might call the person back if it’s a financial institution on the other line.
Vumbaco wonders what might have been.
[00:19:42] Lauren Vumbaco: You’re absolutely right, you’re absolutely right.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’s The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Credit card con artist Lisa Reids methods are sophisticated, creative and callous.
