WEBVTT - How Not To Be Scammed 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.720 Hey, fam, I'm Jada Pinkett Smith and this is the 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.080 Red Table Pop podcast, all your favorite episodes from the 0:00:06.120 --> 0:00:10.239 Facebook Watch show in audio produced by Westbrook Audio and 0:00:10.360 --> 0:00:13.360 I Heart Radio. Please don't forget to rate and review 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.880 on Apple podcasts. Right now, someone is trying to steal 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:22.720 your money, your identity, your passwords. A Red Table alert. 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:28.200 Last year, Americans lost five point eight billion dollars to scams. 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:32.680 How Barbara Corkrane went from shark to victim. These scammers 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.159 just something so simple that I'm frankly embarrassed to talk 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.360 about it. They're coming at you from everywhere. I down 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:40.960 my dating app. He was like, I can teach you 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:44.080 crypto and we lost everything by the end of December. 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:48.000 No one is safe. Take a good look at Tristan. 0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:52.240 If you see him on any dating site asking for money, 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.560 it's a scam. His image has been stolen. What you 0:00:56.600 --> 0:01:00.800 need to know to protect yourself, your money, your family, 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:09.759 hold on. If that blows your mind, Wow, this will 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:13.320 be interesting. And this one is quite a scam. Scams 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:18.560 and hardtopams, scam and spam like I get thousands of 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:21.680 spam risk calls a day, like I've already had five 0:01:21.800 --> 0:01:26.039 This morning. This is scary, but it's real. Right now, 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:31.520 someone is trying to steal your money, your identity, your passwords. 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:35.400 No one is safe. You won't see it coming. Every 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.400 time you click in the email, answer the phone, swipe 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.520 on a dating app, scroll through social media, you are 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:44.640 at risk. So how can you protect yourself from the 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:49.919 masterful minds of scam artists. We have the answers. Barbara Corkrane, 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.880 one of our favorite savvy millionaires on Shark Tank, is 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.720 the last person you think will get scammed, but it 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:03.040 can happen to any one. Hey, Barbara, Hey, Hey, tell 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:06.520 us what happened. Well, I run a very big business. 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.160 I have all the right people around me, I have 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.000 all the security measures in place, and it's these scammeras 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:15.400 did something so simple that I'm frankly embarrassed to talk 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:19.880 about it. But my accountant got an email from my 0:02:20.040 --> 0:02:24.280 secretary authorizing a four hundred thousand dollar transfer of funds. 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:26.960 I invested in a lot of property and renovate property, 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.080 so it seems a normal kind of thing. The scammeras 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:33.400 pretended to be Barbara's secretary. They sent a phony message 0:02:33.480 --> 0:02:37.239 telling her accountant to pay an invoice for bogus renovations 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:41.880 on an investment property Barbara supposedly bought in Germany. It 0:02:42.000 --> 0:02:44.400 wasn't out of the norm. They had changed one letter 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.679 of my company's email and everybody just went through emails 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:54.760 never noticing it. Wow corporate and corporant right ye wow, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:03:00.239 see wow, that looks really and also that odd number 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:04.160 three thousand, seven eleven cents. I mean, who was gonna question? 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.040 And a couple of days later, the money went out 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:11.280 a wire transfer to Germany out. It went okay. But 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:15.680 it wasn't until my accountants sent a confirmation to my 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:19.919 real secretary saying, hey, we're confirming this one last time, 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:22.799 right there, boom. I learned that I was hit by 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:27.600 a SCAMMERA wow, it was simple, it was clever. We 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:30.280 all read our emails every day, but we don't examine 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.840 our own email address. Lucky for me, there is a 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:36.640 happy ending of the story. A big bank I have 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.600 here in New York frowze the money until they discovered 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:42.960 the scam and they sent me the money back. You 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:48.360 were lucky. You know what I really learned through this 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:52.680 whole thing that scammers are not sophisticated operations is simple. 0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:55.160 Most of the scams in America happened with simple little 0:03:55.200 --> 0:03:58.040 things like that that you can identify, and so if 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.960 they can fool me, they could fool anybody. Oh no, 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:04.680 that's that's real talk right there. Yeah. Do you know 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:07.960 what I think is very important? Almost all scams happen online, 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:10.960 through emails, through text things like that. My new rule 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:14.320 within all my businesses now is you're requesting any money, 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.760 I don't care how large or how small, pick up 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.680 the phone and confirm it's real. And that's so easy 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:22.800 to do right out of it. Back then, I had 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.320 to be almost burned to realize it. Don't you send 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.960 me any invoices. It's not gonna work. No worry about it. 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.599 You do not have to worry about that at all. 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:41.440 We love you on Shark Tank, you fierce one. Thank you, 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.320 thank you for just giving us those tips today, and 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:47.760 we're glad that your story had a happy ending. Yes, 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:56.120 thank you. Wow. Yeah, that's wild. So Nikki scam turned 0:04:56.160 --> 0:05:00.640 into a family nightmare, and here's her story. After the 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.680 devastating loss of her mother, twenty five year old Nicki 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.200 Hutchinson sold their house and split the money with her dad, 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:12.400 Melvin two hundred and eighty thousand dollars each. Ready for 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:15.320 a fresh start, Nikki signed up for a dating app 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.279 and was thrilled when she made a connection. For more 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.200 than a month, she messaged with someone who said their 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:25.080 name was How. They bonded over their Asian heritage and 0:05:25.160 --> 0:05:28.160 even discovered they were from the same small town in China. 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.440 Weeks into their relationship, how told Nikki he wanted to 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.839 teach her how to invest in cryptocurrency, and suggested she 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.920 used the funds from her mom's house. Nikki's skepticism turned 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:43.919 into belief when a tiny first investment started to grow. 0:05:44.120 --> 0:05:47.440 She began to invest more, eventually convincing her father to 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.480 do the same. When their account balance showed more than 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.760 one point two million dollars, Nicki and Melvin thought it 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.920 was time to cash out. They had no idea what 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:04.240 they were about to uncover. Wow, yeah, it's it's a 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:08.719 crazy story. It is. Yeah, I met this person in 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:13.600 early November and we lost everything by the end of December. Well, 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.880 how much had you invested by that? We invested all 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:21.000 the house money that we had two teach. Yeah, it 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:25.600 was everything, we had everything. Oh my god. Yeah, it 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:29.479 was just so fast. I downlard dating app. My goal 0:06:29.600 --> 0:06:32.920 was to like just meet people and potentially make connections 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:35.320 and stuff. Were you able to talk to him on 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:37.600 the phone or actually meet him in person. So I 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:42.080 actually did meet the Sky on FaceTime and it was 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.400 the craziest thing because when he started talking, he was like, 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:47.640 I can teach you crypto and stuff, and I was like, 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:52.120 that sounds great. Cryptocurrency is digital money that is not 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:56.159 regulated like a typical bank. To buy cryptocurrency, you sign 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:59.520 up for an account on a crypto website also called 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.720 the plat form and transfer money from your bank. When 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.400 you want to cash out, the crypto has converted to 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:10.840 real money and sent back to your bank. Wow. So 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.440 I thought he was going to teach me about crypto 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.960 and actually show his face and teach me his tricks 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:20.520 and stuff. But when I actually face timed him, it 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:24.040 was his eyeball, Like it wasn't even his face. And 0:07:24.080 --> 0:07:25.840 I know, like, right then and there that should have 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:29.200 been a huge red flague. But yes, a minute which 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:31.520 you said all you saw was his eye. Yeah, I'm 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.520 telling you, it was literally so close I want to 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:39.480 face And so at the time it didn't register. It 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.559 more so felt like he was telling me I'm super shy, 0:07:42.720 --> 0:07:46.160 super nervous, introvert, so I was giving him the benefited. 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:51.280 So that conversation lasted ten seconds. It was super short. 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.480 He cut me off. He's text me immiately, you're so beautiful, 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.880 like I can't wait to teach you crypto. And I 0:07:56.920 --> 0:07:59.800 was like, that was weird. I didn't see anything romantic 0:07:59.840 --> 0:08:03.000 with him, and I voiced that. But that being said, 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:04.760 I was like, I would be happy to be a friend. 0:08:05.120 --> 0:08:08.800 But you know, even though it wasn't a romantic relationship, 0:08:08.840 --> 0:08:11.480 we were texting every day. He would ask me, how 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:14.560 are you having a good day? Just developing. I thought 0:08:14.600 --> 0:08:18.760 was a kinship and he took advantage of that. When 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:22.120 you first gave him money, What was the situation around that. 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.200 He sent me the link to start crypto dot com, 0:08:25.200 --> 0:08:28.320 which is a legitimate site, and so then from there 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.200 he sent me another link which would be the fake platform, 0:08:31.360 --> 0:08:34.080 and he said start small. I think I put in 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:38.240 a thousand dollars he recommended and said that's a lot, 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.840 and he's like, well, this is an investment. So he 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.440 kind of grooined me to use the legit platform. So 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.720 I did crypto dot com and then transfer that money 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:52.960 to this fake platform. Yeah, so that's where they get you. 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:54.880 He was telling me when to buy and sell and 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:57.000 I'm like, how do you know to buy and sell 0:08:57.000 --> 0:08:58.800 this much? And he'd be like, I'll teach you that 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.000 in the future. So he never really taught me anything. 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:05.560 He just taught me how to put money into this platform, right, 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:08.440 so how to move it around. Exactly when you saw 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:10.640 that you were getting a profit? Was that when you 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:15.480 brought your dad in? Yeah? So she started investing more 0:09:15.480 --> 0:09:17.679 and more money, and she would show me the profits. 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:21.200 I was going like, wow, are you serious? Now she's 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:25.280 making eighty thou dollars a week and it's like, you know, 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.920 is this how wealthy people stay wealthy? They make good 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:32.199 investments and they get good returns. Eventually I said, okay, Nikki, 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:34.800 I'll get in with you. I mean this, this looks 0:09:34.840 --> 0:09:37.960 like it's making money. Everything looks good. What is so 0:09:38.040 --> 0:09:40.400 interesting about this platform? They would show profits, but they 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:43.160 would as just show negatives to make it seem legit 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:46.320 when you're dying and selling, so it wasn't all positive. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.040 And how did you find out that it was fraud? 0:09:49.480 --> 0:09:51.720 My dad and I go signe once we hit a million, 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.400 Ude withdrawal, and so I said, my scammer, I don't 0:09:56.440 --> 0:09:58.080 know how to withdraw Will you help me? It's like, 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:00.760 of course, but you need to pay your taxes first, 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.320 and these taxes were over three D sixty dollars. You 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.160 have to pay the I R S before we can 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.680 release your money. Yeah. The more she pressed to get 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:13.920 the money, two more angry he got. Don't you trust 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:16.040 me anymore? You know we don't have the money we 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:19.079 pay you. You've gotten all of our money. Well, you 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.920 got fifteen days to pay it or we freeze your account. 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.800 So they try to make you panic. They want you 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:29.000 to sell things, borrow money from your parents. You know, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:30.719 do you have a four oh one K you can 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:33.800 cash in? Wow? But prior to that, when I first 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.360 got that initial like you gotta pay taxes, I was 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:38.600 like in a panic mode and I was just like, 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:40.480 I don't know why I'm going to tell my father. 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:43.920 He just retired, so I ruined his nest egg And 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:47.440 it's it gets emotional to think about. We were driving 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.800 back to Nashville December the fourteen to go see my 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:55.760 parents for Christmas, and she was quiet the whole trip, 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:59.800 and when we got to the hotel she just broke 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:05.760 down and just was just uncontrollably crying, and I was like, 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.160 what is wrong, and she's just Dad, I think I've 0:11:09.200 --> 0:11:14.320 lost our money, We've been scammed. And all I could 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:17.720 do was hug her and tell her it was going 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.719 to be okay, that we'd get through it. So that 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:26.680 was probably the worst Christmas. We had no money, we 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:29.400 couldn't bite each other presents. We just went to the 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.080 store and bought something to eat and came back and 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.040 cooked it and said a prayer together and ate and 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:39.520 that was our Christmas. I'm so sorry. So by the 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:42.240 end of the night, she said, I'm going to make 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:45.720 this right, and she's been on the crusade ever since 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:49.560 to make people aware that these snakes are out there, 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:55.160 and she's so angry that people take advantage of people 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:59.040 like that. You know, we went to local law enforcement 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:03.120 and they didn't have the means to help, so they 0:12:03.160 --> 0:12:07.200 blew us off. When we sold the house, my dad 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:10.400 wanted to have an RV. Luckily I paid cash for 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.840 that before all that started, or we would have been homeless. 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.000 Do you guys live in the r V together? Yea 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:21.439 full time. If you can imagine living in a four 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:26.040 hundred square foot house on wheels. But we have each other. 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.520 I have a set income, she works, she gets an income. 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:32.200 We pay the bills together. I have this saying that 0:12:32.880 --> 0:12:37.160 these people are cyber rapist. They not only rape you 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:43.040 of your money, your innocence, your trust, your future. And 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.600 when you finally figure it out and you confront them 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.280 on it, they laugh at you as they hit the 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:54.319 delete button and they go on to somebody else. They're criminals. Yeah, 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:58.040 it's just it's horrible. I don't know what the answer is, 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:03.200 other than don't let your financial fantasies overrule your common sense. 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.800 Once I figured out that I wasn't going to get 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:13.000 our money back, it's gone. I, being the man, want 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:16.760 to take care of my family and everything. I crumbled. 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:19.560 I don't grow a beard. I was trying to grow 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:24.559 a mask to hide behind, and I just spun into 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:28.600 this dark hole. I started drinking. I even had a 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.640 conversation with her. I said, Nikki, if something happens to me, 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.760 here's what you need to do here, so you need 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:42.040 to call. And for a month I just drink, and 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.240 finally one day I woke up in the middle of 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.480 the night and I said, I'm not gonna let her 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:55.640 lose two parents. Next morning, I stopped drinking. Uh, and 0:13:55.679 --> 0:14:01.120 it was hard. Once I fully forgive myself. This beard 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.760 will come off and I'll be a new person. I'll 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:09.920 be I'll be a new person. Yeah, I'm not there yet. Yeah, 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:14.920 but each day it gets better. Yeah, you can break 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:18.120 my bank account, but you're not going to break my family. 0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.160 There you go. It's beautiful that you both have each 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:26.600 other through this. Thank you both. Nikki, you had such 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:30.240 great intentions. Yeah. I did. I I really thought I 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:34.680 was helping. And that's why I couldn't get mad at her. 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:38.280 She didn't steal the money from our family. She tried 0:14:38.320 --> 0:14:42.400 to make it better. Your goodness and your kindness was exploited. 0:14:42.560 --> 0:14:45.680 Thank you. I appreciate just getting to talk to you, 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:49.000 lovely ladies. Thank you. I like your red table. Thank 0:14:49.040 --> 0:14:55.240 you that I may have to rethink it that beer 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:01.000 totally so. Eva A. Lesquez is the CEO of the 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.280 Identity Resource Center and has critical information to keep us 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:10.400 safe from scammers. Welcome. I'm so glad to be here. Yeah, 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:13.960 we definitely need you here. Thank you. Can you explain 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:19.080 this crypto scam business? I can absolutely explain the crypto scam. 0:15:19.120 --> 0:15:22.680 But there is so much more to this. If you 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.080 look at the anatomy of a scam, there are some 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.080 commonalities with all scams, not just crypto but all of them, 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:33.560 and that's trust, urgency, and confusion. They will build trust 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.600 with you, sometimes they'll try to borrow trust, maybe a 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:40.080 trusted brand, maybe it's the government that's reaching out to you. 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:46.360 Confusion of process. I've heard cryptocurrency investments can be very lucrative, 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.000 but I don't really know anything about it. But it 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:51.800 can also be confusion. Um with a lot of the 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:55.600 pandemic relief who had all these grant scams, and oh, 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.040 you can get money this way, and the government is 0:15:58.080 --> 0:15:59.720 going to be here to help you. And then of 0:15:59.760 --> 0:16:02.720 course that sense of urgency. Yeah, if you don't do 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.560 this now, you're going to miss out. If you don't 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.440 do this now, we might come and arrestue. If you 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:12.880 don't pay these taxes, now, we're going to Yeah, this 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:18.000 is the I R. S. Yes, we've had a few 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.160 of those people saying that they're calling from the border 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.800 and we have someone here with your name. If you're 0:16:24.800 --> 0:16:27.160 gonna come down here and give us X amount of 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.160 dollars and we're gonna have to come arrest you. It's like, 0:16:30.120 --> 0:16:33.600 I mean, it's crazy. It's been the most craziest things 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:36.800 building that sense of urgency and fear. Yes, but you're 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:40.160 right in borrow trust, like we're from the immigration office. 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.560 People being out of the country and I'm stuck here 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.640 and I need help getting back. But people's emails will 0:16:47.680 --> 0:16:50.160 get hacked, so you're thinking you're getting it from someone 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.560 that you know. I just got one of those prominent 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.000 friend of mine. They said they couldn't get to money. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.120 Could I go and get this money? Not called her 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.520 assistant and of course they were like, her email have 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.679 been hacked. You actually just practice the first rule of 0:17:08.760 --> 0:17:11.800 scam prevention, which is go to the source. If you 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:14.600 didn't initiate the contact. And I don't care if it's 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:18.560 coming by email, by phone, text message, by social media, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.919 direct message by carrier pigeon, I don't care what the 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.440 method is. You need to go directly to the source 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.480 and verify in your research. Are there networks where they're 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.520 grooming scammeras how to be scammers? Absolutely, the fraud ecosystem 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.720 is vast. There are websites and the dark web that 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:43.080 you go, oh, I need a list of valid emails 0:17:43.119 --> 0:17:45.880 to send my phishing attempts to I need credit card 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.560 numbers so that I can go commit fraud. You can 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.879 buy it in packages. They will give you a refund 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.080 if you bought fifty credit card packages and ten didn't work. 0:17:56.560 --> 0:18:02.000 It is that elaborate. Yes, now we look at cryptocurrency 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:05.840 as a fraud payment tool. In the losses were about 0:18:05.840 --> 0:18:08.720 a hundred and twenty four million that were reported to 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:12.000 the Federal Trade Commission. Hold on, if that blows your mind. 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:19.200 Seven hundred and fifty million one that's crazy. Wow. All right, 0:18:19.800 --> 0:18:22.480 So Tristan King says being a victim of a scam 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.760 is ruining his life. What's happening to him is more 0:18:25.840 --> 0:18:30.159 common than you think. This is Tristan King. He's a 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:33.600 U S Marine, online fitness coach and father of two 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:37.560 living in California. But for the past two years, stolen 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:39.879 images of him have been used on dating apps in 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:45.000 social media to scam millions from unsuspecting victims. He's been 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:50.000 known as Samuel Pete, Axel, Jake, and dozens of other names. 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.720 His pictures are on websites all over the world, breaking 0:18:53.760 --> 0:19:01.440 hearts and destroying lies of hundreds of total strangers. That's horrible. Wow, 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.080 Hey Tristan, good afternoon, ladies. How y'all doing. We're good, 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:08.960 We're good. First, let me just say that I'm so 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:11.719 sorry that this has been happening. What is going on? 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.360 They're essentially making people fall in love with fake met 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:17.760 They're getting people out of a lot of money just 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.679 using my images. So how did you find out that 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:23.800 this was happening? So I just started getting messages on 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:25.800 my social media. People will reach out to me and 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:27.959 be like, hey, did you know that your images are 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:32.280 being used? And I started getting hundreds of messages a day. 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.399 I've had women reach out to me and tell me 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:38.639 that they sent tens of thousands of dollars with promises 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.440 that I'm going to come home to them, meet their family, 0:19:41.600 --> 0:19:44.600 and we're gonna start a life together, just really tugging 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:47.080 on their heartstrings. How do I tell them I have 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.520 no idea who you are. I've tried to, you know, 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:51.400 respond to these people, try to help them that hey, 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:53.159 this is not me that you're talking to. But it 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:55.800 doesn't stop. It's driving me crazy. It's getting out of control. 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:58.840 It's terrible. So it's kind of like a mixture of 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:03.159 a catfish and the am situation. Yeah, he's a victim, 0:20:03.240 --> 0:20:06.919 and then you have the individuals thinking they're in relationships. 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.680 We have this chain of victimization. Christen, how has this 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:14.359 affected your life? I've had women call me, you know, 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.359 hysterical um saying that they're in love with me. How 0:20:17.440 --> 0:20:19.359 much money they've lost? He as they got ahold of 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:22.760 my contact information. That's gotten to the point where they've 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.400 reached out to my family loved ones telling them that 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:30.560 a your son or husband is asking for money. So 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.760 they're literally targeting my family at this point. But knowing 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.160 that because of my images, this is happening to innocent 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.399 people that truly just want to find love or just 0:20:39.440 --> 0:20:42.520 build a connection. It really breaks my heart. So what 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:47.160 can he do? Unfortunately, there's not a lot that can 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.520 be done because it's static data and it's being recycled 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.760 over and over and over. But when you become aware 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:57.199 that there's another profile, report it and saying this is 0:20:57.200 --> 0:21:00.720 not me. I did not give permission on fourately, since 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:06.040 it's so prolific, becomes a full time job. Well, listen 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:09.160 to everybody, take a good look at Tristan if you 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:14.520 see him on any dating site. Okay, asking for money. 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:19.439 It's a scam. His image has been stolen. Okay, I 0:21:19.560 --> 0:21:22.800 really appreciate that, yes, And I'm wishing you the best 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.480 around this. Man. I'm hoping that at some point there's 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:32.760 some laws and your accountability. Wishing you the best with everything, 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:35.200 Thank you, thank you. You know, I just feel like, 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:37.720 you know, I feel like we just do whatever they 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:41.800 want to do and there's no consequences. I get so 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:46.080 many emails almost daily, more than one email from like 0:21:46.720 --> 0:21:51.760 a fake papers to borrow and Apple, you know, we're 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:55.320 freezing your account, we need you to update your information, 0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:58.720 all of that nonsense. But I always look at where 0:21:58.760 --> 0:22:02.920 the email is coming from because it usually just looks crazy, 0:22:03.000 --> 0:22:05.800 a whole bunch of different numbers and letters, and it 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:08.879 just like that part doesn't look legit. Like the body 0:22:09.040 --> 0:22:12.080 of the email will look legitimate. I mean, it will 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:14.919 have the logo and all of that, but some of 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:19.520 these are so polished and sophisticated you you just can't tell, 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:22.359 which is why we just go to the source in 0:22:22.400 --> 0:22:26.000 whatever way you normally interact with them. So if it's 0:22:26.080 --> 0:22:29.879 if it's a bank, do you logging on the mobile app? 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:33.239 And I think that really important. And if it's a 0:22:33.280 --> 0:22:36.320 different kind of relating. That should be a red flag. 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:39.080 But definitely don't you call the number that in the 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:43.640 email Dad on shore. So we have some actual examples. 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:46.960 So this is a T and T. You are one 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:52.800 of the five thousand affected customers. Yeah, providing you with 0:22:52.840 --> 0:22:55.720 a free gifts would have been nice if they spelled 0:22:55.720 --> 0:23:02.000 temporary correctly. Kind of a dead giveaway exactly. Yeah, I 0:23:02.080 --> 0:23:06.360 get those all the time. A free message, December bill 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.840 is paid. Thanks, here's a little bit for you. Enjoy 0:23:10.119 --> 0:23:12.560 your Amazon you get ready to lock your Amazon account? 0:23:12.640 --> 0:23:16.680 Go here. I'll need to be behind nothing. No way. Yeah, 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:19.360 go get into the app and look at the message 0:23:19.359 --> 0:23:22.560 center and see if customer service is trying to get 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:27.359 in touch with you. Nine million times out of a 0:23:27.400 --> 0:23:32.640 hundred million, they're not. You're fine, fine, All right. Let's 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:36.960 go through the most popular scams by generation. Let's start 0:23:36.960 --> 0:23:38.840 with the elderly. What we're seeing with a lot of 0:23:38.920 --> 0:23:43.760 seniors are tech support scams and then romance scams. Losing 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:49.240 hundreds of millions of dollars to romance scams. Wow, what 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:52.639 about gen xers? Most of us are still working full time. 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:55.919 We have families that were raising and a lot of 0:23:56.000 --> 0:23:59.879 us also have older parents, older parents, and we're to 0:24:00.200 --> 0:24:03.040 that we're helping to take care of, so we are distracted. 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:06.399 They're going to get you with an investment scan because 0:24:06.400 --> 0:24:12.080 it's personal to you. Yeah, what about the gens ears, willows, 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:21.360 age Crypto and the payment apps because you know their 0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:26.280 new their edgy cash app, venmo Um and in particular, 0:24:26.440 --> 0:24:30.879 social media account takeover. Yeah, we have taken thousands of 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:34.960 calls from people who have had their social media accounts 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:38.040 taken over and people wanting you to pay them to 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:41.480 get it back and make hostage videos. They don't get 0:24:41.480 --> 0:24:44.200