[00:00:00] In Hamburg gibt es ein Polizeirevier, in dem kann alles geschehen.
[00:00:03] Von Nächten mit Filmriss auf dem Kiez bis zu privaten Dramen auf der Wache.
[00:00:09] Von ägyptischen Schätzen, die verschwinden, bis zu Kollegen, die immer füreinander da sind.
[00:00:15] Und von großen Fischen, die ins Netz gehen, bis zu kleinen Haien, die noch eine Chance bekommen.
[00:00:22] Das Großstadtrevier. Mehr als ein Revier. Immer montags um 18.50 Uhr im Ersten.
[00:00:33] Das ist Scams & Cons News mit Jim Grinstead.
[00:00:40] Brad Pitt ist ein String-Froeger und ein Romanzer-Skamm.
[00:00:44] In einem Schenstern-Kartierer? In Memphis.
[00:00:46] Das ist eine Schammer-Schmher-Tri.
[00:00:47] Er hat einen Schenstern-Karten im Vor bracen.
[00:00:49] Und er hat es auf die Runde auf dem Film.
[00:00:52] video ceremony. But we begin with an 83-year-old San Francisco area woman who lost nearly $50,000
[00:00:59] in a scam that involved coin machines. The woman received a phone call from someone claiming to be
[00:01:05] her grandson, saying he'd been arrested and needed bail money. The scammer instructed her
[00:01:10] to deposit cash into Coinstar machines at a local supermarket, then convert it to cryptocurrency.
[00:01:18] ABC7 has more. And he said, well, the court has devised an easy way for people to pay for bail
[00:01:24] because a check takes too long to get there. So they have an account with Coinstar.
[00:01:30] Coinstar. You may have seen these machines in local markets like Safeway. That's exactly where
[00:01:34] the caller sent Lois after she stopped off at the bank. One by one, she fed $100 bill after $100 bill
[00:01:40] into the machine, taking crypto account instructions from someone on the other end of the phone. The
[00:01:45] next day, another call, this time saying the prosecutor had added more charges and raised
[00:01:50] her grandson's bail by another $15,000. The extra charges are because the woman
[00:01:55] in the car that he hit had suffered a miscarriage. Back to the machine she went,
[00:02:00] putting in $100 bill after $100 bill. It took me over an hour. Every 10,000 prints a receipt.
[00:02:07] And then a third call. This time it would be another $25,000 for attorney's fees and court costs.
[00:02:13] What was I to do then? Just say, oh, I'm going to abandon him. I couldn't do that.
[00:02:18] Lois says people tried to warn her, including bank managers who asked why she was taking out
[00:02:23] so much money. I said, oh, I've been to an estate sale and they won't take a check. So I have to,
[00:02:28] that's why I have to get cash. They were like, are you sure? I mean, they tried.
[00:02:33] The Coinstar machine itself had warnings. If you think you're being defrauded, stop. Well,
[00:02:39] I couldn't stop. And even another Safeway shopper who saw Lois standing here for far too long,
[00:02:44] tried to warn her. Are you sure this is not a scam? And I said, no, no, I'm fine. I'm fine. And she
[00:02:50] said, I think you should check up, check on this. It was that warning that finally prompted her to
[00:02:55] try texting her grandson. Hi, how are you? How are you doing? And he replied, doing fine. How are you?
[00:03:02] After she spoke to him, she called her daughter, Lisa. She said, I want you to sit down.
[00:03:09] And I'd heard of it before, but when it actually happened to me,
[00:03:14] it never occurred to me that it was a scam. Solar power scams are heating up. In Huntsville,
[00:03:22] Alabama, scammers are trying to trick homeowners into buying solar panels. WAFF explains how it works.
[00:03:28] Huntsville utility officials are warning you about a scam tactic, claiming to cut your bill while being
[00:03:34] environmentally friendly. So here's how it works. Huntsville utilities, their officials say they
[00:03:39] received word of scammers calling customers in our area, claiming to be solar contractors with
[00:03:44] the company. They say scammers are offering to install solar panels on homes to help reduce your
[00:03:49] bill for just 35 bucks. That should have been your dead giveaway. However, officials say the
[00:03:54] scammers will then start asking you for personal financial information. If you get a call like this,
[00:03:59] hang up immediately. If you believe you've already been a victim of this scam, contact police.
[00:04:04] When you're selling or buying a car, we want to get the best deal we can.
[00:04:09] Same is true of auto dealers, but they have tricks up their sleeves to make the deal sweeter for
[00:04:14] themselves. KY3 in Springfield, Missouri tells how it works.
[00:04:19] Well, seller beware. Crook see your Facebook marketplace or Craigslist ad.
[00:04:23] And while looking at your car, they'll distract you and damage your vehicle,
[00:04:28] then convince you there's a problem and you must lower your asking price.
[00:04:33] When they left, I noticed there were oil spots on my driveway where they had
[00:04:37] tampered with it. That's when Brandon Schmidley checked his camera. It only took a few seconds.
[00:04:42] Schmidley was trying to sell his 2013 Honda Odyssey. With the one at the back of the car and the other
[00:04:47] one walked around the front, put some oil in the cooling reservoir, spurted oil on either side of
[00:04:53] the engines, kind of just smeared it all over there. He was asking for $9,000, but got less than half
[00:04:58] of that. I mean, you have a car that you own and somebody's vandalizing it and you don't even
[00:05:02] realize it. And then they use that against you fraudulently on what can be a really substantial
[00:05:07] transactions. What would make this situation right? What do you want to see happen?
[00:05:11] Oh, a time machine would make the situation right.
[00:05:16] It's said the only things in life you can't escape are death and taxes. Well, add one more,
[00:05:21] an apartment lease. When the tenant died, the San Antonio apartment owners sent her family a bill
[00:05:28] to fulfill what it felt was a broken lease. The women's children received a collection notice
[00:05:34] saying they were owed $15,676 for the remainder of a two-year lease. Texas law says family members
[00:05:42] can cancel a lease if a loved one passes away. The 91-year-old died in late June and was buried
[00:05:48] next to her husband. She had lived for more than 10 years in the apartment complex. When she died,
[00:05:54] she had almost a year left on her two-year lease. Initially, they contacted the leasing company,
[00:06:00] which said they would use the security deposit to clean the unit and cancel the lease. But a few
[00:06:05] weeks later, they got a bill for $14,368 in accelerated rent and an $1,117 lease break fee.
[00:06:15] The bill said the reason for the charges were because she was deceased. The story was picked
[00:06:21] up by a local television station and the families waiting to see if the company follows up on the
[00:06:26] bill. The Dyslexia Center of Austin recently found itself at the center of a cautionary tale involving
[00:06:32] a fraudulent donation. Executive Director Kelly O'Mullen revealed that the center received a
[00:06:38] seemingly legitimate check for $95,000 from a supposed donor in New York. Initially thrilled,
[00:06:46] O'Mullen noted it was the largest check they'd ever received. The scammer had contacted DCA via email,
[00:06:52] expressing a desire to contribute significantly, and even followed up with a phone call about his
[00:06:57] son who had struggled with dyslexia. Over the weekend, he sent another email saying he needed some
[00:07:03] of that money back and to do it through wire transfer. However, the bank caught the check
[00:07:08] was bad before anything happened. Thankfully, our fraudulent attempt was thwarted, so we were able to
[00:07:14] catch it. The Federal Trade Commission explains scammers use the fake money and get you to deposit
[00:07:19] in your account. Banks have to make deposited funds quickly by law, typically within two days. Scammers
[00:07:26] usually reach back out in that period to ask you to send back a portion of the money. But since the
[00:07:31] check is bad, you're now out the money you sent back, plus paying the money back to the bank.
[00:07:37] This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:07:47] It's getting to be an old story, but I keep telling it in hopes critical institutions like governments
[00:07:53] and medical facilities train their staffs to spot a phishing attempt. An audit has revealed that Savoy
[00:07:59] Medical Management, a unit of the town of Mamu, wired over $225,000 to a scammer impersonating a vendor.
[00:08:08] The audit, released by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor, found that the scammer hacked into the
[00:08:13] vendor's email account and altered payment instructions, leading to a total loss of $226,000.
[00:08:21] The fraud was uncovered when Savoy Medical Management discovered that the vendor had not
[00:08:25] received the payment. Savoy was able to recover $81,819, but $144,511 remains unrecoverable.
[00:08:36] A new global survey reveals that nearly half of respondents report they have fallen victim to a
[00:08:42] scam or con. The study was commissioned by Yubico, which makes hardware security products.
[00:08:49] It included 20,000 employed adults from various countries, including the U.S., U.K., and Japan.
[00:08:56] Our AI voice Matilda tells more.
[00:08:58] A new global survey reveals that nearly half of respondents say they have fallen victim to a cybercrime
[00:09:05] or scam. Yubico is a company that makes hardware security keys, and its survey included 20,000
[00:09:12] employed adults from various countries, including the U.S., U.K., and Japan. The findings show that 45%
[00:09:21] of participants have had their personal data compromised, such as banking or email information.
[00:09:27] Respondents noted that online scams and phishing attempts have become more sophisticated and
[00:09:33] successful due to advancements in artificial intelligence, with 72% acknowledging this trend.
[00:09:39] The survey also found that 50% of respondents experienced a cyberattack at work in the past
[00:09:45] year. Only 23% of those companies implemented mandatory cybersecurity training as a response.
[00:09:52] Among those whose personal data was hacked, 20% reported that cybercriminals successfully accessed
[00:09:59] their accounts. Furthermore, one in five respondents indicated that their employers only update technology
[00:10:06] and security policies on an as-needed basis. 30% of individuals reported losing money due to cyber
[00:10:14] incidents, and 30% expressed doubts about the safety of their personal information.
[00:10:19] Spanish police have arrested five individuals for impersonating Hollywood actor Brad Pitt in a scam that
[00:10:26] defrauded two women of approximately $364,000. The victims, both around 60 years old, were targeted
[00:10:34] through online platforms dedicated to fans of the actor, where the scammers built psychological profiles
[00:10:41] to exploit their vulnerabilities. The criminals communicated with the women via WhatsApp and email,
[00:10:47] falsely claiming to be Pitt, and promising romantic relationships. After gaining the victim's trust,
[00:10:54] the scammers encouraged them to invest in fictitious projects. Authorities managed to recover about $95,000
[00:11:01] of the lost funds. Matthew Hiltzak, Pitt's publicist, issued a warning about such scams, emphasizing that the
[00:11:09] actor does not maintain a social media presence. A Memphis Kia dealership turned a routine car sale
[00:11:16] into a dramatic sting operation. A 63-year-old man attempted to purchase two high-end Kia
[00:11:23] Telluride SUVs using a fake ID belonging to a deceased person. Quick-thinking employees that
[00:11:30] gossiped Kia grew suspicious and alerted authorities. They allowed the suspect to complete the entire
[00:11:36] buying process for the vehicles, valued at nearly $160,000. The dealership staff even went so far as
[00:11:44] staging a celebratory photo and video shoot with the unsuspecting scammer. Moments later,
[00:11:51] police officers entered the showroom and arrested him on the spot. The man faces multiple charges,
[00:11:57] including forgery and attempted theft of property. A $50,000 bond was set.
[00:12:03] This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:12:05] A
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