[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_06]: This is Scams and Cons News with Jim Grinstead
[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: In this week's news, a banker romps depositors of $47 million, loses the money, and forces
[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_01]: the bank to close.
[00:00:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And pickpockets are stealing your credit card data without laying a hand on you.
[00:00:24] [SPEAKER_01]: But we begin with the story of a depraved scammer who romped military gold star families.
[00:00:30] [SPEAKER_01]: Gold star families are those who have lost loved ones during periods of war or hostilities.
[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The former Army Financial Counselor was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison.
[00:00:51] [SPEAKER_01]: The man misused his position to siphon millions from life insurance payments intended for the grieving families.
[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Ultimately, he defrauded them of approximately $3.7 million while earning $1.4 million in commissions for himself.
[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: From 2018 to 2022, the man provided financial guidance to families of deceased service members,
[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_01]: directing them to invest their insurance payouts in high-risk trades through a brokerage firm where he worked part time.
[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_01]: The case came to light following an investigation by The Washington Post leading to the guilty plea for wire securities fraud.
[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: In addition to his prison sentence, he's required to forfeit the commissions he earned through the illicit activities.
[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_01]: More than 13,000 residents in Illinois are set to receive compensation as part of a $15 million settlement
[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_01]: related to a lending scam involving the company Think Finance.
[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Each eligible individual will receive an average payment of about $1,100.
[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: The settlement is part of a broader initiative by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, CFPB,
[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_01]: which will distribute a total of $384 million to 191,000 customers across 17 states.
[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_01]: The lawsuit against Think Finance was settled in 2024 and alleged that the company unlawfully collected
[00:02:26] [SPEAKER_01]: on loans that were void under state laws, those laws involved excessive interest rates and licensing.
[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The CFPB said that Think Finance engaged in deceptive practices, including making electronic withdrawals
[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_01]: from customers' bank accounts and demanding payments for debts that were not legally owed.
[00:02:46] [SPEAKER_01]: The CFPB's Civil Pinnulty Fund will compensate the victims.
[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: The agency emphasized the importance of providing relief to consumers affected by such financial misconduct,
[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_01]: particularly when companies involved have declared bankruptcy or dissolved.
[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Shan Haynes, the former CEO of Heartland Tri-State Bank in Elkhart, Kansas,
[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison for embezzling $47 million from a bank.
[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_01]: He then transferred the funds to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by scammers.
[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: The massive theft, carried out over just eight weeks in 2023, led to the collapse and FDIC takeover of the bank,
[00:03:29] [SPEAKER_01]: one of only five U.S. banks to fail that year.
[00:03:33] [SPEAKER_01]: AI voice Brian tells us more.
[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_00]: Haynes stole money from the bank, a local church, an investment club,
[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_00]: and his own daughter's college savings account to invest in the scam.
[00:03:43] [SPEAKER_00]: He never realized any profit and lost all the stolen funds.
[00:03:47] [SPEAKER_00]: Judge John Brooms, who called Haynes' actions pure evil,
[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_00]: ordered the former CEO to be taken into custody immediately after imposing the stiff sentence.
[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_00]: The scam, which involved a co-conspirator communicating with Haynes via WhatsApp,
[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_00]: followed a common scheme where victims are convinced to invest in cryptocurrency
[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00]: and then have their money stolen.
[00:04:07] [SPEAKER_00]: Haynes made a series of 11 wire transfers to the scammers' accounts.
[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_00]: With each transfer requiring another investment to unlock or guarantee the earlier funds.
[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_00]: Heartland Tri-State employees circumvented the bank's wire transfer policies to approve Haynes' requests,
[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: and the CEO's dominant role in the banking community contributed to a reluctance
[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_00]: to question or report the fraudulent activities earlier.
[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Shareholders lost 70% to 80% of their retirement funds,
[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: and some victims are now struggling to afford basic necessities.
[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_00]: Haynes, who had served on the boards of the American Bankers Association
[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: and Kansas Bankers Association, was charged with embezzlement by federal prosecutors
[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and separately by the Morton County, Kansas, attorney.
[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_00]: He remains unrepentant, believing he could have recovered the stolen funds
[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: if he had more time before being arrested.
[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Solar power scams are heating up.
[00:05:12] [SPEAKER_01]: In Huntsville, Alabama, scammers are trying to trick homeowners into buying solar panels.
[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_03]: Huntsville utility officials are warning you about a scam tactic,
[00:05:21] [SPEAKER_03]: claiming to cut your bill while being environmentally friendly.
[00:05:24] [SPEAKER_03]: So here's how it works.
[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Huntsville utilities, their officials say they received word of scammers calling customers
[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_03]: in our area claiming to be solar contractors with the company.
[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_03]: They say scammers are offering to install solar panels on homes
[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_03]: to help reduce your bill for just 35 bucks.
[00:05:40] [SPEAKER_03]: That should have been your dead giveaway.
[00:05:41] [SPEAKER_03]: However, officials say the scammers will then start asking you for personal financial information.
[00:05:46] [SPEAKER_03]: If you get a call like this, hang up immediately.
[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_03]: If you believe you've already been a victim of this scam, contact police.
[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: When we're selling or buying a car, we want to get the best deal we can.
[00:06:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Same is true of auto dealers, but they have tricks up their sleeves
[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: to make the deal sweeter for themselves.
[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: KY3 in Springfield, Missouri tells how it works.
[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_06]: Well, seller beware.
[00:06:12] [SPEAKER_06]: Crook C or Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist ad.
[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_06]: And while looking at your car, they'll distract you and damage your vehicle.
[00:06:20] [SPEAKER_06]: Then convince you there's a problem and you must lower your asking price.
[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_02]: When they left, I noticed there were oil spots on my driveway where they had tampered with it.
[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_06]: That's when branded Schmidli checked his camera.
[00:06:32] [SPEAKER_06]: It only took a few seconds.
[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_06]: Schmidli was trying to sell his 2013 Honda Odyssey.
[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_02]: With the one at the back of the car and the other one walked around the front
[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_02]: and put some oil in the cooling reservoir,
[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_02]: spurted oil on either side of the engine, just smeared it all over there.
[00:06:47] [SPEAKER_06]: He was asking for $9000 but got less than half a map.
[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_02]: You have a car that you own and somebody's vandalizing it
[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_02]: and you don't even realize it and then they use that against you fraudulently
[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_02]: on what can be a really substantial transaction.
[00:07:00] [SPEAKER_06]: What would make this situation right? What do you want to see happen?
[00:07:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, a time machine would make the situation right.
[00:07:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I certainly don't want this to happen to anybody else and it would be nice
[00:07:11] [SPEAKER_02]: if there was some sort of justice on the part of the people who are doing this
[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_02]: just so that it's a deterrent for anybody else who thinks,
[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_02]: oh, as long as you can get away with it, great.
[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And if you don't get away with it, there's really not that much harm.
[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01]: It said the only things in life you can't escape are death and taxes.
[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, add one more.
[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_01]: An apartment lease.
[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_01]: When a tenant died, the San Antonio apartment odors sent her families a bill
[00:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: to fulfill what it felt was a broken lease.
[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_01]: The woman's children received a collection notice
[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: saying they were owed $15,676 for the remainder of a two-year lease.
[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Texas law says family members can cancel a lease if a loved one passes away.
[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_01]: The 91-year-old died in late June and was married next to her husband.
[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: She had lived for more than 10 years in the apartment complex
[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: and when she died, she had almost a year left on her two-year lease.
[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Initially they contacted the leasing company
[00:08:12] [SPEAKER_01]: which said they would use the security deposit to clean the unit
[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_01]: and cancel the lease.
[00:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: But a few weeks later, they got a bill for $14,368
[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_01]: an accelerated rent and a $1,117 lease break fee.
[00:08:29] [SPEAKER_01]: The bill said the reason for the charges was because she was deceased.
[00:08:34] [SPEAKER_01]: The story was picked up by a local television station
[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and the family is waiting to see if the company follows through on the bill.
[00:08:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Imagine being in a crowd.
[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't have to be a particularly dense crowd.
[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: No one lays a hand on you, but your pocket has just been picked.
[00:08:54] [SPEAKER_05]: The case is a credit card reader, just like the ones you see used in the normal course of business
[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_05]: at drug stores, fast food chains and taxis.
[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_05]: But in the blink of an eye, criminals could electronically pick up your credit card information.
[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_05]: The technology is called radio frequency identification
[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_05]: and you may not even know you have it.
[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_05]: Excuse me, sir. Do you have time?
[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_05]: Fortunately this guy is no thief.
[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_05]: Walt Augustinovich runs Identity Stronghold,
[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_05]: a company that protects consumers from ID theft.
[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Alright, what number did you get?
[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Amex card ending in 41009 expiration 06 2013.
[00:09:29] [SPEAKER_04]: That's my card. You picked my pocket.
[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.
[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Without even going into my pocket.
[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_05]: He says the technology is a dream come true for electronic pickpocketers
[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_05]: because the crime is virtually untraceable.
[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Okay, you have the information, but can you do anything with it?
[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Can you buy something?
[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_01]: Inside Edition stole a staffer's card information
[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and with permission went online.
[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_05]: It was almost too easy.
[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_05]: Using a fraudulent name and address,
[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_05]: I had no problem ordering this $30 sweatshirt from L.L. Bean.
[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_05]: But would the bogus transaction get flagged?
[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_05]: Apparently not.
[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_05]: And here it is. Just a few days later,
[00:10:10] [SPEAKER_05]: the package I ordered arrived and it didn't cost me a dime.
[00:10:16] [SPEAKER_01]: This is Scams & Cons News.
[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Scams & Cons is part of the Killer Podcast Network.