A woman opened up to The Washington Post about an elaborate scam that cost her $600,000 in life savings in the first part of an extensive series launched on Monday.
"Sweepstakes and Nigerian letter scams once dominated fraud prevention workshops," wrote the Post's Michelle Singletary. "We’ve read about pyramid and Ponzi schemes, tech support and telemarketing swindles. And pig butchering — a type of investment scam in which the target’s stake is steadily 'fattened up,' usually in the form of cryptocurrency, before the rhetorical slaughter — is a growing concern."
Meanwhile, she continued, our phones and computers "are inundated by phishing, smishing and vishing attacks, all designed to trick you into giving up personal information" — and artificial intelligence is now being used too. Some scams have even targeted people using Donald Trump's social media platform.
What brought down Judith Boivin of Maryland, however, was a class of schemes known as government impersonation — where the scammers pose as police or federal agents of some kind, either to scare you into fearing arrest or to make you believe you're part of an investigation against someone else.
Boivin was first targeted by calls impersonating the Rockville Police Department, who then "transferred" her to fake FBI agents. "She soon was speaking with a third man, who informed her that a drug cartel had used her Social Security number to open several bank accounts. These criminal gangs were responsible for countless deaths, he said, and the relentless flow of illegal drugs in the United States."
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This man told her she wasn't a suspect, and that she could be used as an "asset" to bring the drug gangs down — which she agreed to do.
Her supposed handler, "FBI Special Agent Wayne A. Jacobs" — the name of a real FBI agent — gave her a criminal case file that corresponded to a real one, making it all look legitimate. And for months he corresponded with her, purporting to update her on case developments and make her feel like she was contributing. But soon, she was manipulated into handing over her bank account information, supposedly to ensure her money was safe, and the scammers made off with her life savings.
“As I’m speaking, I can see how stupid I was,” Boivin told Singletary. However, Singletary notes, this was an elaborate scam that was so sophisticated it was capable of fooling anyone.
"She wasn’t stupid. She was trusting," Singletary wrote. "Nor was she a willing participant; she was the victim of a ruthless crime. Until we understand that, other victims won’t come forward or get the help they need to recover."
