They thought of the goodness of people.
My anger is that they’re going after these folks.
We should be taking care of these people.
Frank, thanks for being here.
[00:00:30] Frank Abagnale: Thanks Will.
[00:01:33] Will Johnson: Let’s get into today’s story.
We’re going to hear from MSNBC anchor Richard Lui and the story of his father.
[00:01:39] Richard Lui: And a very good evening to you.
His 86-year-old father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis has turned Lui’s story into one of a caregiver.
[00:02:08] Richard Lui: Oh no, not easy at all.
Uh, I, I do it probably about half a million miles a year now.
Um, I think that’s like 40 or 50 times around the earth every, every year.
His mother came to the United States as a child.
They met when he was a young pastor in Sacramento.
Eventually he became a social worker and she was a school teacher.
So your father was in, in good health more or less throughout your life.
[00:02:40] Richard Lui: Yeah.
[00:02:47] Richard Lui: That’s correct, yeah.
[00:02:49] Will Johnson: Tell me about that experience for you, him, and your family.
[00:03:33] Will Johnson: I imagine.
And Aunt Fannie and my dad were close.
Um, and she says, “He’s forgetting his siblings' names.”
And so she was concerned, that’s when I knew we should shift gears, right?
As opposed to the, what are you talking about?
And that was how we found out.
He moved into the first floor of their San Francisco rowhouse and eventually into a skilled nursing facility.
[00:05:27] Will Johnson: To hear about this is heartbreaking.
It’s hard to digest.
On top of it and along the way your father is scammed.
[00:05:46] Richard Lui: It does.
It really does, and it is angering.
They thought of the goodness of people.
That’s their generation.
They tried to make, they tried to do something good.
And we don’t expect that you would ever [00:06:46] say thank you.
No, that’s not why we do this.
And then for these groups to go after them, and take advantage of that trust?
This is more generational.
Why wouldn’t I do that, right, cause they’re not going to lie.
Why, it says right here in black and white."
I was like, “No, um, times have changed.
Um, just cause if they’re in black and white does not mean that this is real.”
“But, but it looks, look at this!
No, why would they want to take a stab at take advantage of me like that?
“They are really trying to do that to you.”
[00:08:14] Richard Lui: That’s right, that’s right.
Different groups, and I’d go and I’d say, “Dad, throw them all out.
It’s garbage.”
Of course he did not listen.
[00:08:23] Will Johnson: And so he replied to some of these?
[00:08:26] Richard Lui: Yes.
[00:08:28] Will Johnson: Sending in money and hoping to reap the rewards.
[00:08:30] Richard Lui: So yeah, and there were several types of scams.
Now the checks became problematic because they then had account information, right?
And then they had a signature.
Uh, they had addresses.
And uh, were able to set up recurring deductions from his checking account.
And my mom goes, What do you mean strange deductions?
But they called the house and my dads like, what do you mean?
Handed it over to my mom cause my dad was never quite that good with numbers.
Um, and she says, What?
So my, thats after, thats $2000 later.
[00:09:58] Will Johnson: Holy cow.
So, scammers had already taken whatever information they needed to start siphoning money out of your fathers account.
[00:10:05] Richard Lui: Thats right.
[00:10:06] Will Johnson: And luckily the bank got in touch with you and stopped it.
[00:10:08] Richard Lui: That, well, thats right, they did.
Uh, and then…
[00:10:12] Will Johnson: Or in touch with your mom.
So again, within a year they shut it down, cause my dad continued to do it.
He, he just loved it.
Like hes always loved mail.
[00:10:47] Richard Lui: And trustworthy, but that, that is, that is what happened.
They even went to the police station, um, with one of the stacks.
And my mom thought, okay, this will prove to him this is not good stuff.
Were going to file a report.
You were willingly sending in money, because you trusted them.
But my mom is going through the same thing and we couldnt do anything and Im a police officer.
So, that, that was, it was important to do but it does not result in anything.
[00:11:48] Will Johnson: With your dad.
Are you still getting the sense though that he has not learned his lesson or doesnt want to?
[00:11:52] Richard Lui: She was trying to say, look, see Steven?
This is bad stuff.
Were at the police station, okay?
[00:12:28] Richard Lui: Yeah.
And its, it pisses me off.
My anger is that theyre going after these folks.
We should be taking care of these people.
You and me, and youre going to go do this?
Im not going to stand for that.
[00:13:26] Richard Lui: Yeah, um, I dont think my dad was very ashamed.
Did we get it done?
How much money do you think your father spent over time?
[00:14:09] Richard Lui: Right, right, right.
Id say, you know, were talking about 2 to 3 thousand.
[00:14:13] Will Johnson: Okay.
[00:14:14] Richard Lui: Thousands, and two to three thousand is a lot for these folks.
[00:14:17] Will Johnson: Yes.
This is a time where a nickel was a nickel.
Right, and a dime was a dime.
For us its just a dime.
[00:12:16] Richard Lui: It is a big part of my story.
[00:15:02] Richard Lui: You know, cause he would do the same.
[00:15:13] Richard Lui: Yep, absolutely.
And I think you know, everybodys going to do it differently, but just do something, right?
And but its empowering.
Its not a burden alone as some might say.
This is today, and there are people out there that want to take your money away from you.
[00:19:03] Will Johnson: But how do scammers go about finding someone whos older?
[00:19:11] Will Johnson: I remember those, yes.
But because we live in a too much information world now, I had the internet.
[00:19:59] Frank Abagnale: Yeah.
[00:20:10] Will Johnson: No, theres probably very few.
It seemed to work.
I mean and move on, cause youre, youre basically drawing attention to what theyre doing.
So you know, I think thats all that was.
It was a good thing the wife did it, but thats pretty much what happened.
They probably moved on, because they were drawing attention to themselves.
[00:21:11] Frank Abagnale: It is.
Its the contact number there, you call up, say, did you send me this solicitation?
[00:21:54] Will Johnson: You mentioned tools that you didnt have 50 years ago.
you’re able to never see the original because youd know it was all pasted up.
[00:22:35] Will Johnson: Youre not jealous of scammers today though.
Youd go and tell yourself, wow, this is very creative.
I cant believe I got this to look this good.
[00:23:01] Will Johnson: Right.
Franks been working with the FBI for over 40 years now, so all thats behind him.
You dont have to do that stuff anymore.
She manages the Fraud Watch connection Facebook page, Jen, how are you?
[00:23:17] Jen Beam: Hi, Will, Im good.
[00:23:19] Will Johnson: Im good.
And believe it or not, there are scams attached to vacation plans.
And these scams target people like me who book last minute vacations.
[00:21:45] Will Johnson: Okay.
You um, you know Craigs List, itll be an email usually.
Theyre not going to ask you to give them a call.
So its a lot easier to scam someone when you dont actually speak to them over the phone.
Theres no vacation home on the beach.
[00:25:01] Will Johnson: Oh no, so you get there and uh its just not happening.
[00:25:04] Jen Beam: Its not happening.
[00:25:20] Jen Beam: Thats right.
I mean there are unscrupulous people everywhere.
Scammers may be devious, but sometimes theyre lazy.
And you really want to talk to someone on the phone.
[00:26:03] Will Johnson: Jen mentions a reverse image search.
Alright, Jen Beam, thanks again.
Jen Beam manages the Fraud Watch internet Facebook page.
[00:26:38] Frank Abagnale: Will, it was great to be here.
For AARP - The Perfect Scam.
For instance, if you are looking for a job you are more vulnerable to a work-at-home scam.
