[00:00:04] This is Scams and Cons News with Jim Grinstead.
[00:00:10] In today's Scams and Cons News, a man who failed to fake his own death via a canoe is apparently at it again.
[00:00:18] And cars that were underwater in recent storms are being resold in other states as undamaged vehicles.
[00:00:25] And today we begin with an old scam called the swoop and squat. It involves two cars and sometimes three.
[00:00:33] It happens when the scammer's car swoops in front of the Mark's car, then makes a quick stop, hoping the driver behind rear-ends them.
[00:00:42] Since most rear-end accidents are considered the driver and the rear at fault, it can be a quick way to insurance fraud
[00:00:48] or convincing the Mark to pay up cash so the insurance company doesn't know.
[00:00:53] You mainly see this in downtowns where the traffic is more dense.
[00:00:57] If it's in a less dense area, there may be a third car involved to keep the Mark from avoiding the crash.
[00:01:05] If the Mark's car is able to stop in time, the scammer will simply put their car in reverse and slam into the Mark's car.
[00:01:13] We have audio about what happened inside one Mark's car, and you should prepare yourself for some F-bombs.
[00:01:20] You'll understand why.
[00:01:23] Oh my God!
[00:01:24] What is he doing?
[00:01:25] Babe!
[00:01:26] Babe, what happened?
[00:01:27] Oh, shit.
[00:01:30] I got into an accident.
[00:01:31] I got into an accident.
[00:01:32] Oh my God.
[00:01:33] Oh my God, babe.
[00:01:34] Where are you?
[00:01:35] I'm on the Bell Parkway.
[00:01:36] This guy just reversed into me.
[00:01:37] What the hell is going on?
[00:01:40] Reversed into you?
[00:01:41] Yeah.
[00:01:44] Oh my...
[00:01:45] Oh, fuck, I'm shaking.
[00:01:47] Oh my God.
[00:01:47] Babe, babe, babe.
[00:01:48] Yeah?
[00:01:48] Just stay there.
[00:01:50] Oh my God.
[00:01:52] What you just heard is the voice of the Mark in the car that was struck.
[00:01:56] She was on the phone calling for assistance.
[00:01:59] In this case, the car swooped and squatted but wasn't hit.
[00:02:03] The car was put into reverse and smashed into the Mark's car.
[00:02:08] The occupants then got out and started photographing her car and peering inside.
[00:02:13] Fortunately, the woman had a dash cam and the entire incident was recorded.
[00:02:17] She was not blamed for the accident.
[00:02:19] It takes some courage for a scammer to try this scam because they don't know if they'll
[00:02:24] be hurt.
[00:02:25] Whatever the woman paid for the dash cam in this car, it was well worth the money.
[00:02:31] A 31-year-old man has been sentenced to five years in prison for orchestrating a
[00:02:36] $20 million scam targeting Coinbase customers.
[00:02:39] At this point, you'd think people would run for the hills with all the cryptocurrency scams
[00:02:45] around.
[00:02:46] But greed is a powerful motivator.
[00:02:48] The man and his accomplices created a fake website that closely mimicked the legitimate
[00:02:54] Coinbase platform.
[00:02:55] This deceptive site tricked users into providing their login credentials and two-factor identification
[00:03:01] codes.
[00:03:02] The fraudsters also impersonated Coinbase customer support representatives to solicit sensitive information
[00:03:09] over the phone.
[00:03:10] The man lived a lavish lifestyle, purchasing luxury vehicles including Lamborghinis and Porsches,
[00:03:18] high-end watches, and extravagant trips to destinations like Dubai and Thailand.
[00:03:22] The scheme affected hundreds of Coinbase customers worldwide.
[00:03:27] One victim from North Carolina reported losing more than $240,000.
[00:03:33] The man was apprehended late last year at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
[00:03:38] He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud earlier this year.
[00:03:43] U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell handed down a five-year sentence in a federal court in North
[00:03:49] Carolina.
[00:03:50] Following his prison term, the man will undergo two years of supervised release.
[00:03:56] He's currently in federal custody.
[00:03:59] John Darwin, the famous canoe fraudster, has remarried at the age of 64.
[00:04:05] He exchanged vows with Mercy Mea Villa, a Filipina in her 30s.
[00:04:10] The couple's wedding was revealed alongside details of Darwin's plans to return to Panama,
[00:04:15] where he previously fled after faking his own death in 2002 to claim insurance money.
[00:04:21] Our AI voice Brian tells the rest of the story.
[00:04:25] Darwin's new bride appears unfazed by his controversial past.
[00:04:29] Their engagement was brief, reportedly occurring on January 2nd, just weeks before their wedding.
[00:04:36] Mercy has expressed her affection for Darwin publicly, sharing heartfelt messages on social media.
[00:04:42] Britain's Daily Mail said the couple's history is marked by scandal.
[00:04:46] Darwin and his first wife, Anne, were involved in a scheme that shocked the U.K.
[00:04:51] when they staged his death to escape financial troubles.
[00:04:54] After being declared dead in 2003, Darwin lived secretly next to Anne for years before their elaborate ruse was uncovered.
[00:05:03] Despite his checkered past, Darwin has found a new chapter with Mercy.
[00:05:08] However, he faces ongoing financial struggles due to the Proceeds of Crime Act,
[00:05:13] which has limited his earnings from the fraudulent activities he engaged in years ago.
[00:05:17] As he prepares for a possible return to Panama, speculation surrounds whether he aims to reclaim some of the assets hidden there.
[00:05:25] Mercy's friends have congratulated her on her marriage to Darwin,
[00:05:28] although it's unclear how much they know about his notorious history.
[00:05:33] Meanwhile, Anne has distanced herself from the drama and now leads a quiet life working at an animal shelter.
[00:05:40] This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:05:46] Pack your body bags! We're going on a slaycation.
[00:05:49] Tim, what's a slaycation?
[00:05:50] A slaycation is a murder or mysterious death that happens while you're on vacation.
[00:05:55] If you like to mix humor with horror and travel,
[00:05:59] join me, Kim Davis.
[00:06:00] And me, Adam Tex Davis.
[00:06:02] And me, Cherry Colbert.
[00:06:03] As we look at the craziest slaycations that will have you asking what the F is wrong with people.
[00:06:10] You can find Slaycation on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:06:13] Just remember, getting away can be murder.
[00:06:17] Hey there, I'm James, host of Dakota Spotlight.
[00:06:20] We're back with a new season, You Killed Chris, A Friend's Fight for Justice.
[00:06:24] It's a chilling throwback to 1968.
[00:06:27] A college freshman, Christine Rothschild, is murdered on campus during her morning walk.
[00:06:31] Join us as we dive into this unsolved case and follow a friend's relentless pursuit of the truth
[00:06:37] all the way from the flower power era to today.
[00:06:40] Binge You Killed Chris on your favorite app or at dakotaspotlight.com.
[00:06:44] A property fraud scheme has been uncovered in Florida,
[00:06:54] allegedly perpetrated by a married couple using forged documents.
[00:06:58] Victor Rodriguez and his wife, Michelle Cherry,
[00:07:02] are accused of stealing homes through a surprisingly simple scam.
[00:07:06] The couple allegedly targeted properties in Tampa and Miami-Dade County,
[00:07:11] forging quit-claim deeds to transfer ownership fraudulently.
[00:07:15] One of their alleged victims, Larry and Darima Bilby,
[00:07:20] discovered the theft after receiving an alert from the Hillsborough County Property Fraud Alert System.
[00:07:25] According to prosecutors, Rodriguez and Cherry identified seemingly abandoned properties,
[00:07:32] forged signatures on quit-claim deeds,
[00:07:34] and filed the fraudulent documents with the county clerk's office.
[00:07:38] The process reportedly cost as little as 70 cents to execute.
[00:07:43] The scheme unraveled when the Bilby's noticed suspicious activity on their security cameras.
[00:07:48] They also received a fraud alert from the county clerk's office.
[00:07:53] Tampa police investigated and arrested the couple earlier this year.
[00:07:57] If convicted, Cherry could face up to 275 years in prison
[00:08:01] on charges that include seven counts of identity theft and multiple fraud-related charges.
[00:08:08] Vicious storms have landed in the U.S. and Mexico this season.
[00:08:12] Little can be done about the houses that were damaged or destroyed except to rebuild them,
[00:08:17] but cars? Now that's another matter.
[00:08:20] If they can be restored to working order,
[00:08:22] they can be resold to unsuspecting buyers in areas away from where the storm happened.
[00:08:28] ABC 5 in Arizona says some of those cars are appearing there.
[00:08:33] Emma Wynn, Director of Public Relations at Carfax, says it doesn't take much for a flood-damaged car to become dangerous.
[00:08:40] While a car may look showroom fresh, it may be rotting from the inside out.
[00:08:44] According to Carfax, Phoenix ranks 29th out of the top 100 metros for the number of flood-damaged cars in the market.
[00:08:52] There were 3,800 at the end of 2023.
[00:08:54] The number will likely rise in the wake of recent storms like Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
[00:09:00] Flood-damaged cars should be branded with salvaged or flood titles,
[00:09:05] but sometimes after a rebuild, those cars reappear with clean titles.
[00:09:10] So if you're in the market for a used car, the first thing you want to do is check for any and all reports.
[00:09:16] Make sure you run that VIN number to see if there's any water damage information.
[00:09:21] And before you buy, check for telltale signs that the seller may be trying to hide damage.
[00:09:27] Look at the carpentry and the upholstery. Is it damp? Is it loose?
[00:09:31] See if the carpet is mismatched from the upholstery. That's a bad sign.
[00:09:34] Also check the pedals. Are there signs of rust? Look under the dash for brittle wires.
[00:09:40] Check for mud in unusual places, especially high up.
[00:09:44] It could mean the car was submerged.
[00:09:46] Look at the lights to see if they have moisture beating inside.
[00:09:50] And also, if you can, check the oil. If it's cloudy, water may have gotten into the system.
[00:09:56] Use all of your senses. So smell. Look out for that smell of mildew.
[00:10:01] So it could be potentially mold that's festering inside the car.
[00:10:05] Before you buy, take a test drive and have a mechanic with a trained eye give the car a once-over.
[00:10:12] Imagine spending $16,000 on a fancy bottle of French wine when it was actually Italian.
[00:10:19] The European Union's law enforcement agency, Europol, revealed that it uncovered
[00:10:25] and shut down an extensive, decade-long wine fraud operation.
[00:10:30] The scheme involved producing wine in Italy, falsely labeling it as French,
[00:10:36] and secretly distributing these reported high-quality French wine to unaware dealers globally.
[00:10:42] Six people were taken into custody after a raid where investigators seized counterfeit Grand Cru wines,
[00:10:49] forging materials, bottling equipment, and a substantial amount of cash.
[00:10:54] With rare wine prices on the rise in the last decade,
[00:10:58] war fraudsters are apparently capitalizing on the opportunity to scam high-end wine buyers.
[00:11:04] Rebecca Gibb, a wine master and author of Vintage Crime, a short story of wine fraud,
[00:11:10] said she's seeing a lot more collector fraud today than she's ever seen.
[00:11:15] Gibbs said the trend began in the 2000s when lots of people who knew nothing about wine
[00:11:20] started to see this as a potential addition to their portfolio.
[00:11:25] These victims, of course, weren't the average Jane or Joe.
[00:11:29] Gibbs said the people who are committing these crimes and the people who are victims
[00:11:32] are generally middle- to upper-class white males.
[00:11:36] This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:11:41] My name is Bill Huffman, and I am a former Cleveland news producer,
[00:11:45] and I am now the host of the podcast, Who Killed?
[00:11:48] I began the show focusing on the unsolved murder of Amy Mihaljevic,
[00:11:52] and now each week I explore a different case with a focus on some of the victims
[00:11:57] who don't get the attention they deserve.
[00:11:59] I have a deep catalog of over 225 episodes, so there is a guarantee there will be something for you.
[00:12:08] Who Killed is an Evergreen Podcasts, Killer Podcasts, and Slow Burn Media production.
[00:12:14] Subscribe today wherever you get your favorite shows.