Phony Home Contractors Steal Over $450,000

The Perfect Scam

AARP

True Crime, Aarp, Fraud, Society & Culture, Scam, Crime, Bobsullivan

4.5 • 980 Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2025

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

80-year-old David lives in a tight-knit community, frequently helping his neighbors with yard care and other tasks. So when he gets a knock on the door from two brothers claiming they are working on his neighbor's home, and noticed a hole in his roof, David agrees to let them fix it. But one repair turns into many as the brothers find more and more work that needs to be done on his house. David's daughter is suspicious, and when she finds out that the work has cost her father over $450,000, she jumps into action to help catch the criminals.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week on The Perfect Scam.
0:04.0	I said, Dad, they've been working on your house for a really long time.
0:08.0	And, you know, are they just about wrapped up?
0:11.0	And he goes, oh yeah, this is the last check.
0:13.0	Finally done.
0:15.0	Finally, these guys are out of my hair.
0:17.0	I told them no more work, you know, $450,000 later.
0:20.0	And at that point, I think my ears just shut down and stopped listening to the rest of what he was saying,
0:25.5	because I knew that that was wrong.
0:32.9	Welcome back to The Perfect Scam.
0:34.9	I'm your host, Bob Sullivan.
0:43.3	So many of the scams we talk about here on The Perfect Scam. I'm your host, Bob Sullivan. So many of the scams we talk about here on The Perfect Scam happen virtually. The communication takes place over email or social media.
0:46.3	The money changes hands electronically.
0:49.3	But some scams still happen in person, beginning with something as simple as a knock on the door.
0:56.1	And these crimes are really troubling because, well, the criminals know where you live.
1:03.3	David, who lives just outside Seattle, got a knock on the door like that about a year ago.
1:09.1	It was two men who said they were doing construction on a home
1:11.6	nearby and noticed something was wrong with his roof. They could fix it quick and cheap, they said.
1:17.6	The fix turned out to be anything but quick or cheap. David found himself targeted by an international
1:24.6	crime ring, one that might be operating in your neighborhood right now.
1:29.3	But David managed to help bring at least part of that gang to justice.
1:34.3	That's what they get for messing with a Navy veteran who worked at Boeing for many decades,
	...

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