The ‘FBI’ called. Then she got scammed.
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 December 2024
⏱️ 38 minutes
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Summary
Americans are being conned every day by increasingly sophisticated scams. Today, we hear the story of one woman who lost her life's savings to a government impersonation scam.
Read more:
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans were scammed out of more than $10 billion in 2023. And that’s just what’s been reported.
Most scam victims never report the crime because they feel shame and embarrassment.
In “Scammed,” a seven-part series, personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary explains how con artists exploit human nature and technology to manipulate their victims. She joins “Post Reports” to tell the story of how Judith Boivin lost her life’s savings to a government impersonation scam.
Today’s show was produced by Charla Freeland. It was edited by Maggie Penman and Ted Muldoon, who also mixed the show. Thank you to Joshua Carroll and Amber Ferguson.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | On a busy September afternoon in 2023, Judith Boavin was running errands, taking her husband to the doctor when she got a call. |
| 0:10.7 | The phone rang and it was plugged into my car, so it was easy to answer. And it was the Rockville Police Department that came up on the screen. |
| 0:23.3 | Judith is 80 years old, and she lives in Rockville, Maryland. |
| 0:26.8 | The officer on the line told her she was in trouble. |
| 0:30.0 | The individual asked who I was, and how old was I, and where did I live? |
| 0:36.0 | And yes, you are being charged with fraudulent money laundering. |
| 0:43.3 | And there is an active FBI case, and they're doing the investigation, |
| 0:51.6 | and so I'm going to be referring you over to an FBI agent. |
| 1:00.2 | Judith's mind started racing. She had no idea what this police officer was talking about, |
| 1:07.6 | but she wanted to cooperate and help the authorities however she could. Then the FBI agent, |
| 1:13.8 | a man named Wayne Jacobs, came on the line. He told her he knew she was innocent. But a drug |
| 1:21.1 | cartel was using her social security number to open bank accounts. He said, well, we would like to ask you if you would be willing to work |
| 1:31.9 | with us and to be an asset. The FBI had come up with a plan to catch the cartel. They would be |
| 1:39.1 | able to set a trap for them. And when he explained that if you can withdraw your money, my social security number |
| 1:49.1 | would be changed. I would be given a new number. The money that I take out would be going into a vault |
| 1:57.5 | at the courthouse in D.C. |
| 2:02.1 | And that money would be returned to me. |
| 2:08.0 | And this is how Judith ended up transferring her entire life savings over to scammers. |
| 2:15.1 | Judith is everybody's mom and grandma. |
| 2:19.1 | And that is why I chose her to tell the story of the victim. |
| 2:26.0 | Michelle Singletary is the post-personal finance columnist, and she's been writing about Judith's story. |
| 2:32.1 | Last year alone, the FBI fielded more than 800,000 reports of crimes like this one. |
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