Original subtitles

In this episode of American Greed, congratulations, you've won the lottery,

it's going to cost you.

These scammers are master's manipulators.

A lottery scam based in Jamaica is stealing billions of dollars from

unsuspecting Americans.

Here's a check for a whopping $2 .5 million, sir. This is Jamaican Greed.

This is what they do to make money. This is their job.

Scammers are spending money just as quick as they make it.

The government is taking the fight to the criminals.

But the damage is already done.

This isn't a victimless crime and it's not pilfering from rich people.

I didn't really know what to do because I'm thinking to myself, what if this was

my grandfather or my grandmother?

I thought, oh my God, you know.

I couldn't believe it.

October 2015.

It's a carefree, sunny day in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

But for Tammy Donaldson, this lazy afternoon isn't time for fun.

She has work to do.

The swimsuit model and former Miss Maxim has recently started her own makeup

business.

While making a trip to the post office, she's stopped by a man in the parking

lot. This elderly man, he was like, ma 'am, could you help me? He's like, oh,

could you take my hand and help me inside?

After she walks him inside, Donaldson says he makes an unusual request.

He was like, you have to help me. Can you get me the overnight envelope and

information to fill out for an overnight package?

Tammy goes to retrieve an envelope.

But as she walks across the lobby, a postal worker tells her to come to the

counter.

I leave the guy, I go up there, and he goes, don't help him.

And I was like, why? The postal worker tells Donaldson that he fears the man is

being scammed because he's constantly overnighting cash to random people.

He advises Tammy that the best way she can help is by stopping him from sending

any more cash.

So after he said that to me, I was like, oh, now I definitely have to find out

what he's doing. So I went back to him.

The man had cash in a white envelope. It was a lot. It was three grand.

Donaldson asks the man whom the money is for.

He tells her he's sending it to relatives in Missouri.

And I was like, okay, but I looked at the address that he had wrote, and the

address said Fort Pierce, Florida.

So I was like, that's odd.

Before he can mail the envelope, the man's phone rings.

Tammy convinces him to let her answer it.

I said, who are you? And he said, I'm his family.

Right off, I knew they were Jamaican.

Definitely Jamaican accent.

He was an elderly white man, so I knew that right there, they weren't family.

Tammy hangs up on the caller.

The old man says he wants to leave.

He was so distraught and just so, like, worried. He's like, I can't deal with

this now. I'm going to have to go home. I'm not doing this.

As Donaldson walks him back to the parking lot, the man admits that the

isn't family. He just kept telling me, don't worry, don't worry, I know what

doing. He told me, I've been doing a business deal with them for the past

But Tammy realizes this is no ordinary business deal.

At that point, my heart sank, and I was like, oh, my gosh, this man is, like,

sending his life savings to these people, you know, for the past year.

$3 ,000 every couple weeks.

That's a lot of money.

Federal authorities say the man is likely a victim of one of the biggest

of the new millennium, the Jamaican lottery scam.

Claire Hochhalter is an assistant U .S. attorney in Bismarck, North Dakota.

He says hundreds of thousands of Americans are suckered by this scheme

year. Some people lose tens of thousands of dollars and never report it to law

enforcement. Some people lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Total losses could be up to a billion dollars annually.

Surprisingly, the scam is quite simple.

Kahneman placed phone calls to lucky U .S. residents and told them they won a

sweepstakes. It's typically millions of dollars, and oftentimes it includes a

car.

They use American Cash Rewards, they use Publishers Clearinghouse, Winners

International, Mega Millions.

There's a number of different scams that they run.

Frank Gasper is an FBI special agent.

This is a real phone conversation he has with a scammer.

My mom down in Florida said she got caught, she won a lot of money.

How much money did she win?

Let me explain something to you, sir. She won $2 .5 million in a cashier's

check. She also won $185 ,000 in cash.

She also won a brand new car.

But nothing in life is ever free.

Federal authorities say the prize comes with a catch.

They're told that in order to receive it, they need to...

pay a certain amount of fees, whether it's listed as taxes or otherwise.

They'll claim that stamp fees come up. There's some sort of custom fee that

needs to be done.

Some other tax.

Well, what happened? The company already paid 99 % of her taxes already.

Okay. So she's just...

a coining fee to coin this package.

If victims choose to pay the fee, it could be the costliest mistake of their

lives. If you have to send money in, it's a scam. It's as easy as that.

Next on American Green, we go inside the criminal workings of the Jamaican

lottery scam and examine its legitimate origins.

It's really taking a bad picture on the community itself. So, you know, it

really doesn't look good for us now.

Basically turning most of these communities into kind of home. The

island

of Jamaica is known for its beautiful beaches, crystal clear waters,

and laid -back lifestyle.

It's a favorite vacation destination for Americans who spend billions of dollars

each year on the island.

Two and a half million Americans come through as tourists every year.

It's a very, very tight connection that we have with the Jamaicans. Luis Moreno

is the United States ambassador to Jamaica.

Jamaica is a very small country, 2 .9 million.

They have a million or so living in the U .S. I always make the joke that

Brooklyn is the third largest city in Jamaica, and there's a bit of a truth in

that. Despite its small size, Jamaica is the third largest English -speaking

country in the Western Hemisphere.

The friendly nature of the Jamaican people is one of the island's most

resources.

The very openness of the Jamaicans, their personality, bright, sunny

personality, that whole Caribbean lilt that they have.

but really, really wonderful people.

In the 1990s, American corporations recognized the country's untapped

Numerous businesses, including airlines, insurers, and credit card companies,

established Jamaican call centers to handle customer service duties.

Many are located in the Montego Bay Free Zone, an area designed to attract

foreign investment.

But shortly after their establishment, Jamaican officials say some employees go

rogue.

Somewhere 10 to 15 years ago, persons who perhaps had gained

telemarketing skills figured out how to use these skills illicitly.

Peter Bunting is Jamaica's former national security minister.

He says the scheme has since outgrown its call center origins.

We've done a lot of work to protect, secure, insulate call centers

from the reach of scammers. But they have now evolved.

They train their own youngsters coming up, typically recruit high school

students.

One of the most notable scammers in recent years is Sanjay Williams.

Williams lives in Montego Bay, but also maintains ties in Charlotte, North

Carolina. U .S. prosecutors say Williams begins his career as a caller, but soon

finds a more lucrative angle to the scam.

Sanjay Williams apparently didn't have the skills to be as effective.

phone scammer, so he went into the lead list selling business.

Lead lists, also known as sucker lists, contain the names of Americans who are

the easiest marks.

Williams runs a website, gamblersleads .com, where the feds say he sells lists

to nearly 400 clients.

Sanjay Williams was able to make hundreds of thousands of dollars from

of lead lists.

They can range from pennies per name and number up to over $5 per name and

number. Lead lists are compiled in different ways.

Some are created legitimately.

It's not illegal to collect telemarketing data.

It's not illegal to do that.

Companies do that all the time in the state.

But that's often not efficient, according to U .S. Postal Inspector

Horn says savvy scammers like Sanjay Williams use direct mail to create their

sucker lists.

The scammers may draft a letter and say, if you want to enter into

a lottery, the only thing you need to do is send a payment of $19 .99 or

whatever, and they fill out the bottom part of this mailing, which is called a

coupon. Most people recognize the letters as junk mail.

Others willingly write down their names, address, phone numbers, and even credit

card information, then mail back the coupons.

All the scammers need to do is sit back and see who takes the bait.

Whoever sent out the mailing knows that they have an individual who is, one,

willing to pay for an entry into a lottery.

Who is willing to give you personal information on themselves that is a

to these scammers?

The feds say Sanjay Williams develops a reputation for providing the freshest

leads.

If you have a list that is tailor -made in the most opportunistic type

names or the best chances of actually scamming somebody, you're going to have

more reward for your time spent.

And you're going to have to work.

much less to get more reward.

Next on American Greed, cash dumped into a woman's brassiere?

How money gets from the U .S. to Jamaica?

I was very nervous, very nervous.

Pulping is actually probably one of the most nerve -wracking experiences of my

life. And later, watch as Jamaican and U .S. law enforcement take the fight

directly to the scammers.

2 ,000 miles northwest of Jamaica lie the frozen hinterlands of North Dakota.

To some, this is flyover country.

A cadre of savvy Jamaican scammers knows there's more here than meets the eye.

To them, these cattle farms smell like money.

Edna Schmitz lives in the tiny city of Harvey.

Since 1958, her family has owned a small farm just outside of town.

Well, it was cattle and grain farming.

And my husband also worked on the railroad.

My dad was gone a lot, so, yeah, she took care of everything. She was out

on the tractor, she was in the house, she was cooking, she was cleaning.

In 2010, Edna is widowed when her husband passes away.

We got married in 1949.

So we were married like 61 years.

The following year is difficult.

I suppose she was lonely, you know, depressed and missing dad.

But one day in September of 2011, her phone rings.

The caller identifies himself as Newton Bennett.

and he has some of the best news she's heard in a long time.

He was calling me to tell me that I had won

a prize from American Cash Awards.

The friendly voice tells Edna that she has won the unbelievable sum of $19

million.

I said, well, I don't remember anything about a lottery.

Well, he said it was a federal deal.

You know?

And it was perfectly legitimate.

But before Schmitz can collect her winnings, Newton Bennett tells her that

must first take care of some taxes and other administrative costs.

She needs to wire $3 ,500 right away.

At the time, it just didn't seem like anything big.

And it's not, compared to $19 million.

I guess I just kind of thought, well, maybe they need to just clear up

to get this award or whatever.

The news is like a ray of sunshine peeking through the bleak Dakota winter.

For Edna Schmitz, life is good once again.

As she walks into her local bank to wire the money, she can barely contain her

secret. They said, don't tell anybody, not even your kids, he said, because it

could complicate the situation of trying to get this cash prize out of there.

Edna's $3 ,500 is sent to a Mr. Young in Ohio.

But the $19 million never comes.

A few days later, she gets another call from Newton Bennett.

He says there's a problem.

Edna didn't send enough money to cover the taxes.

And I said, well, why can't they just take the taxes out of the money?

Well, the money is not yours until they release it.

And they won't release it until they get the taxes.

Schmitz mails in another $20 ,000, but it's still not enough.

They just kept calling and kept calling.

Over the next eight months, she sends more money.

$20 ,000 here, $25 ,000 there.

What's going on over there?

Mr. Bennett, right?

Okay.

She ultimately cashes out two life insurance policies totaling $279

,000.

It is almost like they've just taken over their

mind.

Somehow they convinced her to do these things that are just

not even.

Not even in her personality at all.

The feds call the condition being under the ether.

Get them thinking and hoping and waiting for that prize to the point

where they would be willing to do almost anything.

Edna is frustrated when the prize money never comes.

But surprisingly, she's never angry when she speaks to Newton Bennett.

She was, um...

A really friendly guy, and he was always, you know, had asked me about,

know, my family.

He just wanted to know how you were doing.

Edna's experience is not unique.

As the feds say, many victims develop friendships with the callers.

They're anxious for some sort of contact, human contact, someone who

least alleges that they care. I have talked to several victims that tell me

they want to pay.

They will pay and have paid and are going to continue to pay just to be able

receive the phone calls during the day because they are so lonely.

Federal prosecutors say Mr. Bennett's lies even extend to his name.

They say Newton Bennett is actually Laverick Willocks, a Montego Bay man who

allegedly purchased Edna's name on a lead list.

Laverick Willocks was buying lists from Sanjay Williams.

Federal prosecutors say Willocks has an extensive ring of associates that helps

him move money from the U .S. to Jamaica.

It went a variety of ways.

There were wire transfers from bank accounts. In some cases, it would be

MoneyGram or Western Union. There were other situations where currency itself

would be mailed. And sometimes the money flies coach.

In 2013, a woman who we'll call Rita...

says she's roped into the scam after getting a call from an old friend.

I was contacted by an acquaintance that I hadn't seen in years, and she didn't

describe exactly what was going on, but she had owed me some money from the

past, and said she felt that it was time to pay me back.

Rita's friend is a relative of Lavrick Willock's.

She says her family in Jamaica needs money, and she wants Rita to bring them

,000 in cash.

She said she was sick and that she couldn't go.

She asked if I would carry it to her, and she didn't trust anyone else.

Rita is told she can keep $2 ,000 for herself.

But when her friend tells her how she'll be carrying the money, Rita says she

has second thoughts.

It would have to be in a bra that's heavily padded, and it would have to be

under my bra.

And in a place where with TSA patting you down, you wouldn't feel it to the

touch because of the patting. I was nervous and I didn't want to do it.

several hours of coaxing, Rita eventually boards a plane and smuggles

into Jamaica.

I was very nervous, very nervous.

The whole thing was actually probably one of the most nerve -wracking

experiences of my life to the point of being nauseous.

Rita is relieved when she finally makes it to the family home.

She delivers the cash directly to Laverick Willocks.

It seemed like that right out of a hip -hop video.

You know, with clothes and hair.

And I didn't think they were going to be a terrible person, though.

And he seemed like a happy kid. He was happy to see me.

Very generous.

You know, wanted to run away with anything I needed. I'll take care of

Next on American Greed, they say a man's home is his castle.

and Jamaican scammers have some of the nicest castles around.

You notice there are regular houses, but then among these regular

houses, we have some mansion. This guy has, like, cameras all around.

It's a typical Wednesday morning in Montego Bay.

The sun is shining, the tourists are frolicking, and the anti -lottery police

are readying their weapons.

It may seem drastic, but lottery scams are damaging Jamaica's image.

And for a country that relies so heavily on tourism dollars, Image is

everything. It's extremely embarrassing for me. I think it's embarrassing for

the government. It's embarrassing for most well -thinking Jamaicans.

Since 2009, Jamaican police and U .S. federal agents have partnered on an anti

-lottery task force.

Jim Stitzel is the Department of Homeland Security's Jamaican attache. We

to work collectively.

It's the only way we're going to be able to get these criminals because

they're... constantly adapting and changing the way that they go after the

victims of the United States. Once again, we are called upon to carry out a

crucial role. The information that we have relates to electric

camels in two communities.

Kevin Watson is a sergeant with the Major Organized Crime and Anti

Agency, also known as MOCA.

Lottery scamming has become as lucrative as the illegal drug trade, if not more

lucrative.

According to Sergeant Watson, scammers' homes are often easy to spot.

This is a normal neighborhood with houses owned by middle -income earners.

However, among these normal houses, we have a mansion.

We know for a fact that this house was built with proceeds from

lottery scam activities.

Proceeds from hard -working victims in the United States. Exactly. This guy

like...

Camera is all our own. There we have a whole camera there. You can see us from

more than a mile coming.

Watson says some scammers view their work as retribution against wealthy

countries like the United States.

In 2012, the Jamaican dancehall artist Vibes Cartel even has a hit song about

the lotteries called Reparations.

This fan -made video says it all.

I think a lot of Jamaicans know the Vibes Cartel song that

was done.

And a lot of cameras, this is their way of...

of justifying the activity.

Sergeant Watson says the crime has become so popular that kids are

scammers. They live large, drive fancy cars, and put on outrageous displays of

wealth. Some of these lottery scammers, they earn so much money that they had

parties and they buy expensive champagne and use the champagne to wash their

cars.

On one of her trips to Jamaica, Rita says Labrick Willocks is treated like a

in the clubs.

Rock star.

He's a baller. Like if you're out with an NBA player or a celebrity, everyone's

coming over to shake hands and say hello.

They had their big table, a bunch of women hanging around, you know. They

definitely the guys you wanted to be around.

But the money comes with a price.

Over the past decade, Jamaican officials estimate more than 1 ,000 murders in

the country are lottery -related.

We've seen disagreements among scammers, you know, people stealing each other's

lead lists, and it leads to violence and death.

On this day, the anti -lottery task force is targeting a scammer who lives

the hills outside of Montego Bay.

We're heading to a community that is...

plague with lottery scamming activities.

We are not sure of the risk and so we're going to be treating this as

being very volatile.

The target is well known to task force officer.

Just last year, his house was the scene of two murders.

Well, his brother -in -law was shot and killed there and his brother was shot

and killed on the playground over there for the same lottery scamming.

Officers approach the house.

The man is alone and caught off guard.

Task force officers search the house.

The home is nice.

Too nice for this neighborhood.

The size of the house is definitely an indication that this person is

involved in law enforcement.

The decor, the tiles, and so on.

Officers find a thumb drive and a laptop.

But the man's computer isn't working.

The

raid

won't be a success unless officers can find something on the computer.

They detain the man, confiscate his laptop, and prepare to leave.

But before they do, they sweep the house next door, where the man's sister

lives.

Officers finally find what they're looking for. The woman's laptop contains

file with hundreds of names and addresses.

but telephone numbers and addresses of persons who died in the United States.

Do you have any reason to have these persons in commission in your position?

No, I don't.

Officers also find falsified bank documents, including a fake check for $3

million. We noticed some files here.

Bank of America, there's a folder called Bank of America. Do you have a Bank of

America account?

No. Do you have any relation at all with Bank of America?

No. Okay.

So let me ask you now, are you involved in law enforcement?

If you are involved and you have received money from anyone overseas, we

going to find out.

I want you to be honest with me, right?

Well, being honest with you, I can't. I never do it, but I'm not involved in it.

The woman is a single mother to four young children.

She could face up to four years in prison.

It is sad, and it is not only that.

United States residents are made victims of these activities.

But we have victims right here in Jamaica, you know.

Children are being made victims because of these activities, you know.

And so lottery scamming is really a monster.

Next on American Greed, lottery scammers push American victims to the brink.

One family that was threatened, if they didn't continue to pay, that they

would...

They would show up at their house, rape their adult daughter, kill the family.

Are you or a loved one a victim of lottery scammers?

If so, call the Department of Homeland Security's tip line at 1 -866 -DHS -2

-ICE.

Want inside information from the show?

Join the Greed Social Network.

Like us on American Greed's Facebook page.

We'll be right back.

Back in North Dakota, Steve Little browses through some books in his

They're written by his older brother, Michael.

He liked writing. I was surprised.

I didn't know he had that.

A former engineer and Vietnam veteran, Michael only begins writing after

suffering a stroke in 2004.

The first book was Strange and Mere about his stroke recovery.

The writing is done mostly for fun and to keep occupied.

Michael lives alone in a mobile home in Bismarck.

Social security is his only source of income.

In total fixed income, he never did recoup what it actually cost him to

write the books.

In September 2015,

Steve Little is shocked when he gets an unexpected phone call from his brother.

Michael is in jail.

He's accused of collaborating with lottery scammers.

Well, he was acting as a mule for the guy in Jamaica.

He took a taxi to some other lady's house, collected money from her, and

sent it off to Jamaica.

Over the past few months, Steve says his brother's mental state has been

declining. He says Michael is confused when he's sprung from jail.

He didn't remember any lady. He didn't remember where the money came from. He

thought he'd been in a hospital.

Worst hospital he'd ever been in.

Steve looks into his brother's finances and can't believe what he finds.

Michael hasn't paid any bills in months, and he's been sending his Social

Security checks directly to Jamaica.

Mike would withdraw everything in his account, wire it off to Jamaica,

and then go back to the bank and wonder who had rifled his account.

Steve estimates his brother sends over $10 ,000 to scammers.

A month after the arrest, the brothers make plans to do some grocery shopping.

Steve calls Michael's house to let him know when he's on his way.

Well, there's no answer. Yeah, not a good sign.

Called him again.

No answer.

This is not good.

When Steve arrives at the house, the lights are off, but the front door is

unlocked.

I went in and he was sitting in a chair

right by the front door in the entryway, gun on the floor

between his legs and, you know,

slumped forward and blood and brains and stuff against the wall.

Michael Little was 68 years old.

If I have a bone to pick with these guys, that's it.

They created hope where it didn't really exist, the illusion of hope.

And then they took it away.

I'm convinced that he took his life because he lost hope.

Michael Little isn't the only casualty of the scam.

In Texas, prosecutors say a woman hangs herself.

after losing thousands of dollars to Leverett Willock's crew.

Other victims are afraid to leave their homes, as scammers threaten them with

physical violence.

Instead of talking about the prize that you're going to win, if you don't keep

sending the money, I'm going to rape your daughters, kill your son.

In Harvey, North Dakota, Edna Schmitz's situation is getting worse.

Over the past year, she's sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to Willock's.

But she still needs to send one last payment of $5 ,000.

I had absolutely gotten rid

of everything.

I mean, literally everything.

My CD, my Roth IRAs, my farm rent.

The last source of income she can think of is the two tractors on the family

farm. They're worth about $14 ,000 each.

She heads down to her local bank to see how much money she can get.

Well, then when I went in to try and borrow this money on the tractors, then

they discovered that there was already a loan on those tractors.

So I didn't get that loan.

Fortunately for the Schmitz family, Harvey is a small town.

The loan officer at the bank alerts Edna's son, Jeff.

He actually gave me the paperwork.

He says, here, I just got to show you this, you know.

And I was just shocked.

If they lost the tractors, Jeff says the family farm would be doomed.

I couldn't afford to buy tractors and equipment. It's so expensive now, you

know. And there's not much profit being made.

So I've been out of business.

Jeff and his sister Lisa confront their mother.

They come right over here then.

And she was very hesitant to say anything about it. She kind of didn't

she should really tell me. I said, Mom, this is not real.

It's a scam. I said, it is.

But, of course, you know, she had gotten in so far already that

she didn't want to believe it wasn't real.

Next on American Greed, the feds drop the hammer on the scammers.

and take a new angle in the ongoing fight.

In

June

2012,

Edna Schmitz finally stopped sending money to Jamaican scammers, but only

her children intervened.

She's lost nearly $400 ,000.

What in the hell was I thinking?

I wasn't thinking. I can't even believe it. I mean, would you actually be that

stupid? They convinced her to do these things that are just

not even.

Not even in her personality at all.

You know, wire transfers. And I remember one for $57 ,000.

And I thought, oh my God, my mother would never, never in a million years

she write out a check for $57 ,000.

The family informs the federal authorities, who open an investigation.

Fortunately for the FBI, the scammers are still calling Edna.

The FBI records her phone conversations.

So what happened about the check? Did they get the check clear?

No. That's a $5 ,000? Yeah.

I don't know what we're going to do now.

Using Edna's case as a starting point, the feds expand the investigation.

And that led to all the information, all the people we were able to arrest.

Other information we were able to gather.

That's how they were able to identify the victims.

They found victims all over the United States.

Their digging eventually leads them to Leverick Willocks and the man who

the lead lists, Sanjay Williams.

I don't know how many lists he bought from Sanjay.

I think the investigation showed about $40 ,000 worth of lists.

And bear in mind that Leverick Willocks is just one of hundreds of Sanjay's

customers. The Department of Justice says victim losses to the men are at

$5 .5 million.

Edna is one of 80 -plus victims or more. We have victims who lost a few hundred

or a few thousand dollars. We had one that lost $850 ,000 that we know of.

In June 2013, Sanjay Williams is arrested when he makes a trip to North

Carolina. Two years later, he's put on trial in North Dakota.

Edna Schmitz testifies in the case.

People were amazed at the heroism of the people who came forward, who were

willing to talk about the fact that they were victims in this.

And my mother, you know, is just this little farm lady, and she's, you know,

taking down these people.

After a week -long trial, Sanjay Williams is found guilty of conspiracy,

fraud, and money laundering.

He's currently chilling in a federal prison in New Jersey, serving a 20 -year

sentence.

He's the first lead list seller successfully tried in the United States.

Hopefully not the last.

Federal prosecutors in Bismarck indict more than 30 people connected to the

scam. Eleven are arrested and take plea deals, including Rita, the woman who

smuggled cash in her bra.

She's awaiting sentencing.

I made a mistake.

I made a huge mistake.

To this day, Rita insists she didn't know she was helping a lottery scam.

Now knowing the details of who was harmed in this is probably the biggest

in my life. It just makes me emotional every time I think about it.

As for Leverick Willocks... He is officially charged with mail fraud, wire

fraud, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.

U .S. officials are working to have him and other members of his crew arrested

and extradited.

But it's a complicated process.

We are taking all the steps that we can, using the tools available to see that

those people were not in the United States.

are in fact brought to justice at some point.

Extraditions, you know, take time because of all the legal hurdles that

to overcome.

But we are crossing those T's and dotting those I's to try to get as many

extraditions as we can.

In February 2015,

the U .S. successfully extradites their first Jamaican lottery scammer, a man

unrelated to the Lambert Willocks group.

Jamaican officials say they hope to assist with several more.

We have actually encouraged our U .S. law

enforcement agencies to go for extradition, and we're working on a

a pipeline of possible extradition.

In addition to increased law enforcement, the Jamaican government has

public education campaign.

MOCA officers regularly speak to kids in schools, while radio and TV PSAs fill

the airwaves.

I

think

you have to take a multi -pronged approach to combating it. We have to...

Emphasize that this is not a victimless crime, that it is, in fact, a very cruel

crime. Connect to them, would you like your grandmother or your grandfather to

be the victim?

Education is also important on the U .S. side of the issue.

Federal agents say they can't stop the scam until American citizens stop

for it.

It's not something that law enforcement alone can stop.

It's going to take a joint effort. It's going to take citizens.

It's going to take governments.

Have you tried to talk to your elderly loved ones or your parents about their

finances? It's not easy. Have that tough financial conversation because it's

better to have it and have a small dust up now than have it when they've lost

their life savings. And I've seen it. I just feel like.

America needs to know what's going on. Elderly people need to know what's going

on. Educate your grandparents.

This needs to be put out there so more people know about it.