Scammed

Three classic scams are looked at in this episode. First we look at how credit card skimming works, then a quick look into the trust required for scammers to pull off an investment fraud, and then we finish off with a woman who loses her entire business due to the deceptive Advanced Fee scam.

We explore the story of a young soldier who returns home to find his identity has been stolen and his credit rating ruined. Despite being able to prove he was in Iraq, he cannot shake the bad credit and his life slowly falls apart. We then explore a story where a family targeted landlords, using the information from rental agreements to steal their victims' identities.

At the world's largest sports memorabilia conference leading experts speak about the breadth of counterfeit products. We also speak to FBI Special Agent Fitzsimmons about Operation Bullpen; a high profile bust conducted by his unit that resulted in the arrest of a forgery and authentication operation.

Affinity frauds are perpetrated against people of particular social or ethnic groups. Two criminals, David Spark & Andrew Lech, prey upon trusting groups of people who do not fear or would never suspect being taken advantage of by someone from within their own community. The victims come out to tell their stories.

This episode exposes two different charity schemes: a fake disaster relief website that takes donations and funnels them into criminals accounts, the other a scam in which a person pretends to have cancer so they can collect donations for personal use. These two heinous acts prey upon good people while also inhibiting the ability of charitable organizations to help those that are in need.

This episode concerns automobile fraud, documenting one man's journey through encounters with an unscrupulous car salesmen. The second story involves the maintenance and tampering of air bags. We will meet a mother whose son became a of victim air bag fraud. This devastating crime has ruined families that trusted and put their faith in the hands of greedy reckless criminals.

In the early 20th century a man scammed people out of their savings through an elaborate plan that is now referred to as a Ponzi scheme. This scheme is still used today, and in this episode you will find out how a Ponzi scheme works and the devastation and loss it can cause to many innocent people who are manipulated into investing.

In this episode we study the Butler case. Jeff Butler targeted elderly people for his Ponzi scheme. He stole over 12 million dollars from people he had befriended. He created wills and trusts for free in order to acquire personal information about his victims.

A group of fraudsters ran a scheme that stretched all over the globe. This became a family fraud that lasted over twenty years. Sending out thousands of forged lotto letters, they were able to attract and convince people they were a legitimate lottery that also ran a pension fund for its regular playing customers. Watch how the Secret Service tracked down this group and brought them to justice.

This episode uncovers the horrifying story of a funeral home outside Chicago involved with selling recycled graves by disposing of the original remains and burying the new. Join us as we take you through a fraud scheme that exploited and desecrated what was to be the final resting place of victims' loved ones.

All relationships encounter their share of problems, but when one partner lies and defrauds the other of their savings, it becomes a crime. The second story is of Jeff Kent, a charming charismatic individual who preyed upon the loneliness of others. Once he had gained his victim's trust, he incorporated them into his business schemes, often leaving the victim with large debts.

In this episode we meet Detectives Glass and Staab as they guide us through two fascinating Identity theft cases. Officer Glass shares with us a crime of forgery where we meet one of the criminals, Rachel Ross. Officer Staab takes us through a case in which a criminal assumed the identity of a victim in order to open accounts and take out loans in their victim's name.

The elderly are often preyed upon by fraudsters who are frequently someone they know and trust. These elderly people had their retirement savings plundered by everyone from their trusted fiduciaries, new romantic interests and even their own children. Not only did they have their savings stolen but they also lost their faith in other people.