[00:00:03] Linda Dyas: He was arrested and held without bail for an entire year.
He still believed that he was going to walk away from this.
So he really thought he was going to walk away from this.
(MUSIC SEGUE)
[00:00:30] Bob: Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
I’m your host, Bob Sullivan.
When we left our story, Linda Dyas was hot on the trail of Derek Alldred.
Linda is now obsessed with making sure Alldred finally gets the justice he deserves.
Together they work to compile a list of women betrayed by Derek Alldred and it keeps growing and growing.
[00:01:46] Linda Dyas: At least 400.
[00:01:48] Bob: Over and over Alldred has seduced women, stolen their money and then vanished.
She’s interviewed several of the women involved in the chase.
They, they kind of bolstered each other’s confidence a little bit in that way.
NCIS, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service.
The Feds are now involved.
They want Alldred for stolen valor.
And they, NCIS was, was just getting involved at that time.
[00:04:49] Bob: So Alldred is picked up in a simple sting operation.
After all, he’s been arrested and released before.
This time, however, the involvement of NCIS is actually a big break.
Alldred tells investigators very little at first.
Here’s audio from one of those first interviews.
[00:06:06] Derek Alldred (interview): I went to, to prison in California.
Um, went to prison in Minnesota.
Certainly wasn’t proud of it.
I hadn’t been in the back of a police car till I was 35 years old.
[00:06:34] Linda Dyas: He was arrested and held without bail for an entire year.
He still believed that he was going to walk away from this.
So he really thought he was going to walk away from this.
Even still, Linda is worried Alldred will sweet talk his way into leniency.
My behavior was, I, I was a horrible boyfriend, absolutely horrible.
Destroying someone’s life I think is a bit exaggerated.
[00:07:57] Bob: Rachel interviews him from jail and it’s clear Alldred isn’t contrite.
In fact, he’s still scheming.
I went, I was at the jail but I, I couldn’t speak to him face-to-face.
It’s more complicated, you know, I’ll, I’ll tell you more.
I’ll give you everything.
And then I realized like oh.
I’m, I’m being conned right now.
It was like…
[00:09:02] Bob: He’s trying to do it to you, yeah.
[00:09:12] Bob: Wow.
[00:09:22] Bob: Wow.
[00:09:23] Bob: Another few months go by.
And finally, it’s time for the sentencing of Derek Alldred.
But…
[00:10:19] Linda Dyas: The judge who sentenced him was a great man.
He read word for word every one of our statements.
And mine was like 20 pages long, typed.
[00:10:27] Bob: Wow.
[00:10:28] Linda Dyas: Yeah.
[00:10:29] Bob: Wow.
[00:11:20] Bob: The judge also sentences Alldred to pay restitution of more than $250,000.
It is clear that he will never change, and we expect his sentence to reflect that.
We are glad we were able to get some level of justice for these women."
I don’t think he learned any lesson.
I, I don’t think he has any true feelings for anybody.
Um, he’s a sociopath, and, and he’s just one of a bunch of them.
I hate to say it that way.
There’s, there are more out there, but, but he was unique.
Um, and it’s good that he’s been put away.
But she still keeps in touch with the victims.
[00:13:06] Rachel Monroe: Yeah, I think so, for sure.
So I think that they were glad that it sent a message in some way.
And they’re all so different from each other.
I’ve like, I’ve acquired a little bit of a one-sided pen pal relationship.
I think he was trying to put together an appeal of some kind.
And I’m always like, “I, I don’t know, Derek.”
[00:15:19] Bob: Yeah, like now your his agent.
[00:15:20] Rachel Monroe: Right, exactly.
It’s just like I can’t, that, that’s not a question for me to answer.
[00:15:23] Bob: But he’s still in character is the term I would use.
He, he hasn’t seen the error of his ways or any of that?
But I guess, you know, it seems like it serves some use to him.
But it began with forgiving themselves.
That’s when he defrauded her and stole part of her college fund.
This guy was allowed to do this for decades and decades because people were afraid to look stupid.
It’s, you’re not stupid if you get conned by someone who knows what they’re doing.
That doesn’t make you stupid.
[00:16:50] Bob: Even professionals were shocked by the things Derek Alldred did.
[00:16:55] Bob: Well he must have been a very good storyteller.
[00:16:57] Linda Dyas: Oh, incredibly, incredibly good.
The NCIS investigator down the road commented that he had never met a liar quite so charismatic and believable.
[00:17:09] Bob: Hmm.
Did he actually serve in the military?
[00:17:11] Linda Dyas: No.
[00:17:12] Bob: Ever?
Maybe six months driving a truck, but that was it.
[00:17:58] Bob: I have to say, that’s really the depressing part of this profession.
[00:18:01] Rachel Monroe: Yeah.
[00:18:15] Rachel Monroe: Yeah, exactly.
Why the surge in Derek Alldred key in stories now?
And I think he, he probably couldnt have done it without having technology to sort of enable him.
Um, but I, I do think it’s a, it’s a double-edged sword, right.
[00:20:19] Linda Dyas: There’s some things that I look at differently nowadays.
And I, he always used that to make me feel sorry for him.
Those, those are signs that, that something’s wrong.
[00:21:27] Bob: Linda’s heart was badly scarred by this experience.
All these women will tell you that.
Scarred, but not ruined.
Now there are some great, great people out there.
So that didn’t do me any, any good.
Yeah, you know as, as awkward as it may be, look at their driver’s license.
Ask to meet some family or friends.
[00:22:31] Bob: Hmm.
I really like what you said though, um, you have to be vulnerable in a relationship.
[00:22:43] Linda Dyas: Right, exactly.
I don’t want to be an untrusting, angry, alone, you know, person.
I, I still am very much a people person.
[00:23:15] Bob: You have to be vulnerable to be in a relationship.
That’s a good reminder.
Rachel has similar advice to offer.
I don’t know, maybe the, maybe the conclusion is always like trust but verify, right.
If somebody’s telling you exactly what you want to hear, there might be a reason for it.
[00:24:25] Bob: I still believe in true love but it’s important to do your research.
And yet, even the best research isn’t foolproof.
It’s good to have your radar tuned to certain frequencies, however.
To me that is a red flag.
So that’s a, that’s a more like tailored, specific piece of advice.
[00:25:28] Bob: What can society do?
What we all do to make this less likely to happen?
Don’t be afraid to call the police.
And by you not saying anything, you’re just allowing him to hurt someone else.
[00:26:39] Linda Dyas: Pay attention.
Don’t treat all of these situations as domestic arguments, because they’re not.
That doesn’t even make sense.
And the banks are going to have to start being held accountable.
[00:27:33] Bob: Rachel has ideas about how society could handle these situations better too.
Does this make sense?
I think those two prongs would, would probably, both go a long way to, to helping.
[00:29:05] Bob: Sharing the truth, seeing the truth can be very, very painful.
But it can also be very freeing.
They seem to be able to, to frame it in that way.
[00:30:42] Bob: That is really very beautiful.
[00:30:45] Rachel Monroe: Thank you.
[00:30:49] Rachel Monroe: Yeah.
[00:30:52] Bob: When you lose something you believed in, you gain something much more real.
That’s a powerful notion.
[00:31:33] Bob: It’s the number one complaint, romance scams?
[00:31:36] Steve Baker: Yeah, uh, for individuals.
But for individuals suffer scams, there, there’s more about romance fraud than anything else.
[00:31:51] Bob: Victims can really go through hell.
More than just money is stolen.
I mean a lot of these victims are emotionally devastated.
[00:32:29] Bob: Oh my God.
yo call or text 988 or chat 988Lifeline.org.
They’ve burned those personal ties.
[00:33:43] Steve Baker: No, this is organized crime.
These are professionals, this is what they do for a living.
They’re very good at what they do, and uh, you’ve really got to be cautious.
This is a worldwide fraud.
How do they work?
And thereabout I have seen estimates, 5% of the population.
And they don’t feel guilt.
It just doesn’t register for them.
[00:35:42] Steve Baker: Right, and they’re apparently very difficult to catch.
But for scammers, those skills we have don’t work.
I mean ‘cause these people are really, really good at what they do.
That’s how we go through life.
[00:36:44] Steve Baker: It’s extremely hard, even for professionals to recognize them.
Are they straight or are they gay?
Are they highly educated or not?
And it turned out all of those factors were a wash.
So I thought that was interesting, ‘cause it’s not educated/non-educated.
It’s not rich/poor.
I mean it’s all of us.
[00:37:36] Bob: It’s people who believe in romance.
[00:37:38] Steve Baker: Hmm-hmm.
[00:37:40] Bob: Wow.
Okay, that’s actually among the more heartbreaking things you’ve ever told to me, Steve.
There’s no gender split?
[00:37:53] Steve Baker: Yeah that’s what Professor Witte found.
I mean women are more likely to report it, I think, than, than men are.
[00:38:07] Bob: But there is good news.
And law enforcement is starting to treat these crimes more seriously.
People are reporting it now.
It is absolutely huge.
It’s really, really, really, really common.
It’s not just dating sites.
You know meet in person.
But, but that is an issue.
So that’s why these things are hard to spot, hard to avoid.
And, and that puts the victim off kilter, right?
[00:41:04] Steve Baker: Sure.
That’s the way you should react to a question like that.
[00:41:16] Steve Baker: Yeah, it really is.
[00:41:19] Bob: So, ask questions.
It’s perfectly fine to talk about hard things at the beginning of a relationship.
In fact, the way the other person reacts will tell you a lot.
Heck, you’ve got the option to use The Perfect Scam as a conversation starter.
“I know this sounds silly, but did you hear that crazy episode about Derek Alldred?”
Anything to broach the subject and get the answers you deserve.
No one should make you afraid to ask questions, and we’ll keep asking them here.
For The Perfect Scam, I’m Bob Sullivan.
Call the AARP Fraud Watch online grid Helpline at 877-908-3360.
Their trained fraud specialists can provide you with free support and guidance on what to do next.
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.
