This week on The Perfect Scamp.

He'd tell one scammers about the other scammers he's chatting with and their story, which was a made-up story.

So now I almost felt like he was living in a soap opera, like a fantasy world.

Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.

I'm your host, Bob Sullivan.

When we left our story last week, Chris Mancinelli had just been visited by his father, Alfred,

who wanted a $5,000 loan because he was broke.

Alfred at one point had a million dollars in retirement savings, but the request

wasn't a complete surprise. Chris, his wife Christy, and his brother Alan had spent a couple

of years trying to stop their father from sending money to a series of criminals he'd met online,

many posing as lovers or friends in need of medical care.

That really tugged at Alfred's heartstrings because he'd lost a daughter to leukemia

and his wife had died when she was just 40.

Dad sometimes seems to realize he's the victim of a scam, but other times he just can't stop sending money to

these people. But on this day, maybe, Chris thinks there's a breakthrough, or at least a reason for

hope, because dad has never come to him like this, fragile and asking for help. As we'll see,

the optimism is short-lived, however, as Alfred's story will soon take an even

more tragic turn.

So at that time, you know, we had some good conversations, like we had some in the house,

but we went for a drive.

Actually, my dad was really embarrassed about it and didn't want Christy to know too much.

He didn't want it. You know, even my brother and my brother's wife, you know, he, he seemed to,

...