One bad click wipes out a life's savings and a scammer took the money, but kept the pictures

[00:00:04] This is Scams and Cons News with Jim Grinstead. An Australian family brings its scamming ways to America. And a romance scammer agreed to pay back the money he stole, but held photographs he said could be used with witchcraft against her. But we begin with the story of how you can lose everything with just one bad click.

[00:00:28] Adam Griffin, a battalion chief firefighter from the Seattle area, recently fell victim to a sophisticated cryptocurrency scam that cost him nearly $500,000. The incident began when he received a call from someone claiming to be from Google, warning him that his Gmail account was being accessed from Germany. The caller used a legitimate Google phone number, which led Griffin to believe the situation was genuine.

[00:00:54] He also received an email from a Google.com address that included a Google support case ID and dealers about the caller, further convincing him of its authenticity. Griffin was told to click yes on a Google prompt that appeared on his phone, which he did, unknowingly granting the scammers access to his Gmail account. This access allowed them to retrieve an image of his cryptocurrency wallet's secret seed phrase, storing Google photos.

[00:01:21] Within minutes, they drained approximately $450,000 from his Exodus wallet. The scam didn't stop there. Shortly after the initial theft, Griffin received another call from someone posing as a Coinbase representative, who informed him that someone was trying to take over his account. The attackers had used his Gmail credentials to access his Coinbase account, but were ultimately blocked by Coinbase's security measures.

[00:01:50] In a similar incident, another victim named Tony lost 45 bitcoins, worth around $4.7 million, after falling for a phishing scheme involving fake Google representatives. He was misled into entering his cryptocurrency seed phrase on a fraudulent website after receiving calls claiming his accounts were compromised. Both Griffin and Tony later connected online and discovered they had received identical phishing alerts prior to their losses.

[00:02:19] They learned that the scammers often use automated systems to target potential victims based on their responses. A former Phoenix television reporter has been accused of a scam. Fox 10 says former ABC 15 anchor Stephanie Hockridge and her husband are headed for court over a paycheck protection program fraud scheme.

[00:02:38] Stephanie Hockridge, a former anchor at ABC 15 here in Phoenix, and her husband Nathan Reese are accused of submitting false and fraudulent paycheck protection program or PPP loans. The couple took out loans for themselves and then showed others how easy it was to get taxpayer cash. A scheme worth hundreds of millions of dollars set against the backdrop of global pandemic relief.

[00:03:04] Criminals and criminal organizations took advantage of Americans suffering during this crisis and committed substantial fraud against these critical pandemic relief programs. Among the alleged criminals, a former Valley television anchor Stephanie Hockridge and her husband Nathan Reese. During a federal hearing, numbers reaching into 10 figures are discussed.

[00:03:30] I think it was 57,000 applications in PPP were individual were for applicants who are on the do not pay list, involving several billions of dollars. And how much how much fraud are we talking about just in those loans? Three point six billion dollars. Hockridge and Reese are accused of attempting to directly charge some applicants a 10 percent fee for successfully getting a loan, a violation of the Small Business Administration rules.

[00:03:56] A review of the loans showed what the couple was willing to do for the money, including Reese claiming in an application he was African-American and a veteran. Other evidence showed Hockridge describing the PPP as, quote, 100 billion dollars of free money. And although the PPP loans were set up for small businesses, Hockridge told her staff, quote, who the F cares were not the first bank to decline borrowers who deserve to be funded.

[00:04:26] They can go elsewhere. Reese and Hockridge also requested direct payments from PPP borrowers, ultimately scamming them out of substantial amounts of their loans. The entire process laid out in a 90 second video, now at the center of an alleged federal deception. The duo took their stolen millions to set up a lavish lifestyle in Puerto Rico, where her husband was taken into custody by federal authorities.

[00:04:52] An Australian family, the Alford's moved into a luxurious colonial mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, but their seemingly perfect life quickly unraveled. Tim Alford, the patriarch, portrayed himself as a wealthy businessman with a trust fund and connections to the elite. However, after just 18 months, they abandoned the property, leaving behind significant damage and unpaid rent totaling more than $75,000.

[00:05:20] Investigations revealed that Alford is allegedly a serial con artist with a history of financial fraud and manipulation, having defrauded numerous victims in Australia and the U.S. for more than a decade. Alford's facade crumbled as it was uncovered that he had no trust fund. His father had died by suicide in 2013, leaving him with debts. Allegations against him include embezzlement and stock market manipulation.

[00:05:47] In 2021, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where he continued his deceptive practices, including failing to pay rent and accumulating more victims. His modus operandi involved convincing investors to fund companies that never materialized while using their money to sustain his lavish lifestyle. Despite multiple lawsuits and an outstanding arrest warrant from Australia for fraud,

[00:06:14] Alford maintained a high-profile social life, mingling with celebrities and throwing extravagant parties. In Evangeline Parish, Louisiana, an animal rescue group got caught up in a pet scam. K.A.T.C. in Lafayette, Louisiana explains how it worked. Matthew Baker, who owns and operates Heroes Everywhere Animal Rescue, dedicates his time to making sure dogs like Xander find loving homes. He relies heavily on donations to keep his rescue running,

[00:06:44] but recently, what he thought was a generous donation turned out to be something much more troubling. And we got a letter of intent to donate check from the Whiteside family, I guess about three weeks ago. And I didn't think anything of it. Nothing strange about it. Baker thought Christmas had come early, but what happened next was far from the gift he expected. A couple of weeks later, we got a check from a van's sporting goods for $3,951.

[00:07:10] But Baker was told by the foundation that half of the money had been sent by mistake. And he told me that there had been an accident. $1,951 was not supposed to be sent. And immediately, red flags kind of went off. Soon after, Baker got a call from his bank confirming that the checks were indeed fraudulent. I reached out to Vance Sporting Goods, the business listed on the checks. In a statement, they did confirm to me that the checks had been stolen.

[00:07:38] As a result of the fraudulent checks, the rescues account is now overdrawn by $2,500. And Baker says his organization wasn't the only one affected. Crook was thinking, well, who's the most desperate organization out there? Well, there you go, Animal Rescue. That's pretty sad. And they're the ones that are ultimately having to pay the price for this whole thing. Insofar as inconvenience at the least, and at the worst, maybe shutting down. I mean, a $4,000 hit for some of these rescues is quite a big hit.

[00:08:07] Now, I did reach out to the Evangelion Parish Sheriff's office on the matter, but the sheriff was unavailable. A cyber scam targeting the city of Athens, Georgia, resulted in a loss of nearly $722,000. The theft occurred on November the 18th and is now under both a criminal and civil investigation. Federal and state law enforcement are working to track down the cyber criminals, while Athens is pursuing civil action to recover the stolen funds.

[00:08:35] AI Voice Thomas outlines what happened. According to a lawsuit filed December 4th in Athens County Common Pleas Court, the city claims it was duped by fraudsters impersonating a contractor. The criminal sent emails that appeared to be from the contractor, tricking the city into authorizing a payment for an invoice. The funds were transferred from Athens' JPMorgan Chase account to a bank in Louisville, Kentucky.

[00:09:01] The city realized it had been scammed only after the transfer was completed. Athens is now seeking a civil remedy to recover the funds. The lawsuit includes claims of unjust enrichment and seeks an expedited accounting of the funds as well as an injunction to prevent further misuse of the money. Experts suggest that the likelihood of recovering the full amount is low, as cyber criminals often quickly move stolen funds across multiple accounts.

[00:09:29] At this time, the perpetrators remain unidentified, and the lawsuit lists John Doe and Jane Doe as defendants. The case is on hold while the criminal investigation continues. If the criminals are caught, their names will be added to the lawsuit and the case will proceed. If they remain unidentified, the lawsuit could ultimately be dismissed. Athens still faces the challenge of recovering the stolen funds

[00:09:56] while also considering increasing income taxes to address budget shortfalls. A woman from Ekra Huleni, who was defrauded in a love scam, has spoken out after receiving threats from the alleged imposter, Khalid Mundari. He contacted her demanding she withdraw her case before he repays her. The woman revealed that Khalid threatened to release compromising photos of her and claimed he could bewitch her.

[00:10:22] Despite these threats, she has vowed not to drop her fraud case with the South African Police Service, insisting that she will not let herself be scammed again. According to the Star, Khalid swindled her out of $11,000. In WhatsApp conversations, Khalid, who claimed to be in Tanzania, used manipulation tactics, warning her that if she didn't cancel the case, she would never see her money again.

[00:10:50] He also threatened to use her pictures against her. The woman said, I was shocked to receive his call. He said he had my pictures and could either bewitch me or share them on social media. I know he's skilled in witchcraft. The 39-year-old mother met Khalid on Tinder in November last year. Their relationship lasted for a year, during which Khalid convinced her he could communicate with his ancestors.

[00:11:17] She recalled how he introduced her to a prayer room, where she heard a voice she believed to be that of his ancestor, blessing her with money and instructing her to take out a loan to continue their supposed business venture. Khalid later manipulated her into withdrawing more money, under the false pretense of blessing it. Instead, he used her money to spoil her, paying her son's school fees while she continued to lose her savings.

[00:11:43] The Gauteng police have confirmed that a fraud case has been opened at Boxburg Police Station, though no arrests have been made yet. Attempts to reach Khalid for comment have been unsuccessful, as the phone number he provided was unavailable. A VIN number is supposed to uniquely identify a vehicle, but what if someone puts a stolen VIN on the truck you're about to buy, takes your money? Then you're arrested when you go to register the vehicle.

[00:12:11] 8 News Now in Las Vegas tells what happens. Sherman Habibian found this truck on Facebook Marketplace and negotiated a deal with the seller. After matching the VIN number, looking at the title, and talking to the seller, he paid more than $50,000 in cash for the truck. Then he went to the DMV. I'm sitting at the VIN inspection, and when they pull up on you, the lights come on and everything, and you're like, your stomach just drops.

[00:12:40] It was a VIN switch stolen vehicle. We had to impound the vehicle, and so he was also out the vehicle. Habibian was out the cash and the truck, but thanks to his quick thinking, the police had a lead. Buyer had a relatively significant amount of information regarding the seller, which often doesn't happen. I didn't think he would think that I would ask for his ID, and I think that helped with the investigation a little bit. That would give police enough information

[00:13:08] to track down 22-year-old Lasta Rodriguez and arrest him three days later. He now faces two felony charges, but police say this is typically just the middleman. It's a network of people. J.D. Decker says the best way to avoid becoming a victim of one of these scams is to meet the seller here at one of the DMV VIN inspection stations. We have had a number of cases where people have done that,

[00:13:35] and we've saved them tens of thousands of dollars because our inspector has identified that the vehicle was stolen. News of the arrest was a relief for Habibian, but he's still hoping to get some of his money back. I'm hoping that they can take it to the finish line and recoup what was taken. So justice was served, but he's still out the money. This is Scams and Cons News.