Reverse Mortgage Scam Leaves Chicago Families Fighting to Save Homes
Longtime homeowners on Chicago’s West Side trust Mark Diamond to help them access funds and carry out necessary home repairs. However, they are often unaware that they are entering into reverse mortgage agreements. The repairs are never completed, and Diamond disappears with the money, leaving families desperately struggling to save their homes from foreclosure.
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The NFT Scam Targeting Artists
Douglas is enjoying a second career as an artist, selling his paintings online and in gallery shows. People occasionally ask about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of his work. Still, he never gives it too much thought until a woman on LinkedIn approaches him with what seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. Her company can convert his artwork to an NFT for free and sell it for him. He signs a contract and sets up a cryptocurrency account, and within a few months, he gets the good news that the image has sold. After paying large sums in fees and taxes, Douglas learns it is all an elaborate crypto scam.
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Lost But Not Found: The Lost Pet Scam
When Chloe’s mom experiences a medical emergency, Chloe rushes to be by her side. Amid the stress and chaos of the following days, her mother’s cat, Percy, slips out one evening. Chloe and her family do everything they can to find him, but after several days, Percy still hasn’t returned. Then, they receive a call from the “Tampa Bay Humane Society” stating that Percy has been hit by a car and needs emergency surgery. The family acts quickly to pay the requested fee of $2,000. However, when they don’t hear back about Percy’s condition, they realize with heartbreak that it was all a scam.
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Serial Scammer Targets Hockey League Parents, Part 2
In part two, law enforcement narrows in on Kota Youngblood and his scheme to steal millions of dollars from neighbors and fellow hockey league parents. His cruel lies have many believing that his life and, in some cases, their own lives are in danger from a Mexican drug cartel. The stories are so convincing that some victims are hesitant to talk to the FBI.
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Serial Scammer Targets Hockey League Parents, Part 1
Kota Youngblood is known as a larger-than-life character in his small Texas town, spinning wild tales of military service and work as an undercover federal agent to his neighbors and acquaintances from his son’s hockey league. His deceptions – from investments in rare coins and sports memorabilia to stories about drug cartels and kidnappings – steal millions and send one family into hiding.
AARP’s weekly podcast The Perfect ScamSM tells the stories of people who find themselves the target of a scam. Host Bob Sullivan introduces listeners to those who have experienced scams firsthand, as well as professional con artists and leading experts who pull back the curtain on how scammers operate.
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