And what do you know about Google Play cards?"
And it, the red flags just went up immediately.
[00:00:22] Michelle: Welcome back to AARP’sThe Perfect Scam.
Her husband now in a nursing home with dementia.
But sure enough, since this isThe Perfect Scam, things started to get strange.
[00:01:25] Annie: This guy is Academy Award material.
For Annie though, it was a no-brainer.
She agreed to quit her online relationship cold turkey from that day this past January.
[00:02:22] Annie: It didn’t.
[00:02:36] Michelle: You’re a strong person to not pick up that phone.
[00:02:53] Annie: Oh, absolutely.
[00:02:55] Michelle: It’s hard to break that off, isn’t it?
And, and I’d like to meet him.
They’d talk on the phone too, a few times a week, hour-long conversations.
Here’s one actual text Mark had sent her voiced by one of our staffers.
I want you to know how much I sincerely love the times we’ve spent talking.
It means so much to me.
There will be no looking back, no second thoughts, and no regrets.
I want you and need only you, and that love will only grow stronger.
I’ve truly been blessed by finding you, and I’ll never let you go."
[00:04:31] Michelle: He invested a lot of time.
[00:04:39] Michelle: But something else was also happening.
And it said a different persons name on it, but my address.
And I thought, thats weird.
Just before Annie cut off all contact with Mark, she had asked him about this.
Why would she be getting Sasha’s flowers at her house?
That might have been the end of it, but wait, there’s more.
Annie starts getting cards and letters addressed to Sasha from someone named William.
Such a cold world.
I still love you, and if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me.
Your forever love, Mark."
But Annie soon had a new creepy twist to contend with.
Yes, another one.
[00:07:27] Michelle: Sure.
And so I gave him the name, and he was stunned.
[00:08:02] Michelle: And he was sending cards to this Sasha person.
Was Sasha also looking for money?
[00:08:09] Annie: Apparently.
And the person I talked to in the South was not the person who sent the flowers.
[00:08:15] Michelle: Right.
[00:08:21] Michelle: …for multiple scams.
[00:08:22] Annie: Yeah, I did not sign up for this.
So Todd looks after him as much as he can.
Simply to love and be loved.
[00:10:04] Todd: He really just started focusing on, you know, finding companionship.
[00:10:40] Todd: It, it really is.
Um…
[00:10:41] Michelle: Did he get mad?
The two of them, Sasha and Eldridge, talked all day for days about everything.
Sasha was exotic and entrancing, even related to royalty she said, and was a good listener.
Once Eldridge showed his nephew the photos, Todd was instantly suspicious, but Eldridge was lovestruck.
[00:11:39] Todd: I think within four days he had asked her to marry him.
[00:11:45] Michelle: Wow.
And at that point, I’m involved.
And what do you know about Google Play cards?"
And it, the red flags just went up immediately.
[00:12:21] Michelle: Yeah.
[00:12:22] Todd: And I said, “Are, are you a PC gamer?
Do you need Steam cards?”
[00:12:48] Todd: I said, “Okay, I’ll tell you what.”
Some tellers even get special training, like through the AARP’s Bank Safe Program.
This time, the banks seemed to know immediately what was happening to Eldridge.
[00:13:31] Todd: She called him.
And I could hear the, I could hear the, the African accent.
[00:13:40] Michelle: Hmm.
[00:13:49] Michelle: Oh, gosh.
Did, what did she say?
[00:14:28] Michelle: This is something, by the way, anyone can do.
Does, does the voice match the photo?
[00:14:46] Todd: The voice does not match the photo.
[00:14:49] Michelle: When you confronted her on the phone, what did she say?
[00:14:53] Todd: Well, she hung up.
[00:15:17] Michelle: Did he get angry with you?
[00:15:19] Todd: Yes.
I was kind of balking at his dream, so to speak.
[00:15:24] Michelle: Todd persisted though.
Now Uncle Eldridge’s bubble is finally starting to burst.
Now you, you get to see yourself.
[00:16:31] Annie: Yeah.
[00:16:58] Michelle: It must be tough to see this happening.
[00:17:28] Michelle: Sure.
What do you think it’s going to take to get your uncle away from this stuff?
[00:17:36] Todd: (sigh) That’s a great question.
He sees that this person is fraudulent…
[00:17:45] Michelle: I see.
[00:17:51] Michelle: Got it.
In fact, they’re clearly threatening, and frankly, weirdly terrifying.
Think about your family.
This is not a warning, but you have been warned voodoo.
I am saying no more."
He threatens to destroy her family, that they will die one by one.
[00:18:57] Michelle: Are you frightened; you’re not frightened of him.
[00:18:59] Annie: No.
You could say that Annie and even Uncle Eldridge are the lucky ones.
That they both had families that stepped in forcefully, almost, and kept them from going any further.
Neither of them lost tons of money, what could have been their life savings.
[00:20:01] Todd: I think he loses hope.
You know, he’s, he’s lost the hope of that.
[00:20:31] Todd: I have told him that I would go with him to do those things.
You know, “We would be glad to have you.”
It was so elaborate; it was so well thought out.
[00:22:22] Michelle: Yeah.
[00:22:23] Todd: Every comeback that we had, there was an answer for it.
Like it was scripted.
[00:22:40] Todd: Right.
Right, that’s all they’re looking for.
You know, that’s what our loved ones are looking for.
She sounds really happy to find a positive goal out of all this horror.
[00:25:09] Michelle: That’s wonderful.
You’ve been through hell and back.
You got a crash course in online dating, WhatsApp, uh, bit coin, and Face ID.
You, you know it all.
[00:25:21] Annie: Im really good at this.
[00:25:34] Annie: Um, I would probably tell him that I feel really bad for him.
He had a verbal relationship with a really amazing woman.
She is loving, shes happy, shes generous, she is full of love and loves everybody.
She has a strong family base, she has a strong faith, and you blew it.
But even now, there are dark reminders.
Im determined to not be a victim and to be the victor.
[00:27:05] Michelle: That is a beautiful, beautiful story.
[00:27:10] Annie: So I, I choose not to be a victim.
And if youve been a victim, then it’s possible for you to move on.
It, it does not have to stop where you are.
So we need to get to the victims before they become victims.
[00:27:37] Michelle: Yeah.
[00:27:37] Annie: And getting the word out there is the only way we can prevent it.
It’s one of those things.
[00:28:02] Michelle: Take great care of yourself, and I hope we speak again sometime.
[00:28:11] Michelle: Thank you.
It seems like a lot of work for not that much money, am I right?
They might be taking that same approach and doing it with 30 or 50 people.
We’ve actually seen romance scams double in the last uh 12 months.
So those types of scams are getting very popular.
Thats incredible to me.
Why do you think they’re exploding like this?
So, you feel very comfortable.
Youve gotten to know them really well; you have the same interests.
Should I be sending this person money?
We live in a world where it’s not that difficult to check people out.
Do they really work at that company?
Are they married, not married?
It’s not that difficult to do.
Or are they just getting better at their, at their fake jobs?
And that’s why education is the most powerful tool to fighting these types of crimes.
[00:33:04] Michelle: Okay.
He’s not asking me for any money.
[00:33:42] Frank Abagnale: Absolutely.
[00:33:55] Frank Abagnale: Right.
She thought she was taking donations for an orphanage.
She thought she was helping people instead of hurting people.
So yes, there are a lot of people who are used and not realize they’re being used.
You’re part of the scam even though you don’t know youre part of the scam.
[00:35:51] Michelle: That is great information.
Thanks so much, Frank.
We’ll see you next week.
[00:35:55] Frank Abagnale: Sounds good.
See ya next week.
Be sure to find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
For AARP’sThe Perfect Scam, I’m Michelle Kosinski.
Annie assumes theyre from Mark, the man she has learned is a con artist.
AARPs Fraud Watch online grid can help you spot and avoid scams.
