WEBVTT
1
00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:04.679
This program is designed to provide general information with regards
2
00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:07.679
to the subject matters covered. This information is given with
3
00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:12.080
the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station
4
00:00:12.320 --> 00:00:17.480
are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,
5
00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:21.679
legal counseling, professional service, or any advice.
6
00:00:22.039 --> 00:00:24.120
You should seek the services.
7
00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:29.280
Of competent professionals before applying or trying any suggested ideas.
8
00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:33.679
The information contained in this podcast is intended for informational
9
00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:37.159
purposes only and is not a substitute for individual professional
10
00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:41.079
legal advice. The podcast information was carefully compiled from vetted
11
00:00:41.119 --> 00:00:45.240
sources and references. However, Rose Resources outreach to safeguard the
12
00:00:45.320 --> 00:00:48.439
elderly cannot guarantee that you will not fall victim.
13
00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.600
To a scam.
14
00:00:50.399 --> 00:00:54.240
Let's talk about scams. It's the must listen show for
15
00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:57.719
anyone who wants to protect themselves and their loved ones
16
00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:03.200
from scams. Every Tuesday am Pacific time on kfour HD Radio,
17
00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:07.879
Joyce Petrowski, founder of Rose, and her guests will provide
18
00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:12.680
valuable insights and practical tips on how to recognize and
19
00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:17.040
protect yourself from scams. And now here is your host,
20
00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:18.719
Joyce Petrowski.
21
00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:24.640
Welcome back everybody. This is Joyce Petrowski, founder and board
22
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:29.400
president of ROSE Resources Outreach to safeguard the elderly. You
23
00:01:29.400 --> 00:01:33.439
can find more resources on scam protection and awareness on
24
00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:37.079
our website at Roseadvocacy dot org. You can also find
25
00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:39.400
on the homepage where at the bottom where to sign
26
00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:42.879
up for our newsletters. We do monthly newsletters, one via
27
00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:46.239
email and another one in the mail. And you can
28
00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.480
find the social media links right at the top of
29
00:01:48.519 --> 00:01:54.599
the page for Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. So today
30
00:01:54.719 --> 00:01:59.159
we're going to talk about impersonation scams and how scammers
31
00:01:59.200 --> 00:02:06.200
love to personate, specifically more well known companies. And I've
32
00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:11.439
got a guest with me today, Brian Watson, who is
33
00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.360
going to talk about a specific experience that he learned about.
34
00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:19.319
So Brian spent twenty eight years in federal law enforcement
35
00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:24.800
investigating financial crimes as a special agent with IRS Criminal Investigation.
36
00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.599
He retired from government service in twenty twenty three and
37
00:02:29.719 --> 00:02:33.120
is now a community outreach specialist for ROS. Over the
38
00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:36.120
past eighteen months, he has done almost seventy fraud prevention
39
00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:41.360
presentations and forty TV, radio and podcast interviews. And Brian
40
00:02:41.439 --> 00:02:44.759
also teaches a course at the University of Arizona titled
41
00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:45.840
white Collar Crime.
42
00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:47.199
So welcome Brian.
43
00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:49.719
Thanks Joyce, great to be here, Good to see you.
44
00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:52.360
Yeah, thanks for joining me today.
45
00:02:52.439 --> 00:02:56.840
So you mentioned recently about talking to some people that
46
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:03.360
unfortunately had fallen victims to a publisher's clearing house scam.
47
00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:05.000
So could you tell us a little bit about that.
48
00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:09.560
Yeah, it was last year. I did a broad prevention
49
00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:13.439
presentation in the town where I live and a gentleman
50
00:03:13.520 --> 00:03:16.639
came up to me afterwards and wanted to know my
51
00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:21.599
opinion on some documents he had. He said, I feel
52
00:03:21.639 --> 00:03:25.039
like I've won a sweepstakes and I've given them a
53
00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:28.479
whole bunch of money, but I haven't received it yet.
54
00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:31.240
And I said, well, let me look at your documents.
55
00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:35.840
And it claimed to be the document said he'd won
56
00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:40.000
the publisher's clearing house sweepstakes even though he didn't enter it.
57
00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.800
And he showed me a check with his name on it,
58
00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:49.759
you know, a picture of it. And I'm no expert at,
59
00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.240
you know, analyzing these documents, but it took me like
60
00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:54.520
fifteen or twenty seconds, and I looked them straight in
61
00:03:54.520 --> 00:03:57.960
the eye and I said, sir, you have been scammed.
62
00:03:58.639 --> 00:04:01.280
Do not give another penny. And then I soon found
63
00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:05.879
out he had paid three hundred thousand dollars and what
64
00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:09.840
he thought were taxes and fees for a ten million
65
00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:15.319
dollar prize. And he he just looked at me like
66
00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:18.879
a broken man, and it was it was heartbreaking for
67
00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.319
me to share that news with him. But he had
68
00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:26.360
gotten so excited that he'd won this huge prize. He
69
00:04:26.399 --> 00:04:29.360
actually sold the house to come up with the three
70
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:33.720
hundred thousand dollars, and I just felt horrible for him.
71
00:04:34.319 --> 00:04:36.399
I checked it. I checked in with him a week
72
00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.519
or two later to see how he was doing. And
73
00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:42.639
this was a gentleman in his seventies, and he was
74
00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:46.560
planning to go back to work because losing that three
75
00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.439
hundred thousand just crippled him financially.
76
00:04:50.519 --> 00:04:52.000
Wow how much?
77
00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:55.720
Just out of curiosity, the check that they showed him,
78
00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:56.839
how much was it for?
79
00:04:58.120 --> 00:04:59.639
It said ten million dollars?
80
00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:00.720
Holy cow?
81
00:05:01.000 --> 00:05:05.639
Okay, well, yeah, that can get most people excited, right,
82
00:05:06.800 --> 00:05:08.439
especially when they see it in their name.
83
00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:13.079
Right, And you know, he everyone wants to win, you know,
84
00:05:13.199 --> 00:05:17.000
we all have that little spot inside us that wants
85
00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:20.680
to win a prize or get something, and and you know,
86
00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:25.959
he fell for it, and it's just devastating and you know,
87
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.560
I could probably reach out to him again. I still
88
00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.360
have his phone number in my phone, but you know,
89
00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:35.800
part of me's afraid because you know, something like this
90
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:39.639
has a tremendous effect on someone's mental health.
91
00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:41.839
Oh, absolutely right.
92
00:05:42.439 --> 00:05:45.639
We both have talked to doctor Martina Dove right about
93
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.720
the She wrote the book on the Psychology of Fraud,
94
00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:53.040
Scams and Persuasion Techniques, I believe is the title of it,
95
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.480
and she's very knowledgeable. She did her thesis on the
96
00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:04.000
psychological effects and how scammer psychologically psychologically get people basically
97
00:06:04.120 --> 00:06:07.480
roped into their fraudulent schemes and stuff like that. But then,
98
00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:10.959
like you said, it's devastating financially, right, I think a
99
00:06:10.959 --> 00:06:14.240
lot of people that's the first thing they think about, right,
100
00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:19.279
is the money that was lost. But just as important,
101
00:06:19.959 --> 00:06:23.839
if not probably more important, is the mental aspect of it.
102
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.879
You know, here this gentleman was living. I'm sure he
103
00:06:27.959 --> 00:06:29.800
was retired. You said he was going to go back
104
00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:34.240
to work, and he had, you know, whatever funds he
105
00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:36.879
had in order to live in retirement the way he
106
00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:39.759
wanted to. He probably worked all of his life and
107
00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:43.160
now having to go back to work and then just
108
00:06:43.240 --> 00:06:48.279
that that mental you know, I don't want to say damage,
109
00:06:48.360 --> 00:06:51.079
but trying to think of a better word. You know,
110
00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:56.879
psychologically and mentally that you know that you that you
111
00:06:56.920 --> 00:06:57.839
fell victim to this.
112
00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:05.360
Yeah, And that's the problem of doing presentations is I
113
00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:11.120
accumulate stories because when you do a presentation or I
114
00:07:11.160 --> 00:07:14.199
do a presentation, you know, we make it a shame
115
00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:18.439
free zone. We talk about how very smart people fall
116
00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.920
victim to scams, and it can happen to all of us,
117
00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:24.480
happens to all ages. We just know from the numbers
118
00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.439
that older adults lose more. So after these presentations, people
119
00:07:29.480 --> 00:07:32.360
come up to me and share and you know, I
120
00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:34.839
appreciate them sharing their stories, and I do as much
121
00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:38.199
as I can to help them. But you know, it's tough,
122
00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:42.680
but I know it motivates me to get out there
123
00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:47.959
and do more because these these financial scams and frauds
124
00:07:47.959 --> 00:07:50.360
that we're seeing, they're just they're only getting worse before
125
00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:51.360
they get better.
126
00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.079
Right, right, And our whole goal right with doing these
127
00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:58.519
education and awareness and teaching people how to protect themselves,
128
00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:02.639
is to get them to recognize the scam early on
129
00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:05.360
when the contact is made, so they don't go any
130
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:08.639
farther into it. Because the farther, the more you engage,
131
00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.000
and the farther you get into it, the least likely
132
00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:12.399
you're going to be able to get out of it
133
00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:17.399
without losing something, which most of the time is money
134
00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.639
and could be a substantial.
135
00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:19.720
Amount of money.
136
00:08:20.279 --> 00:08:24.120
So well, I want to well, you said something about
137
00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:29.160
you mentioned about you know, some of the very smartest
138
00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:32.879
people can can fall victim to scams. It's It's interesting
139
00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.399
because I hear a lot of people talk about they
140
00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.440
automatically equate, whether it's themselves or they're talking about someone
141
00:08:39.480 --> 00:08:41.840
else falling victim to a scam as being.
142
00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:45.039
Stupid and it and I get it.
143
00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:47.639
I mean I've fallen victim to a scam years ago,
144
00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:50.399
and yeah, for a little while I felt stupid, right,
145
00:08:50.559 --> 00:08:55.639
And but the thing is is that it scammers don't
146
00:08:55.679 --> 00:09:02.679
rely on intelligence and or lack thereof, and they, you know,
147
00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.919
a lot of times have no idea what your financial life,
148
00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.320
your financial means are.
149
00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:08.200
They just.
150
00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:15.759
They just blanket millions and millions of people hoping that
151
00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:17.840
a very very small like a half a percent or
152
00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:21.360
a percent are going to engage, right, And you know, I,
153
00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:25.559
I don't know, I don't say this in presentations, you know,
154
00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:27.879
and and but I do think about it, and I
155
00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.360
have I probably have said it to you a few times.
156
00:09:30.480 --> 00:09:34.039
Is you know, scammers don't send out IQ tests, right,
157
00:09:34.200 --> 00:09:37.919
and and want financial statements that that's that's they're not
158
00:09:38.039 --> 00:09:39.679
looking for the people at the low end of the
159
00:09:39.679 --> 00:09:41.679
i Q test and the high end of the of
160
00:09:41.720 --> 00:09:47.600
the financial statements. Right. Everybody is susceptible to be and
161
00:09:48.039 --> 00:09:52.039
will be contacted at some point. So, but I want
162
00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:55.759
to take this, this experience that you learned about from
163
00:09:55.799 --> 00:09:58.799
this gentleman, and and equate it to our anatomy of
164
00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:00.879
a scam that we create and that we use in
165
00:10:00.919 --> 00:10:05.879
the presentations, which the first part is initiating contact. So
166
00:10:06.639 --> 00:10:11.200
explain how his experience, how that started with the contact.
167
00:10:11.919 --> 00:10:16.840
Yeah, I'm pretty sure his contact was by telephone. I'm
168
00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:19.960
actually familiar with this scam. When I was still with
169
00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:25.159
the federal government, there was a huge investigation into a
170
00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:30.480
publisher's clearing how scheme out of Jamaica where about ten
171
00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:33.679
defendants were charged. And I know in that particular scheme
172
00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.720
they primarily called people, but there were some emails as well.
173
00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:42.399
And in that case they were using lead lists that
174
00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:46.200
they purchased. These are lists that are used to make sales,
175
00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:50.679
and they only wanted people that were eighty years and
176
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.960
above because in their mind they thought they had a
177
00:10:54.960 --> 00:10:59.480
better chance. This gentleman was not eighty, but he received
178
00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:03.759
the phone call and you know it was unsolicited, came
179
00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:06.120
out of the blue, just like our anatomy of a scam.
180
00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:10.840
And you know where most most scams prey on people's fear,
181
00:11:11.559 --> 00:11:15.000
this one kind of captures that greed. And I'm not
182
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:18.919
saying this gentleman was greedy, but it's just that feeling
183
00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:22.480
that you want to win and if someone if you
184
00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:25.720
win a prize, you get excited. And when you get excited,
185
00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:30.840
you don't think real well, right exactly the compelling reason
186
00:11:30.879 --> 00:11:35.559
to act. And they get you excited. They say, do
187
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:39.120
you want the check delivered to your house with balloons
188
00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.960
and a TV crew? Or do you want something quiet?
189
00:11:43.919 --> 00:11:47.000
And they'll they'll they'll just get you all excited. How
190
00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:48.440
are you going to spend the money? Where are you
191
00:11:48.519 --> 00:11:52.120
going to go? And they get you thinking positive thoughts
192
00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.360
about winning prizes and then when they enter the conversation
193
00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.639
of okay, well, you know the government's going to have
194
00:11:59.679 --> 00:12:01.519
to charge you a little bit of taxes and there's
195
00:12:01.559 --> 00:12:04.320
going to be some fees. You think, oh, okay, that's
196
00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:06.919
part of the process. Everyone has to pay taxes.
197
00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.159
It's and you know, he normal, right.
198
00:12:10.159 --> 00:12:13.639
It's very normal, and you know, and then eventually, you know,
199
00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:18.320
the third part of the anatomy of scam is the
200
00:12:18.360 --> 00:12:20.600
demand for payment. And like I said, that was the
201
00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.879
taxes and fees and you know, and then the other
202
00:12:23.879 --> 00:12:25.879
thing I love about our anatomy of a scam is
203
00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:29.000
the urgency. You know, they keep you on the phone
204
00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.000
and they get that immediate payment right away. They don't
205
00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:34.480
let you think about it, they don't want you to
206
00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:38.000
talk to anybody else, but they get you going. And then,
207
00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:41.200
as you just mentioned, Joyce, once you start going down
208
00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:45.159
that path and you've been and they have you for five, ten,
209
00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:48.159
twenty minutes on the phone, it's hard to end that
210
00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:51.519
phone conversation. Oh yeah, you've got you trapped. And they're
211
00:12:51.559 --> 00:12:55.000
reading from scripts that have proven to work and have
212
00:12:55.159 --> 00:12:56.440
fooled very smart people.
213
00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:57.720
Right.
214
00:12:57.919 --> 00:13:03.159
And so you mentioned, you know the word greed, that emotion.
215
00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:03.679
Right.
216
00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:06.000
I don't really like that word either, and I tell
217
00:13:06.039 --> 00:13:08.039
people I don't. I don't like the word greed, but
218
00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:11.080
that's what it, you know, that's the word. The emotion
219
00:13:11.279 --> 00:13:14.919
and and but it is it's excitement, right, it's excitement
220
00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:18.919
that you've won this luxury automobile or this large sum
221
00:13:18.919 --> 00:13:19.360
of money.
222
00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:24.840
So did they or did he mention like the fees
223
00:13:24.919 --> 00:13:26.399
that they told me had to pay.
224
00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:30.360
Was it the all at once, the three hundred thousand,
225
00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.840
or did they get them a couple times, because I've.
226
00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:38.000
Heard it was they did not ask for the three
227
00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:41.600
hundred thousand immediately, because you know, if they did that,
228
00:13:42.120 --> 00:13:45.919
most people would say, nah, that's that's too much money.
229
00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:51.600
They'll always, you know, start small and then add another thing,
230
00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.399
and then another thing, and keep going and and they'll
231
00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:58.519
just string you as long as as long as they
232
00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:01.440
have to. I mean, they'll literally take every penny you have.
233
00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.600
That's what I've learned about the criminals these days compared
234
00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:07.600
to twenty years ago when I first started doing fraud
235
00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:13.000
prevention for the government, is they're ruthless financial predators. These
236
00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.799
people will take all of your money. They will not
237
00:14:17.960 --> 00:14:21.120
move on until they've sucked your drive every dime you have.
238
00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:25.399
So no, they did not. It was a process. And
239
00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:30.120
that's why when he asked my opinion of the documents
240
00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:34.600
that he'd been provided over the internet, The first thing
241
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.480
I said was, you cannot give them any more money
242
00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:42.159
because they hold that the prize out there. All we
243
00:14:42.200 --> 00:14:44.120
need is one more payment. Oh, all we have to