[00:00:06] Susan Donald: Nothing.
There was dead silence.
I’m walking back to my family room to sit down, and there’s nothing.
I’m, you know, waiting for him to give me some more details and there’s nothing.
[00:00:29] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
Today’s story includes some pretty wild emotional swings.
A grandmother who’s arrested with $180,000.
Another grandmother who I’m sure you’ll soon agree, is a hero.
But let’s start with the hero.
[00:00:59] I am Susan Donald.
And I am in San Diego, California.
[00:01:05] Bob: And how long have you lived there?
[00:01:08] Susan Donald: Oh, I was born in San Diego.
I, I am the original owner of the home that I live in.
[00:01:14] Bob: So you must really like San Diego.
[00:01:16] Susan Donald: I love San Diego.
We have everything very close too.
[00:01:20] Bob: Tell me why.
[00:01:22] Susan Donald: Oh, the weather, of course.
The access to anything within 15 minutes; the beaches, the mountains.
We have theater, we have the best of restaurants.
But Susan was doing okay with that.
[00:02:03] Bob: But she was also dealing with another family issue.
Her grandson, 18 at the time, was at a rehab center in Texas dealing with addiction issues.
And it was quiet.
So I was just, you know, I enjoy my paper in the morning.
I don’t think I’d even started it though.
I, I was, I, I hadn’t been up too long.
So it was just a quiet morning where I was relaxing and, and not doing anything.
And something I ordinarily don’t do is answer phone calls where I can.
I do screen my calls.
This one said, “private caller” and I, I hesitated.
I have a few clients.
Um, I, I just, I’m calling you because I was just in an accident.”
[00:03:46] Bob: I was just in an accident.
It’s exactly the kind of call every parent, every grandparent dreads.
Frantic, he describes what had just happened.
It’s not your run of the mill fender bender.
Someone is seriously hurt.
[00:04:02] Susan Donald: “I, I was on my way to the doctor.
And I, I said, “Who… is this you, Brandon?”
And that’s his, my grandson’s name that was in Texas at that time.
And he was in a halfway house so to speak for treatment.
He had just got out of it and got an apartment.
So I thought, oh my gosh, you know, this is horrible.
And, and, and but I said, “Your voice sounds different.”
[00:04:46] Bob: I mean that sounds like a terrifying phone call to get.
[00:04:48] Susan Donald: It was.
But given his situation, well that makes things even worse.
He’s doing so well, he’s recovering.
And now, this is happening.
He was scared to death.
I mean you could tell, and his voice was, of course, frantic.
And begging me not to call his parents.
He didn’t want them to know.
He was, you know, embarrassed.
And he would, had been doing so well where he was.
So you know it’s kind of a special position you fill as a grandparent.
She might lose the baby.
And would I help him?
“My friend has an attorney that can help me, and he can come on the line.
Would you, would you help me, Grandma, would you do that?”
[00:06:29] Bob: Susan says, yes, of course, she’ll help.
And then she waits.
[00:06:50] Bob: The man says he can help Brandon, but only if they act quickly.
[00:07:29] Bob: And he stresses to Susan, “Don’t tell a soul.”
I mentioned to him, “Well how do you know my grandson?”
We wouldn’t want anything to happen.
But I can arrange this.
The only thing is, it has to be done quickly.”
And go to the, in my case, the credit union.
[00:08:50] Susan Donald: None, none.
He had told me if they did, to say it was for home improvements.
[00:08:59] Susan Donald: You know, I can’t remember.
I know it was a lot of money.
(chuckled)
[00:09:07] Bob: Had you ever held that much cash in your before?
[00:08:69] Susan Donald: I don’t think so.
I really don’t think so.
[00:09:25] Bob: And she follows the man’s instructions very carefully.
[00:09:51] Bob: They hang up and she speeds home.
The whole trip to the bank takes less than 30 minutes.
As soon as she walks in the door, the phone rings again.
There’s more instructions.
[00:10:18] Bob: And by the time she follows those instructions, the doorbell rings.
She’s wearing a COVID mask.
Susan opens the door.
[00:10:37] Susan Donald: She didn’t say much.
She was kind of there.
And the other hand holding my cellphone and talking to him.
And she took it, and he’s there at the same time.
And I said, “Okay.”
[00:11:19] Bob: She walks out…
[00:11:20] Susan Donald: Yes.
She, she never came in.
She, we did this at my screen door.
[00:11:29] Susan Donald: Right.
[00:11:34] Susan Donald: Nothing.
There was dead silence.
I’m walking back to my family room to sit down, and there’s nothing.
And you know, give me some more details and there’s nothing.
[00:11:58] Bob: He was gone.
And so is Susan’s money.
[00:12:03] Bob: And what goes through your mind right at that moment?
[00:12:05] Susan Donald: That it wasn’t really my grandson.
[00:12:07] Bob: Ah, what a horrible feeling, right?
[00:12:09] Susan Donald: Oh, it was horrible, it was awful.
So I sat for a couple hours just thinking through it.
[00:12:47] Bob: But Susan does have to figure out what to do next.
Quickly she starts to think that much more might be at stake for her than $9,000.
A pregnant woman had been hit.
She wires the money.
But Susan, after thinking for a bit, decides she’s not talking to these people anymore.
Instead, she calls her family.
And she calls law enforcement.
[00:14:42] Susan Donald: I think I called the police right away before I called my daughter.
And she only lives a couple blocks from me.
Very, very nice, you know, very calming, very, you know sensitive to the issue.
I really had a good experience.
And he said he was going to have somebody call me later that day, and they did.
[00:15:45] Bob: Remember, Susan had installed those video cameras.
She had the messenger on video and was able to share that with police.
[00:15:54] Susan Donald: I worked with this detective who kept telling me what they were doing.
They were looking for this person and everything else.
[00:16:00] Bob: They were looking for this person.
Someone calls pretending to be a grandchild, then frightens or intimidates a grandparent into sending money.
In this case, through a messenger, a money mule.
Local police look for a person they cannot find, who has long since left the area.
And the money is sent overseas or somewhere beyond the arm of the law.
[00:17:00] My name’s Brady Finta.
I’m in Carlsbad, California.
I’m a retired FBI agent.
[00:17:05] Bob: So how long were you with the FBI?
[00:17:07] Brady Finta: About 23+ years.
[00:17:09] Bob: That is a pretty long rung with the FBI.
[00:17:25] Bob: People who are long-time reality TV show fans might recognize your name.
Tell me why that is?
[00:17:32] Brady Finta: Uh, actually not, not that very often anymore.
[00:17:51] Bob: What does happen often is what happened to Susan Donald.
That this is, you know, you did it voluntarily.
So there’s nothing I can do.
There’s not that many places they can go.
A lot of times the state and oftentimes the country.
So when the case presents itself, hey what is the loss here?
[00:20:51] Bob: But there’s definitely something different about this case.
[00:22:17] Brady Finta: There was no doubt.
And she was actually from LA County.
The records for that one-day rental were up there.
It’s not, it’s not that easy.
And it is frustrating for our, for our local police that do, they do have these victims.
So yeah, the FBI, at least in my office, some jumped on board.
And what happens when they pull on that thread?
Well that’s next week on The Perfect Scam.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch internet Helpline at 877-908-3360.
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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.
She knows instantly that it was a scam.
