Stop The Scams! Be Knowledgeable!
It takes years for older adults to work hard and save money, but it only takes a few weeks or months for scammers to steal it from them. Unfortunately, the victims targeted by scammers are usually people over 60, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The FBI reported that this population lost $3.4 billion in 2023, the most money lost of all age groups.
Cybercrime continues to rise each year, and not just among older adults. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, scammers tricked adults of all ages out of $12.5 billion in 2023, a 22 percent increase from 2022 and more than triple the figures of 2019. The numbers are probably higher since many fraud victims do not report the scams.
The FBI has prioritized helping older adults become aware of scams and investigating elder fraud. Earlier this year, two FBI agents met with Barry Heitin, a 76-year-old retired lawyer who was conned out of an estimated $740,000 in retirement savings. The agents told Heitin he was one of at least seven victims involved in a scam based in India.
Heitin’s nightmare began in September 2023 when he was logging into his 401(k) retirement savings account, and a screen popped up telling him to contact the fraud department. The screen looked legitimate because it displayed the institution’s logo and a phone number. So, Heitin called the so-called fraud investigator who told him that someone was trying to access both his bank accounts and retirement accounts. The man gave Heitin an alleged contact at the bank to call. The fraudulent bank contact claimed that two $10,000 transactions were made to purchase child abuse images from a Chinese website. The scammer then suggested Heitin speak to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agent because banks and the IRS work together to investigate fraud cases.
The fraudulent IRS agent confirmed that Heitin’s accounts were at risk and an investigation had been opened. The fraudster was also able to convince Heitin to help the IRS capture the scammers. He also offered to help Heitin move all his money to a federal locker where it could be secure during the investigation.
When Heitin’s (legitimate) bank adviser discovered he wanted to transfer his IRA account and brokerage money, he questioned Heitin about the move. Heitin told the adviser that he would meet in person to discuss his decision. But before the in-person meeting, the scammers, who knew the name of Heitin’s adviser, told him that the adviser was on a “watch list” and his bank had leaked Heitin’s personal information.
When Heitin could not withdraw his money, the scammers instructed him to roll over his IRA to another bank. Heitin did so and made some withdrawals. The con artists also told him to buy gold and turn it over them. All the while, Heitin believed he was helping the IRS safeguard his accounts and catch the people who stole his money.
In late November, Heitin received a call from a detective in New Jersey who found his name and address on a paper receipt for gold in a car. She told him that she believed he was a victim of a scam. Heitin said he had a sense of relief and “felt good and bad at the same time.”
“They kept telling me, ‘This is a big case, and we are going to stop a whole ring of people,'” Heitin told The New York Times. “It was like a rabbit hole. I was going down the hole with them.”
Sadly, Heitin is still in a financial “hole” because he is now responsible for paying $285,000 in federal and state taxes. Withdrawals from retirement accounts are taxed as ordinary income. Heitin’s lawyer, Robert Rabinowitz, is trying to help him recover some of the funds.
“Do I look back on it and say I probably should have done other things?” Heitin said to The New York Times. “Of course. But I have to get past that. If I don’t, I’m stuck in a horrible depressive loop. With the help of my family and the support of those around me, I am past that.”
Missouri Con Artist Schemed to Take Control of Graceland
A 53-year-old Kimberling City, Missouri, woman will stand trial for trying to pull off a brazen foreclosure scam to steal Graceland, Elvis Presley’s historic estate in Memphis, Tennessee.
Lisa Jeanie Findley is scheduled to appear on Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on charges of mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, she faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for mail fraud, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Findley was arrested in August after a grand jury heard evidence of her perpetrating the scam that brought Graceland close to being put on the auction block.
Findley is accused of creating a company called Naussany Investments and Private Lending that falsely claimed Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’ only child, borrowed $3.8 million in 2018 and pledged Graceland as collateral for the loan. When Lisa Marie died in 2023, the fraudulent company claimed she had not paid back the loan, and Naussany sought control of the estate through a foreclosure sale of the mansion, Tennessee’s most popular tourist attraction. The DOJ said Findley forged the signatures of Lisa Marie Presley and a Florida State notary public on fabricated loan documents. Findley allegedly sought $2.85 million from Elvis Presley’s family to settle the so-called claim.
Riley Keough, Lisa Marie’s daughter, sued to stop the estate from going to auction. The documents Naussany Investments filed turned out to be fake, and a Tennessee judge tossed out the case.
Shortly afterward, media outlets were contacted by an unknown con artist who claimed to be from Nigeria and claimed credit for the fraud. However, further investigation traced the scam back to Findley, who has previously been convicted of committing fraud.
According to Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations Group, fame and money attract criminals who want to “capitalize on another person’s celebrity status.”
“In this case, Ms. Findley allegedly took advantage of the very public and tragic occurrences in the Presley family as an opportunity to prey on the name and financial status of the heirs to the Graceland estate, attempting to steal what rightfully belongs to the Presley family for her personal gain,” Shen said in a statement.
Source Links:
https://www.rebalance360.com/how-one-man-lost-740000-to-scammers-targeting-his-retirement-savings/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-grand-jury-graceland-scam-elvis-presley-rcna161442
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/money/business/development/2024/09/27/graceland-fraud-case-trial/75400916007/
https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/local/2024/08/16/graceland-foreclosure-scheme-arrest-suspect/74827367007/
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/woman-charged-scheme-defraud-elvis-presleys-family
