Scammed out of $15k
Tip It!I just saw a story on the local news about a guy who got scammed out of close to $2400 last fall, and then got scammed again for $15k just recently. Apparently a man and woman claiming to be police detectives (complete with badges) showed up at his door earrlier this week claiming that they were following up on his previous fraud claim (from the first scam). They said that they had now had suspects, and had reason to believe they might be involved in a counterfeiting ring. They went on to say that they needed this poor guy’s help… They accompanied him to the bank where he withdrew $15k that he had been saving for retirement, handed it over to them, and agreed to meet them at the police station. Not surprisingly, the ‘detectives’ never showed up. Clearly, this guy wasn’t too bright, as the story that the scammers fed him definitely didn’t add up… But it was pretty sad just the same. I have to hand it to the victim, though… He was clearly humiliated, but he still went on TV to warn others about the scam and caution them not to fall for it.
Published on January 25th, 2006 - 13 Comments
Filed under: Miscellany
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
Related articles...
» From the Archives (January 20th – January 26th)» One Year Ago This Week (January 21st – January 27th)
» Carnivals – Week of 01/30/06
Was this article useful? Please sign up to receive our content via e-mail:
13 Responses to “Scammed out of $15k”
Leave a Reply
Top Cards by Category
Earn $200 Bonus Cash Back after you make $500 in purchases in your first 3 months. 5% Cash Back on up to $1,500 spent in bonus categories each quarter.
Earn 25,000 Membership Rewards(R) bonus points when you spend $1,000 in your first three months of Card membership.
Earn 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else.
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Enjoy no balance transfer fee for a limited time. 0% introductory rate on Balance Transfers and Purchases. Earn up to 5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*
Earn $75 Statement Credit after you make $300 in purchases in your first 3 months. There is a 0% Intro APR for up to 15 months for purchases and balance transfers. This card has Blueprint free and customizable account features that help you avoid unnecessary interest and pay your balances down faster.
Enjoy amenities for you and your business, like: complimentary airport club access, including American Airlines Admirals Club(R) lounges.
5% Cashback Bonus in categories that change like gas, restaurants, department stores and more. Limitations apply*. Up to 1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on everything else. No annual fee
Earn 3X points on airfare, 2X points on gas and groceries, and 1X points on everything else.
Reports to 3 major credit bureaus monthly and acceptance at millions of locations worldwide, including website purchases and reservations.
- How to Become a Millionaire
- How to Get Out of Debt
- The Best Dollars I've Ever Spent
- How Our Estate Plan is Structured
- How We Paid Our Mortgage In Less than 10 Years
- Money Making Ideas
- How to Manage Your Asset Allocation with Multiple Accounts
- Consumption Smoothing - Save While the Saving's Good
- How to Save on Groceries
- How Much Life Insurance Do You Need?
- Eleven Great Books About Money
- Dave Ramsey is Bad at Math
- Dish Network Customer Service SUCKS
- $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Pay Off Mortgage Early or Invest?
- How to Claim the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Reduced Credit Limits? Share Your Experience
- $15,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit
- Ethanol Blended Gas = Lower Mileage?
- Termite Control: Sentricon vs. Termidor
- How Much Should You Pay a Babysitter?
- Federal Income Tax Rates Went Down but Your Federal Tax Withholding Increased. Here's Why...
- Would the "Fair Tax" Gut the Economy?
How to save money on insurance
- Missing Tax Paperwork?
- Is Your Investment Allocation Right?
- Chase Freedom Experimenting With Quarterly Rewards Auto-Enrollment
- Income-Based Repayment Plans for Student Loans
- Will the IRS Disallow Backdoor Roth Contributions?
- Four Hidden Dangers of Leasing a Car
- How to Save Money on Plane Tickets
- Does the IRS Accept Scanned Documents?
- E-Filing Saves the IRS $3.10/Return
- Home Economics
January 25th, 2006 at 12:42 pm
I find this strangely humorous for some reason. But yeah, it is sad…
January 25th, 2006 at 1:09 pm
So why did the cops need the $15k? Did he really think that by withdrawing $15k, he was actually getting the bills he himself deposited?
seriously… there are some dopes out there. poor guy…
January 25th, 2006 at 1:16 pm
Jim, that’s what it sounds like… However, notte that the previous scammers (who may have actually been the same people) *took* money from him, they didn’t give it to him. Why then would the cops need to see the money (even if he believed that the bank actually sets aside the exact same dollars for later withdrawal). So it’s even dumber than it sounds at first.
January 25th, 2006 at 1:26 pm
Hmm. Even if that $15k were counterfeit, did this guy think the bank was going to give him the same bills he deposited possibly a long time ago back to him?
Hey, anyone else wanna come with me to his house to see if we can trick him a third time?
January 25th, 2006 at 1:48 pm
I feel bad for the guy. I wonder how long many times he got scammed in his life and why he never learned his lesson.
January 25th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I know this will make me sound cold, but I have a tough time feeling sorry for the guy!
January 25th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
Didn’t someone say “there’s a sucker born every minute?”
January 25th, 2006 at 9:53 pm
P. T. Barnum
January 28th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Sometimes you think that these type of stories are made up because I don’t see how anyone could fall for such an obvious scam.
February 3rd, 2006 at 3:45 pm
I feel so bad for the guy that for $20K I’ll help him find out who those bastards were.
January 28th, 2008 at 3:45 am
To hand over $15k to anyone obviously wasn’t a smart move, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this person needed the money more than most. There are stories every day of con artists taking the life’s savings of old and possibly feeble minded people. I haven’t seen the article, but people who show signs of Alzheimer’s are prime targets. I hope other commenters who aren’t showing much compassion don’t ever have to worry about an older relative. And for those who do, this is yet another example of something to watch out for.
January 31st, 2008 at 1:30 pm
How does somebody that dense even have 15k liquid like that!
January 31st, 2008 at 1:32 pm
@Jack – I’ll do it for 17.5
@Bryce – I’m only kidding with both of these comments. Only scum would prey on the elderly or disabled and I hope they are caught and punished.