After the loss of the family dog, Tana is determined to find a new canine companion for her husband who suffers from dementia. Hoping to surprise him for Christmas, Tana finds a breeder online and sends payment, but the puppy doesn’t arrive, and the breeders keep asking for more money for expenses. Hear how investigators from Google’s CyberCrime Investigation Group follow leads on these types of crimes every day, leading to international arrests and litigation. 

Huntington, West Virginia, is an idyllic college town on the Ohio River, but it’s also the epicenter of a massive international internet crime ring. Federal prosecutor Katie Robeson hasn’t been on the job long when she learns that a woman in Huntington is acting as money mule, transferring millions of dollars overseas. Following the money, Katie and her team uncover an elaborate network of criminals, based in Huntington, targeting people all over the country.

In this special episode of The Perfect Scam, Bob hosts a roundtable discussion on changing the conversation around victim blaming. Far too often, the blame for financial fraud is directed at the victims rather than the criminals. This keeps victims from speaking up and enables the crimes to continue. Bob welcomes special guests: Kate Kleinert, a romance scam survivor-turned-advocate; Paul Greenwood, a former prosecutor and head of San Diego’s Elder Abuse Prosecution Unit; and Mark Solomon, former police detective and president of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators.

This April marks five years of “The Perfect Scam” podcast! Since launching in 2018, we’ve brought you stories of fraud told by the people who lived them, stories of trauma but also of bravery and triumph. With the FTC reporting a staggering $8.8 billion in losses to scammers in 2022, we remain committed to continue bringing you the very latest information and resources to give you power over scams.

In Part 2, criminals are running the grandparent scam all over the San Diego area. Often crimes like this go unsolved, but FBI agent Brady Finta and his law enforcement partners believe this situation is unique. There is a video and an eyewitness. Arresting the messenger who took Susan’s $9,000 might just bring down an entire criminal operation. But investigators must proceed carefully.

When Susan gets a frantic call from her “grandson” saying he’s been in a terrible accident, she doesn’t waste any time. She rushes to get him the $9,000 he requested for legal fees, but as soon as she hands the money to the courier, the phone line goes dead. She knows instantly that it was a scam. Similar crimes are popping up all over her area, and the stack of case files is pretty big by the time it lands on FBI agent Brady Finta’s desk.

As FBI Special Agent Cook and partners at the Department of Health and Human Services dig deeper into the records of Novus Healthcare, they are shocked to find fraud every step of the way. From falsifying required doctor visits to providing kickbacks to referring doctors, Novus CEO Bradley Harris and doctors, nurses and administrators are driven by greed. Together, the hospice group defrauded Medicare of more than $27 million and may have contributed to the premature deaths of countless patients.   

Hospice is an essential service that many families depend on during a difficult time, but the combination of loved ones under emotional stress plus hospice benefits provided by Medicare  can attract unscrupulous operators. When Judy’s mother enters care with Novus Healthcare, a Dallas-based hospice provider, Judy soon realizes that something isn’t right. Rather than providing comfort, Novus staff push back on even the most basic care requests. Meanwhile, Novus and its CEO, Bradley Harris, are attracting the attention of FBI Special Agent Thomas Cook. What he and his colleagues uncover is even worse than they imagined.

In this bonus episode, Bob Sullivan invites anti-fraud activists Frank McKenna and Ayelet Biger-Levin to take stock of where we are in the fight against fraud and look ahead to the trends listeners should watch for in 2023. Learn how criminals exploit advances in technology (such as bots, deep fakes and ChatGPT) and how an old scam is making a big comeback.

In part 2, Jill Alper has already made a $10,000 investment in Dr. Dan’s medical spa business when her friend Holly Saunders learns that he is a con man with a lengthy criminal record. Determined to stop him from targeting his next victim, the friends team up with the FBI to lay a trap for Dr. Dan, culminating with a dramatic sting operation at a restaurant.