Fraud Squad

Two classic scams are looked at in this episode. First we look at how credit card skimming works and then a story about a woman loses her entire business due to the deception of an Advanced Fee fraud.

This compelling story demonstrates how callous fraudsters are and stoop to any level for profit. In this story, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan tell how their identities were stolen, destroying their families while they were away serving their country.

In the world of sports memorabilia, counterfeit products can make criminals rich. FBI Special Agent Fitzsimmons tells us about a sting called Operation Bullpen; a high profile bust conducted by his unit that resulted in the arrest of a forgery and authentication operation. Next you will hear about a couple that was not only given a counterfeit product as a prize, but that this dangerous forgery.

Affinity frauds are perpetrated against people of particular social or ethnic groups. These two criminals, David Spark & Andrew Lech, prey upon trusting groups of people that do not fear or would never suspect being taken advantage of by someone from within their own community. The victims come out to tell their stories about how they were taken by these criminals.

Societyʼs altruism can be easily affirmed through the donations given to charities in times of need. However, there are individuals out there that want to exploit these good-natured donations and re-direct them into their own pockets. Weʼll show you a fake disaster relief website that takes donations and funnels it onto the criminals accounts.

Automobiles play a major part of our daily lives and we put our trust in those people that maintain and sell used vehicles. Youʼll meet Villy and journey through his encounter unscrupulous car salesmen. The second story involves the maintenance and tampering of air bags. This criminal act has resulted in the loss of human life. We will meet a mother whose son became a of victim.

In the early 20th century a man scammed people out of their savings through an elaborate plan that is now referred to as a Ponzi scheme. This scheme is still used today and in this episode you will find out the inner workings of how a Ponzi scheme works and the devastation and loss it can cause to many innocent people that are manipulated into investing.

An investment manager targets over 70 elderly individuals. Mr. Butler at first won their trust by getting his clients involved in sound investments with solid returns only to divert all these investments into a company that he owned. His plan was to have his investors money prior to them passing away.

Investigating lottery scams.

This episode uncovers the horrifying story of a funeral home outside Chicago involved with selling recycled graves by disposing of the original remains and burying the new. Follow this ghastly fraud with Sherriff Tom Dart and other victims as they share their experience and reaction throughout the entire ordeal.

Romance and relationship frauds can be particularly devastating due to the amount of personal involvement between the criminal and victim. Jeff Kent is a charming charismatic individual who preyed upon the loneliness of others. He would exploit their kindness and trust by pretending to be someone he was not with a past he did not live.

Throughout the world ID Theft has become a common and major crime. Whether itʼs forging documents or stealing peopleʼs personal information this crime is not limited by borders and affects people of all walks of life. Officer Glass shares with us a crime of forgery where weʼll meet one of the criminals, Rachel Ross in this bizarre story.

The elderly are often preyed upon by fraudsters. Whatʼs even more shocking is that these crimes often come at the hands of someone they know and trust. Follow the stories of these elderly people whose retirement savings were plundered by everyone from their trusted fiduciaries, new romantic interests, and even their own children.