Sweetheart Swindler Part 2
The Perfect Scam
AARP
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 June 2019
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Desiree, the "Sweetheart Swindler," has made off with $15,000 of 76-year-old Jim's money. Once a millionaire, Jim lost his real estate empire during the recession, and now thanks to Desiree he has also lost the savings he worked tirelessly to rebuild. Desiree has moved on to a new mark, Doug, a veteran living in Nevada. This time around Desiree's husband joins her in the con, approaching Doug in a parking lot and offering to come to his home to fix dents in his car. On one such visit, Desiree tags along. Eventually she starts to visit Doug on her own. Each time she enters Doug's house she gathers information, stealing his Social Security number and other personal information. Doug, who has always been close with his sister Patty, calls her when things start to go missing from his home. Patty arrives to find Doug's life in complete disarray. There are papers and unopened mail covering every surface of his house. Patty digs in, finding multiple credit cards in Doug's name that he knows nothing about. There are bills for women's clothes, dinners, cash advances and even a car. Wracked with debt that he can't account for, Doug is on the verge of losing his house. After talking to Doug's home health care worker, Patty figures out that the bills may be connected to a woman who makes frequent visits to the house. Patty tries to track down this woman. Meanwhile, authorities in Texas, where Desiree has a home, are also on the hunt for her, but she's skipped town. Little does Desiree know that her crime spree is coming to an end: Authorities in Texas have tracked her to an address in Nevada — Doug's.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This week on AARP, the perfect scam. |
| 0:03.8 | I think the thing that makes these cases so horrible is it makes the victim feel responsible. |
| 0:09.6 | They feel like they've done it. |
| 0:11.2 | And the worst part of it is is the thief gets them to steal from |
| 0:14.1 | themselves. Welcome back to AARP the Perfect Scam I'm your host Will Johnson and my |
| 0:19.6 | co-host is here AARP's Fraud Watch Network Ambassador Frank |
| 0:23.0 | Hi Frank, how we're doing well. |
| 0:25.0 | I'm doing well and we are back this week for part two of our story about Deseret |
| 0:29.0 | Bultos. This is a romance scam. |
| 0:31.0 | Are you still surprised when you meet people who just aren't aware of common |
| 0:34.4 | scams or does it make sense? Well yeah I think there are a lot of people are kind of isolated. There are a lot of people |
| 0:39.6 | especially seniors who don't hear about even some of these new scams that are making in the |
| 0:45.7 | papers and on the media and then there are people who are just basically honest so |
| 0:50.5 | they don't have that deceptive mind to look at things and go well this may not be |
| 0:54.7 | so or maybe they're not telling me the truth or this really is my bank or it's not my bank. |
| 1:01.3 | So that's why education is so important because I do believe that no matter who the |
| 1:05.9 | individual is if you explain it to them and say here's how the grandparents scam |
| 1:10.6 | works then when they get that call saying I got your |
| 1:13.7 | grandson who's been arrested you go no I've already heard that scam I know how |
| 1:18.0 | that scam works it's just then becomes common sense yeah everybody out there tell your parents or your grandparents if they're living and that if they get a call and they say you've been arrested or in a fight or something like that be skeptical. |
| 1:32.0 | Exactly, but you would need to know that because if no... been arrested or in a fight or something like that, be skeptical. |
| 1:32.6 | Exactly, but you would need to know that because if no one told them that, |
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