You know, I don’t know how they can in good conscience do this.
[00:00:14] Will: Welcome back to AARP - The Perfect Scam.
Frank, good to have you back once again.
[00:00:24] Frank Abagnale: Thanks, it’s great to be here.
I have a quick story to share with you.
So my family member welcomed the home inspector.
Anyway, long story short, got concerned that maybe this was all some scam.
Everything turned out just fine.
You call the company right off the bat, don’t waste any time worrying about something.”
you’ve got the option to quickly stop and verify.
[00:01:46] Frank Abagnale: Yeah, absolutely.
There’s nothing wrong with being skeptical.
[00:02:15] Will: This week we’re going to tell you about a Social Security scam.
This week, we’re going to tell you about Ron Webster.
Ron is retired, living in Mansfield, Massachusetts.
[00:02:40] Ron Webster: It’s like I have like a family compound here.
I got four kids, nine grandkids, and eleven great grandkids.
Most of them, most of them live here.
She passed away last October.
[00:03:28] Will: Losing the love of his life, his wife of 59 years was devastating.
Ron explains it best himself.
I had to do everything for her, you know.
But he was doing his best to keep busy.
In fact, he was planning a trip to Sea World with his 41-year-old daughter with special needs.
It was a trip they planned for a long time.
A chance to have some fun and spend some time together.
But then, he gets a phone call.
[00:04:24] Will: That’s how so many of these stories begin, with a phone call.
She has bad news for Ron.
They’d been investigating it for about two weeks.
So I was like, holy crap, this is terrible.
So that wasn’t out of the ordinary as far as I was concerned.
[00:05:31] Will: Ron gets that pit in his stomach.
It’s the last thing he needs to hear.
[00:05:57] Will: So back to the caller.
[00:06:38] Will: So Ron really wants to get things resolved quickly if he can.
So she gives me a phone number.
So I hang up, and I sat down, and my heart’s pounding a mile a minute.
So a few minutes went by, the phone rang.
She reiterated the same story.
Don’t go anywhere because that will just make it worse on yourself."
[00:07:18] Will: Oh, okay.
[00:07:19] Ron Webster: Officer, a female officer from the Mansfield police called me.
[00:07:29] Will: Yeah, right, right, right.
But at the time he’s not thinking that.
He’s hoping this caller from the police department can help him out.
I said, “Oh, for crying out loud.”
[00:07:53] Will: The caller gives him a number.
It begins with 508-261.
[00:08:11] Will: Ron calls the first caller back.
The woman from the Social Security Fraud Department.
He said, “This is going to take some time.”
We have no idea who it is, if it’s not you.
Don’t hang up, and I’ll work through it with you."
I said, “Okay.”
[00:08:49] Will: A classic scammer tactic.
Don’t tell anyone.
Keep it to yourself and stay on the line.
And then the plot thickens.
“So go to the bank and withdraw the funds.”
[00:09:24] Will: How did you do that?
Did you go to the bank to do that?
Just call my name and I’ll come back on the phone."
Well I know I’m not an idiot.
[00:09:56] Ron Webster: And to buy these Google cards.
He said, “You’ll see them on the card rack.
They go from $10 to $500.”
He says, “You get $3000, so get,” um, what’s that six?
And, “Well, all right.
I can see that.
[00:10:24] Ron Webster: (chuckle) Yeah.
[00:10:27] Will: Who knows what you’re going to do next.
I said, “Okay, I see it.”
“Okay” kind of makes sense, right?
Little did I know that they needed this damn number to cash the card, right?
I said, “Okay, all right, that makes sense.
And I said, “Oh crap, all right.
He says, “All right, well give me a call when you get there.”
I’ve got enough time.”
[00:11:29] Will: So Ron swings home and goes inside.
His youngest son is with his daughter when he gets there.
His son overhears some of the conversation his dad is having on the phone.
[00:11:38] Ron Webster: And my son says to me, “What’s that Dad?
Is that a, a, a, is that fraud?”
And I said, “No, no, it’s all right, it’s all right.”
You know, I didn’t want to go into detail.
He turns back home, walks inside.
And I said, “Uh, oh.”
But that’s easy to say now.
And I said, “Double oh-oh.”
[00:13:02] Ron Webster: And within five minutes, the guy was here.
And I says, “Listen the guy’s on hold.
The phone’s on the couch there.”
So he picks up the, he picks up the phone, he says, “Hello?
Yeah, this is Officer so and so from the Mansfield Police Department.
Your gig is up.”
[00:13:18] Will: Yeah.
[00:13:18] Ron Webster: The guy hung up.
[00:13:19] Will: But for Ron, the damage is done.
[00:13:29] Ron Webster: I didn’t have a hell of a lot left.
[00:13:44] Will: But what happens next and in coming days changes everything for Ron.
I don’t know how it works.
I said, “Wow!
What the heck’s that?”
So she told me how it worked.
I says, “Holy cow, people donated 1800?”
And she said, “Yeah, so far.”
[00:14:26] Ron Webster: Three days.
[00:14:27] Will: Ron is overwhelmed.
[00:14:38] Will: I hope the trip went well.
[00:14:41] Ron Webster: Yeah, my oldest daughter went with us.
I ended up spending the whole week with her, we were in the same room.
Slept in the same room.
We did everything together.
So, at any rate, it was, it was wonderful.
It was great to get away and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
You know, I don’t know how they can in good conscience do this.
I just don’t understand it.
I hope they’re taking good care of you.
[00:15:50] Ron Webster: Yeah, yeah, they help.
Yep, and I help them.
Yeah, we’re all in the same boat together.
It sounded like it was a really special and important trip.
[00:16:34] Frank Abagnale: Yeah.
That’s their job, to protect the consumer.
I’m supposed to send this amount of money.
I just want to check that this is not a scam.”
You don’t have to be an AARP member.
They’re there just to help you.
These are very knowledgeable people.
This doesn’t sound right.
[00:18:01] Frank Abagnale: And absolutely.
And I would, and I would trust the mailman.
Don’t give anybody any money.
I’ll find out about that and get back to you.”
And then he started thinking, well it could be a scam.
You know and that, and that’s what takes place.
He didn’t think of it.
[00:18:43] Frank Abagnale: No.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For The Perfect Scam, for AARP - The Perfect Scam, I’m Will Johnson.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
Rob, a veteran in his 70s, was a caretaker for his wife for years.
In a frenzied state, he starts to comply with the instructions of the woman on the phone.
But as her directions get stranger, Rob begins to question if hes doing the right thing.
He realizes that he may be the victim of a scam.
Unfortunately, by this time the scammers already have emptied out Robs savings account.
Rob is distraught, as this means hell have to cancel his trip with his daughter.
But, just when hes about to lose all hope, Robs community steps in to help.
For instance, if you are looking for a job you are more vulnerable to a work-at-home scam.
