A few years ago, someone in Indiana used my credit card numbers to purchase a large screen TV, a laptop computer and a large set of patio furniture at three different stores at the cost of $7,200.

I had to spend over an hour on the phone with fraud departments of two of the stores to remove the charges against me, but one store sent me a letter saying they would prosecute me if I didn’t pay the $1,200 they were due. I had to get an attorney to prove I was coaching a Little League game in Jim Thorpe when the illegal transaction was made in Indiana.

Scamming is a crime that largely goes unpunished.

In 2023, Natural Scam Watch reports that money obtained from fraud totaled $228,645,604 — with two months still left in the year. One of every 10 Americans has been or will be scammed in their lifetime. The biggest scammer of all time was Bernie Madoff, an American financier who stole $20 billion in principal funds that were given to him by others to invest for them. He used much of the money to pay off investors who wanted to cash out.

On a much smaller scale as far as profit, the number of scammers keeps growing because there is a good amount of money to be made. Imagine an anonymous, veteran scammer who is no longer in the business, admits to a “60 Minutes” kind of interview with me. The questions and answers I created are based upon research I’ve obtained from different sources and my personal experience from having my bank card numbers stolen more than once. The mock interview might go something like this.

I: How long were you in the business of cheating people out of their money?

S: About 12 years.

I: With the same business?

S: No, to work the scamming life you have to move around to other fake businesses so you can’t be tracked.

I: Is that so you don’t get caught?

S: Exactly. Our addresses and phone contacts must not be retraceable. Many scammers work offshore in other countries so that they can’t get caught. A recent scam is when a man meets a woman online from an oil rig where he says he works. He won’t have phone or video contact, and he’ll say the internet service is spotty from the rig. The scammer will earn the trust of the woman through several sessions until he knows she wants to meet him in person. Then he’ll ask her for money to buy an airline ticket to come see her, a credit card number, gift cards and the like. He does his scam with several women at the same time to give him a chance at cashing in big money.

I: Can you share a scam you did that worked?

S: I called people to tell them they had won a sweepstakes and were guaranteed 100 grand or more. Once I had them hooked, I asked for $300 for service fees to secure the prize. I’d take a payment over the phone and then delete my number so it was not traceable. There’s another that worked for me when a recorded phone message I sent to a random person threatening to have him arrested for Social Security fraud or tax evasion unless he pays me a fee.

I: So how much have you made?

S: On a good night, I’d make a few thousand dollars. Then I’d shut it down and move onto another undetectable location.

I: Where’s the biggest money to make by scamming?

S: That’s getting people to invest their money into a start-up company that may not exist. You tell them about a brand-new consumer product. If they get in on the ground floor, they will partial owners of the business. You can get a single investor to pay thousands. Again, you have to grab the money and run.

I: Don’t you worry about getting caught?

S: Sure, you do, but you are fully aware of that risk when you get into scamming.

I: I was scammed in Indiana that I told you about. How does something like that happen?

S: I might have a deal with a department store cashier. I show her how she can steal numbers off a credit card without getting caught. That’s how the numbers from Pennsylvania buy me expensive stuff in Indiana. Speaking of computers, a common scam is when a recorded voice tells you that your computer is locked and you have to call a number and pay a few hundred dollars to have it unlocked.

I: Who are the easiest people to scam?

S: The elderly. They are naive and they believe what you’re say is true. Younger adults are good too. They don’t have experience to be able to detect when they are being scammed.

I: Can you tell when someone is on to you?

S: it’s pretty easy to tell. They might start flat out accusing you or they could play the game all the way to the end and then call you out. One guy I called, and before I said anything, he said, “I have 10 grand I don’t want. Just tell me where to send it.” I hung up immediately of course.

I: So why didn’t you get a real job instead of scamming money from good people?

S: And make minimum wage or have to take orders from a miserable boss? Scamming pays a lot of money, and another thing is the thrill of getting away with doing something illegal. It’s a rush.

I: Don’t you have a conscience?

S: Now I do. That’s why I quit. I have grandparents that were scammed by somebody I know. They were very upset. I had to see that to make me stop.

Be careful everyone, especially with the holidays just around the corner. Do not randomly give away your Social Security number, credit card numbers or bank information. You can’t trust people you don’t know with your financial accounts. Unfortunately, that’s the world we live in now.

Email Rich Strack at richiesadie11@gmail.com