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[00:00:35] In this week's news, Members of the British Parliament were caught up in a honey trap and will tell you about a scam called the falling lady.
[00:00:42] But we begin with the story of a Pennsylvania man who lost $165,000 to a romance scammer. WGAL said the woman contacted her on Facebook. In short order Libby Collins convinced him to take advantage of an investment opportunity involving cryptocurrency.
[00:01:00] And so she told me to send her money and I did. And I was on this medication for for Parkinson's disease. That medication, he says severely altered his judgment and he no longer takes it. And so I sent three wire transfers to these companies and I banked Warming.
[00:01:17] Well as far as people warned me, it's Mark. We're warning you, this is probably a scam. You shouldn't do it. That's my brain wouldn't work in the right at that point. I said I'm gonna do it anyway.
[00:01:27] The woman took all the money he had, but he's working with law enforcement to track the scammer down. I'm mad. I'm angry. I'm mad. More than I've ever heard. Hurt, you know, hell. She was a crazy woman, I guess.
[00:01:39] She was a scammer. I mean she's very slick. Very good at it. Another scam involving Facebook could allow a scammer to take over your account. WRTV of Indianapolis said the scam is called malicious tagging.
[00:01:53] A friend tags you or someone you know on Facebook and says, just died in an accident. It looks like a link to a news story, but it's a scam. It happened to Jody Courtney.
[00:02:05] You know, I'll get on and check and kind of see what's going on with the world with my friends. A friend tagged her in a post called just died in an accident. It's like, whoa, I think your initial thought is oh my gosh, what happens?
[00:02:19] When a person clicks on the link in the post, it takes them to a fake Facebook page. It's then when the scammer may steal your login information or scrape your personal data from your page. The best protection? Immediately change your Facebook password and be cautious of new messages
[00:02:37] as they could be from a friend's hacked account. Two Brooklyn women were the victims of a cryptocurrency scam, losing more than $100,000 each, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. The women, identified only as E and H, were contacted on dating apps like Hinge and Bumble by scammers
[00:02:57] who convinced them to invest in phony cryptocurrency schemes. E's scammer even coached her on what to say to Bank of America representatives when they flagged her account for making same day wire transactions. The scammers were part of a pig butchering scheme
[00:03:12] that involves building trust with the victim through social media before referring them to investing programs that showed tremendous returns until the victims tried to withdraw their money. The woman was excited and said her intent was to buy her ex-husband's share of the house.
[00:03:29] She tried withdrawing the money and the scammers kept denying it. She lost about $118,000. As part of a recent crackdown, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office says it seized an internet domain and 20 other associated domains connected to the scam. Three virtual servers hosting the sites have also been taken down.
[00:03:51] A New York real estate agent's summer paradise was turned into a nightmare this spring. Sarah Stewart, who sells homes in New York City, got a disturbing call about her East Hampton property. Someone had found her home listed on Airbnb and wanted to rent it for $25,000.
[00:04:08] But the listing was a fake. Stewart rents her home out in the spring and summer for up to $155,000 a month, but she doesn't use Airbnb. It turns out a scammer had taken the photos and description from Stewart's legitimate listing and posted them on Airbnb.
[00:04:27] The scammer had even become a verified Airbnb user. Airbnb removed the false listing initially, but it reappeared a few hours later at a discounted rate. The rental platform told Stewart to communicate directly with a fraudulent poster, which she found absurd.
[00:04:44] This scam comes as short-term rental platforms face increased scrutiny. Many Hamptons villages are cracking down on Airbnb's and VRBO's. Locals say it ruins the atmosphere and price out the middle class homeowners. Corcoran had to send Airbnb a takedown notice before the issue was resolved.
[00:05:04] This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:05:40] British police have launched an investigation concerning honey trap scandals involving parliament. This comes after a formal complaint was filed by a serving member of parliament. A police spokesperson told Politico that their force is investigating a report of malicious communications sent to an unnamed member of parliament.
[00:06:05] Members are regularly referred to as MPs. This follows more than a dozen men working in and around the UK parliament, who were targeted with alluring personalized messages and in some cases explicit photographs.
[00:06:19] The MP who filed the complaint initially responded to the message before realizing he did not know the sender and promptly blocked the number. Politico previously reported that the targets include a serving government minister, multiple MPs, political party staffers and journalists.
[00:06:37] Some senior conservative MPs have speculated that a hostile state power could be behind the campaign. The experts suggest it may be more likely the work of a criminal gang seeking compromising material.
[00:06:50] The parliamentary security department is now working with partners in government to analyze and understand the nature of the messages and any related security risks. A person pretending to be a lawyer may have cost a Johnson City Tennessee man custody of his grandchild.
[00:07:06] WJHL reports that the woman who pretended to be a lawyer called him asking about the case and suggesting they called the judge. The woman put the call on speakerphone so the grandfather, Todd McDonald could listen in.
[00:07:20] She made a phone call allegedly to the judge, she had it on speaker, I could hear the other guy on the other end. Sounded judge like.
[00:07:27] Police say the woman is not an attorney and that so called judge was probably an accomplice in an elaborate scam by Jeannie Marie Howie. She's charged with falsely representing herself as a lawyer and theft both felonies. Police say the McDonald's probably aren't the only victims.
[00:07:45] We're wanting to make contact with everybody that either has had some contact with her or her known alias of Jeanine Grigieri. If we can make contact with anybody that has had any contact with her where she's presented herself to be an attorney.
[00:07:58] McConnell says he and his son paid Howie more than $10,000 in a retainer and other attorney fees. They also say they paid her the child support payments due, thinking she was working with the Department of Children Services.
[00:08:10] But they say DCS never got the money and they fear it will hurt the custody case. It looks to me like they've heard nothing from my son in five months, four months. Man, I'm pretty sure that's enough that we're going to lose my grandson forever.
[00:08:25] John DeSalvo, a former Corrections Officer, has pleaded guilty to orchestrating two scams, including a cryptocurrency scam that targeted first responders and resulted in losses of over $600,000. DeSalvo created a digital token called Blazer Token in 2021.
[00:08:44] He marketed it to police, fire personnel, EMTs and other first responders with false promises of supplementing their pension plans. He guaranteed rates of return over 20% with zero risk. He claimed the coin was SEC approved and would be available on major exchanges.
[00:09:03] However he transferred the funds into his personal accounts causing the value of the currency to plummet, leaving investors with significant losses. In his second scheme, DeSalvo created an online investment group, falsely boasting about his investment skills and claiming a 1200% return over two years.
[00:09:22] He received about $100,000 from investors before transferring the funds to his personal accounts and blaming market conditions for the losses. DeSalvo faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.
[00:09:37] It's an old scam but a goodie. WGN said a version of the mustard scam is being run at airports and other public places. It works like this. In a crowded area, a person, often an elderly woman, takes a tumble down in an escalator.
[00:09:54] As good Samaritans rush in to assist, thieves seize the opportunity to pick your pocket, steal your phone or grab your bags. You can learn more about the mustard scam in Season 3 of Scams and Cons. The episode is entitled, The Mustard. This is Scams and Cons News.
[00:10:43] In Scams, there are topics like narcissism, psychopathy, sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder from a scientifically informed perspective. What is a narcissist? How do you spot a sociopath? What science can you look for to protect yourself from these dangerous personalities?
[00:11:01] It's not just about the stories but also the science and psychology behind them. Wenn ihr interessiert in true crime or mental health, ich wünsche euch einen Schauspiel oder ihr bekommt Podcasts.