The Perfect Scam

In the UK  an IT professional who goes by the alias Jim Browning is battling cyber scams. Fed up with robocalls disrupting his  day ,  Jim decides to fight back. As  con artists   try to scam him, Jim uses his professional training to reverse engineer his way into  th e ir   computers . With the ability to see everything on these computers ,  Jim works to thwart their operations and save potential...

In this 2019 episode, curious about the barrage of robocalls he himself receives, journalist Alex Palmer decides to look into how robocalls work and why they've become so popular. Alex discovers the case of a set of illegal robocalls that temporarily stalled a Virginia-based paging provider, disrupting the ability of hospitals to get in touch with emergency services personnel. As a result, local d...

In part 2, Gerard Puana stands accused of stealing the mailbox of his niece, the deputy city prosecutor, Katherine Kealoha. Surprisingly, this strange crime will lay bare that Katherine's luxurious lifestyle is fueled by a reverse mortgage on her grandmother's home, and that her husband, Louis, is using his power as police chief to cover up the crime.

Katherine and Louis Kealoha report that their mailbox has been stolen, a strange occurrence in the upscale Honolulu neighborhood of Kahala. Even stranger is that Katherine claims that her uncle Gerard Puana is the mailbox thief, an accusation he vehemently denies. When the case goes to court, though, the Kealohas' secrets are exposed, revealing a terrible case of family financial fraud.   

In this bonus episode, fraud expert Frank Abagnale joins us to use Google's autocomplete function to ask some of the internet's most burning questions, such as How do you spot a scam on Facebook marketplace? What are scammers doing with gift cards? And … Did Frank really escape from a plane?

Five days after her husband's funeral, Janet gets a call. The woman on the line claims to be from the state retirement system calling about a $50,000 life insurance policy belonging to Janet's husband. But there's an issue: A few late payments mean that the system can't pay out the policy unless Janet comes up with $4,450 to pay the overdue balance.

After being  a widow  for almost a decade, Debbie tells her kids that she's interested in looking for  love  again. She finds a match on a dating site, so when another man she chats with while playing an online game  expresses interest in her , she tells him she has a boyfriend. Little does Debbie know, both men are scammers, and it will take her family's best efforts to pull her out of their web....

What do you do when you learn your parent is wrapped up in a scam? Christine's mother is a giving, caring woman who never raised her voice in anger throughout Christine's childhood. But when her mother starts online dating, her personality changes. Now she's up at all hours of the night texting with a man she's never met. She's dismissive and easily angers if family members question the relationsh...

Every year mortgage closing scams cost homebuyers millions of dollars and, tragically, sometimes even their homes. These scams aren't new, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, there's been a rise in this type of fraud. We hear from Paul, who moved back to his hometown to care for his mother but finds that his life savings and his new home are in jeopardy because of a scam. We speak with experts and vic...

Credit card con artist Lisa Reid's methods are sophisticated, creative and callous. After gaining credit card information from the wealthy seniors she targets, Lisa goes on lavish shopping sprees at high-end retailers, leaving her victims with bills of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But when one of her victims teams up with the FBI, this credit card con queen is finally brought to justice. 

Danny searches for a new four-legged best friend after his beloved Weimaraner dies of cancer. Alison looks for a second Maine coon to keep her current cat company after a difficult move. Both families find themselves caught in the web of online con artists riding the rising wave of pandemic demand for pets.

Even though they live in different states Larry Davis, 74, regularly speaks to and visits his 85-year-old stepmother, Kise, so he is stunned when her neighbor calls to inform him that someone came and took her away. Determined to help his stepmother, Larry embarks on a long legal battle to bring Kise home.

Reality TV producer Johnathan Walton  discovers that his neighbor and best friend ,  Mair  Symth ,  is not who she claims to be. Not only is Mair lying about having a multimillion-dollar inheritance, she's using these lies to extract money from Johnathan. As her web of lies unravels, Johnathan discovers Mair's other victims and makes it his mission to stop his former best friend from hurting anyon...

Reality TV producer Johnathan Walton has worked on shows like  American Ninja Warrior  and  Shark Tank . But for Walton, the most vicious shark he ever encounters comes in the form of a new neighbor, Mair Smyth. Claiming to be Irish royalty, Smyth says she is battling her family for a $25 million inheritance. The two develop a friendship, until Walton discovers his new best friend is an internatio...

In this bonus episode, fraud expert Frank Abagnale is back once again to address your questions on scams. Frank sorts through viewer emails to answer questions about the latest swindles, including an Amazon impostor scam and how to spot PPE (personal protective equipment) fraud.

Over several years the Savastano's have poured nearly a million dollars into their close friend Monique Brady's real estate endeavor and are shocked to learn the business is a scam. Monique is not flipping foreclosed houses as she claims to be, she's actually running a Ponzi scheme. Concerned for their friend of two decades as well as getting their money back the Savastano's reach out to Monique,...

Kim and Sal considered Monique Brady family. Their children were close friends, and the families even vacationed together. Despite her booming house-flipping business, everyone who knew Monique described her as generous and down-to-earth. Monique's success and go-getting personality convinced Sal, who worked in mortgages, to invest in her projects. But when the IRS shows up at Sal's office asking...

Kathy discovers that her therapist, Dr. Scott C. Redman, is not what he seems: Not only is he not a psychologist, he's been practicing for years without any real credentials. Rather than accept that he's been caught, Redman assumes a new identity and sets up shop at another clinic. This time he poses as a psychiatrist, prescribing medications to his new patients. However, the authorities are on to...

When Kathy's former therapist announces he's leaving, she does her due diligence to find a replacement. She searches online and reads patient reviews before settling on Dr. Scott C. Redman. Over the next 2 1/2 years, Dr. Redman treats Kathy. Then, one day, Kathy finds out that her doctor isn't who he claims to be. In fact, he's a professional con man who's impersonated psychologists for a decade.

In this 2018 episode, Andrea's husband secretly operates a Ponzi scheme for 15 years, stealing millions of dollars from investors, including their family, friends and neighbors. This is her story of how she found out about the scheme and what's happened to her life since.

Marni is one of the 147 million Americans whose personal information was exposed in the Equifax data breach. She immediately takes action, freezing her credit and signing up for a credit monitoring service. Marni thinks the ordeal is behind her until she finds that despite her efforts new accounts have been opened in her name. Marni's scammer has found a way to unfreeze her credit. Marni takes add...

William Neil Gallagher has made a name for himself as a financial wizard, publishing several financial self-help books and hosting a radio show. Known as the "Money Doctor," Gallagher handles investments for members of his close-knit Christian community in Dallas. Many of his clients are seniors, lured in by Gallagher's prestige and promises that he cares not just about their money, but about them...

Most people in Dallas, Texas, know   William Neil "Doc" Gallagher as the "Money Doctor." The radio host and author of financial self-help books holds himself up as a pillar of his close-knit Christian community. Doc uses his smooth radio voice to emcee for Dallas' much loved Senior Follies singing group. He offers financial advice to anyone willing to lend and ear and lavishes friends and acquaint...

This 2018 episode tells the story of the elusive French psychic Maria Duval. A letter arrives in the mail from Maria, she warns you of danger, but promises good fortune — if you send her money. This is the setup for one of the longest-running scams in U.S. history. These predatory letters were sent to millions of Americans and raked in over $200 million. Who is Maria Duval, and is she really the m...

This 2018 episode tells the story of Jeff Caldwell. Jeff has lived for decades as a couch-surfing con man preying on the kindness of the outdoors community. He spins tales of hikes he's never completed and exploits the sympathy of his marks with sad stories of his past to rip them off. But after meeting Melissa on an dating site, Jeff's lies finally catch up with him.