How Edward Smog Scammed a Retired Nurse Out of $150K

Javier: So I've got this friend named Joe Rocko. Real estate agent up in Arkansas. Some of you might know Joe already. He's Anthony Christopher's brother, from the LaDonna series. Small world.

Speaker: Joe calls me one day about a client he's trying to help. A 72-year-old woman. Divorced, retired nurse, grown kids, and a stack of medical bills that would make anybody's stomach drop. Selling her house should have been the easy part. Except Joe couldn't shake this feeling. Because the longer he spent with her, the more he realized the house wasn't the story. Where all her money went, that was the story. And once he started telling me about it, I understood why he couldn't just take the commission and walk away. There's a grant that doesn't exist. A FedEx truck that catches fire. A cook who poisons the delivery guys. A fiance on an oil rig who gets kidnapped and held for ransom. I know how that sounds. Stick with me. She asked me not to use her real name. So I'm going to call her Rhonda. Everything else, the money, the messages, the receipts, all of it is real. And it's worse than it sounds.

Joe Rocko: So I think she's stuck in a scam or in a, in like a scammer. Whoever this person is, has got her in a few different ways. I think the first way is he identified her on Facebook. Shortly after that, he realized he, he told her there's some kind of grant money for people with disabilities, uh, older people who are disabled, that they can qualify for some money. So you put in some seed funding, and then they're gonna release a grant to you, right? And they said, you know, a few times that the money's gonna come to you via FedEx or gonna come to you this way, and that because it's such a large sum of money that they need like bodyguards, and you have to pay for the bodyguards to come there. Well, they had happened to land somewhere in Rogers. They were coming to see her. They went to a restaurant, I guess one of the cooks knew who they were, and he poisoned them and killed them. And I was like, "Okay, that's very briefcase." This is going right on.

Javier: No, this is crazy.

Speaker: the bf

Joe Rocko: But she met this guy, and all of a sudden he starts needing money. He can't access his funds 'cause he's in Saudi Arabia, not near a bank on an oil well or whatever. And so he's up there working. He's trying to milk her for money. He's asking her for all this stuff. He needs to have this bill paid, that bill paid, and all of a sudden he's supposed to come home, And they find out that these guys are like, "Hey, they got families. We can hold them as hostages. We can get some more money," quote, unquote, you know, hostages. But basically saying, "Hey, I've been kidnapped. I need funds. Uh, if you don't pay me this money, then they're going to basically kill me. They're beating me every day. I need money to be coming back home," And what's ironic is she's selling her house. I met her because she's selling her home, but her neighbor two doors down is also selling her house, and they both have the same Somali or Saudi Arabia boyfriend. I think there's one person who's kind of rooted himself into her life as well as her neighbor's life, and he just keeps taking money from them.

Javier: That's just wild, man. It is wild that she doesn't see how crazy this is.

Joe Rocko: I know. And if you met this lady, she is super sweet. She's had both her knees replaced. She's got like a fake sh- uh, shoulder. She's had a hip replacement. This lady's not exactly peak physical fitness here, right? No.

Javier: Wow. And, and it's crazy that in her mind these are two different things,

Joe Rocko: Correct. Yeah.

Javier: Yeah.

Joe Rocko: And here's the crazy thing. Her neighbor broke up with the, her boyfriend or whatever at the time during the kidnapping 'cause she thought it was fake. So what does she do? She goes right back to her old boyfriend who's also from Saudi Arabia there's a circle there. There's this like touch point where this one guy, I think he was creating all these personas and all these stories, and he just got them fully, like enveloped in this.

Javier: Well, and he, and he totally tapped into her email, locked her out, and is just extracting as much money from her as possible.

Joe Rocko: Yeah. E- every week it's just more money, more funds, more this, more that. And that, you know, my concern is we sell her house, her house is paid off, right? She has this huge sum of cash now. What is he gonna do with that money? You know, all of a sudden he needs $100,000 for something.

Javier: Ah.

Joe Rocko: You know?

Javier: Joe wanted me to hear it straight from Rhonda. So he set up a three-way call, introduced me, told her I look into this kind of thing, and then he got out of the way. Here's where I come in.

Speaker: FIRST CALL WITH SHERIAN

Javier: I wanted to introduce you to Javier. Um, Javier is a good friend of mine. He's one of those guys I was telling you, he's kind of like an investigator.

Joe Rocko: and I know that Javier is pretty much one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. So I wanted to kind of introduce. Javier, feel free to do what you gotta do and-

Javier: Yeah ... kind of hang out. It's so nice to meet you.

Sherian: Okay. Yeah. Um, I don't know how much I can help you, but I know it started out, like, with Facebook, and it was, like, um, a grant. That's how it was presented. the guy that, um, was the main one that I spoke to was, his name was Edward Smog And he said he was an agent with, um, I've got it all written down. but he was presenting this as a big help for seniors and stuff like that if you had disabilities or to help with you pay your bills off and your medical expenses and stuff like that. That's how he presented it. And you had to put in like, uh, I think five hundred if you wanted, Maybe 50,000. And then 1,000 for 100,000, and then it went on up to millions, you know. I said I didn't have the money and everything, and so he volunteered and said that Joe had, uh, 20, $2,500 he, that he would, um, put into for me, you know?

Javier: Yeah. Just to get you started, right?

Sherian: yeah, anyway, that's how it all kinda started. in the end, $150,000 shorter. he had gotten into my phone and got all my contacts, and then he was calling my contacts trying to act like they were me he's a sharp cookie. FedEx was, um, was gonna be their big deliverer of the cash. If you want, you, you got the choice between cash, a check to your bank or whatever, you know. And so it always showed the FedEx people with a big box of cash. You know, he'd show that as a picture and say more or less, "This, this is your money, da, da, da, da. But you've got to pay these fees." then we had to pay ransom for the fire department got the money before the FedEx truck burned up. And, then that was when we had to pay the ransom of $6,500 'cause the fire department, then the next round or two, they canceled like mid-cycle, and then they supposedly got all the way to Rogers, which is where I'm from. and they decided to get a room and eat supper, and that's when the man in the restaurant, the cook, uh, poisoned the, uh, FedEx guys. They had found out somehow, Cook said that, they were carrying a lot of money and everything. And so the cook, poisoned them. One died, one almost died, and I guess the other one recovered okay, but there was three of them. of course, they got all the money, you know. that's how that went, and so it just went on and on and on and on. And so to, for them to thank, for me to supposedly think they were good guys and everything, they said that, well, they had decided to replace my money. And then they told me also not to worry about the money, that I have to pay on fees and stuff, that I'd get all that back, you know, and everything.

Javier: Are you still in touch with this man? What was his name again? The, the man that

Sherian: you- Edward, Edward Smog.

Speaker: transition to bf

Javier: Okay. Joe was telling me that there was somebody from Saudi Arabia or something like that. Is, is that a different story or a different man?

Sherian: Yeah, that's a different story.

Javier: Oh. And so tell me about that.

Sherian: Uh, my, my fiance got kidnapped. Oh. For a month and a half and was beat to death. Him and his friend were l- like beat all the time. They were trying to get money out of him, more than they'd already gotten out of him. it's just a, a mess. But I've got to go right now. Okay. I'm so sorry.

Javier: No, it's all right. Thank you. Uh, is it, is it okay if we can set up some time to talk to each other maybe next week?

Sherian: Yeah, and I'll try to get the stuff together a little bit so I can give you more information.

Javier: Oh, that's perfect. All right. Well, Joe will pass along your number, if you don't mind, and, uh- Okay we'll, we'll, I'll call you next week.

Sherian: Okay.

Javier: All

Sherian: right. Thank you.

Javier: Nice meeting you. Mm-hmm.

Sherian: Bye-bye. Bye. Thank you.

Speaker: 2ND INTERVIEW WITH SHERI

Sherian: I'm so sorry I've, it's taken me as long as it has to, uh, call you

Speaker: HOW IT STARTED

Javier: This whole thing started when somebody by the name of Edward Smogg approached you on Facebook, right? And what, what year was that?

Sherian: I think it was like last, last year

Javier: So maybe like 2025.

Sherian: this is how it happened. It was like, on Facebook.

Javier: Mm-hmm.

Sherian: Somebody left me a message, and it was one of my old classmates. I'm a retired nurse, and I had had his pa- wife as a patient. have you heard the great news and da, da, da, and there's money and all this bunch of stuff. That's how it all started.

Javier: do, what do you mean by that? Like, what, have you heard the news of what exactly?

Sherian: Uh, uh, more or less, you can get a, a grant and everything for, uh, expenses and stuff to help you either pay off your bills, medical equipment, or whatever

Javier: So you get this message and it's coming from somebody that you know, right? It's not a friend, but it's, it's, it's somebody that you knew when you were a nurse, so you felt like that message was legit, right? But it turns out, I

Sherian: he's a pastor.

Javier: Oh, he's

Sherian: was a pastor. he had left a, an email or something and get a hold of this, uh, guy And, gave me Edward Smogg's number and the link for him I thought, well, if he's in on it too, I said, you know, I thought, well, it must be good. You know? It must be okay

Javier: That was a lot of money. Was that your retirement? W-

Sherian: Um, my mother had left me money and, um, and then I did get, um, a coup- two or three loans

Javier: Yeah.

Sherian: and even ended getting a loan on my vehicle that was, um, that was paid for.

Javier: All in all, Rhonda lost a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Let that sit for a second.

Sherian: I mean, I feel stupid, y- you know.

Javier: Well,

Sherian: And, you know, I know there's no way for me to get any of the money back

Javier: Right off the bat, Rhonda got down to business. No warmup. She started rattling off evidence, names, numbers, screenshots, like she'd been waiting for somebody to finally ask.

Sherian: I can send you a couple of screenshots if they'll help you

Javier: Yeah

Sherian: can see for yourself. there is one lady that, he had me to send, let's see, $8,500 to

Javier: And when you say he, you mean who? This, um, Smaug. Okay.

Sherian: Edward Smogg. they had me to send it to Beaverton, Oregon

Javier: And do you suspect that that person's not real?

Sherian: I don't know about that, but I've got her account number for Wells Fargo Bank if you want it

Javier: Rhonda gave me all of it. Account numbers, screenshots, text messages, names, addresses. A whole paper trail. And one of those account numbers is going to matter a lot later.

Sherian: I have two things with her. One was for 5,000 and one was for 3,500. So 8,500 went to her. Then there was another guy that was supposed to be one of the bosses at the business.

Speaker: NIGERIGAN CLUES

Javier: What are all those, um, phone numbers from Lagos, Nigeria? Like, what, what does that mean? These were

Sherian: I think it's that, that guy that took over my Facebook account. I don't know.

Speaker: USING SHERI'S ACCOUNT TO SCAM HER FRIENDS

Sherian: The same way, uh, they were calling my-- When they got into my phone and everything, they got my contacts, and they started contacted, my friends. they even gave this spiel of like, "Oh, I've got a sore throat and I don't sound quite right." And one lady was at the cancer, uh, clinic in Jonesboro and everything and called. And so more or less they said they would call her back and they says, "Well, excuse me if I don't sound quite right. I've got a sore throat." You know, that sort of thing. So then she called me and she says, "Well, you called me and da, da, da, da, da." I said, "I didn't call you." She says, "Well, yeah, you did, da, da, da."

Javier: was it your voice that called them?

Sherian: Was it my voice?

Javier: like when

Sherian: No. No. They were saying, they were saying that it was, uh, that I had a sore throat, that I didn't sound quite right yes, yes. Or it was that and, um,

Javier: So they were suspicious right away just because it didn't sound like you?

Sherian: No, they weren't suspicious. They thought it was me.

Javier: Wow.

Sherian: and she was like so thrilled. She says, "Well, thank you for thinking of me," and da, da, da, da, da, you know? And I'm like, "I, I didn't." You know, I said, "And you don't want any part of this."

Speaker: edward smogg was not a foriegner

Javier: Have you ever talked to Edward Smogg?

Sherian: Yes, I've talked to him

Javier: and did

Sherian: on his private number

Javier: and you said that he did not sound like foreign at all?

Sherian: No, no

Javier: That's interesting

Sherian: would have made a good car salesman

Javier: Yeah. And what was he like when you talked to him?

Sherian: Oh, he acts like your best friend and he, he rumbled off all these Bible scriptures and all this bunch of stuff and like he wanted to help people and you know what I mean. But he still calls me.

Javier: He still calls you even

Sherian: He still texts. Yes. Except I got him blocked now He's always wanting money. He always wants money if you want 50,000, you put down 500. If you want 100,000, then you put 1,000.

Javier: Mm-hmm.

Sherian: Okay? But then there keeps on being more and more and more and more fees added on, delivery fees, and they have to have an armed guard, and they have to have this and that and all that bunch of baloney. And,

Javier: this money would be delivered in cash? Is that what they were saying?

Sherian: Yeah, you had a choice whether you wanted cash or check or, uh... Well, I changed my mind, and that cost me ten thousand dollars.

Javier: What do you me- what do you mean you

Sherian: I just,

Javier: mind?

Speaker: THE RANSOM

Sherian: I wanted mine delivered to the bank, wired to the bank. the FedEx thing caught on fire supposedly, and so then there was a ransom. explain the ransom Had to pay a ransom before the money, 'cause they had to put guards there to make sure that the fire department didn't, um, steal the money. Okay?

Javier: When there was a ransom, did you have to pay more money to get the money back? Is that what happened?

Sherian: Yes, I did.

Javier: And how much was that? 6,500.

Sherian: thousand five hundred

Javier: Wow.

Sherian: well then they were supposed to deliver it, and then they just couldn't get to Rogers. Okay, the next time it was something else. They stopped them midstream 'cause I hadn't paid all the money or something. They changed their mind. They first said I could pay half, and then they decided I needed to pay all of it. Okay, and then there was like a fourth time, and, uh, su- supposedly they got to Rogers, and there was three of the guys, the FedEx men, and they sto- got a hotel and, um, they went to a restaurant to eat, and somehow somebody figured out that they were delivering money, cash, and, um, the guy that was the cook at the place they ate poisoned their food

Javier: Gosh and how are you learning about all this? Like, is Edward Smogg telling you?

Sherian: of course, Smog is telling me all this crap

Javier: How is he telling you this? Through, uh, text messages?

Sherian: Texts and pictures and all that

Javier: And so what happened? This, the, the chef killed the guy with the money?

Sherian: Um, he poisoned all three of them.

Javier: Oh my gosh

Speaker: THE FINACE "JAMES"

Javier: Yeah. So I took notes last time we talked, and I know it was really brief, but the, the story is still a little jumbled up in my head, and I was wondering maybe, maybe you could help me straighten all the details out. so there's two incidents, right? There's the incident with Edward Smaug, and then there's also an unrelated incident with, uh, your fiancé, right? That he, he, you had to... There was, like,

Sherian: Yeah, but that's his problem. That, I mean, he was kidnapped in Saudi Arabia,

Javier: But you helped them pay though,

Sherian: he got a... Uh, all I did was, uh, put in some, uh, a little money for, um, internet. I mean, it wasn't enough to matter,

Javier: Here's the thing about Rhonda. She would talk about Edward Smog all day. The grant, the fire, the poisonings, no problem. But the second I brought up James, her fiance, she shut the door. That was the last time she got on the phone with me. After that, it was all texting. So we texted. For weeks. And texting turned out to be the right move.

Speaker: On the phone she'd freeze up. But over text she'd take her time, and she would tell me things. Little by little. I learned how the money left. Apple cards. Sephora gift cards. Wire transfers. Bitcoin. A hundred and fifty thousand dollars, out the door in every form you can think of. I learned she wired money to a woman named Karty Benson, at a Wells Fargo account in Beaverton, Oregon. Thirty-five hundred one week. Five thousand the next. I learned she mailed actual cash, wrapped inside a magazine, to a guy in Georgia who was supposedly one of the bosses. She'd give me all of that. Freely. But here's the pattern I kept hitting. Every single time I steered toward James, the fiance, she'd go quiet. Or change the subject. Or, and this is the part that got me, she'd start telling me about her neighbor's boyfriend instead. Who also worked on an oil rig. Who also got kidnapped. Who also needed money. Same story. Two doors down. So I got careful. I stopped pushing. I'd ask about Smog, let her talk, build a little trust, then slip one question about James in sideways. Sometimes it worked. Most of the time she felt it coming and pulled back. Because somewhere in there, Rhonda knew. A part of her knew. She told me she wanted to wait before she met James in person, just to be sure the man she'd been texting was really him. That is not what you say about someone you're sure of. That's what you say when the caution light is still blinking, way in the back. call with gloria

Javier: Gloria, Javier, can y'all hear me? Hey, Gloria. Nice to meet you.

Gloria: Nice to meet you, Javier.

Joe Rocko: I'm not sure how much Sherry kind of told you, but Javier's a good friend of mine. He's helped out with similar cases,

Gloria: who are you talking about?

Joe Rocko: So she was talking about how, I guess, her boyfriend got kidnapped, um-

Gloria: Oh,

Joe Rocko: I- ... over-

Gloria: I'm not worried about that. I just wanna get my house sold.

Joe Rocko: I

Javier: understand. S- so-

Joe Rocko: Okay. Um-

Javier: Yeah, I've been talking with- Yeah, Sherry Anne and, and I've been texting her and calling her, and she's been telling me the stories and everything she's been through, which sounds terrible. Yeah ... she was telling me about, you know, everything that happened and then at one point that, um, the guy that she's talking to from Saudi Arabia, I believe his name is James, that at- Uh-huh at one point that maybe you started talking to a, a friend of his and-

Gloria: Uh-huh ...

Javier: and then they got in trouble somehow. And she was telling

Gloria: me- I know, but I, I- Mm ... I just let it go. I wasn't gonna worry about it. If he's gonna pay me back, fine. If he's not, fine. And I'm, I'm expecting a, a neighbor here to come and talk to me in a few minutes.

Javier: Oh, yeah. This won't take- And get

Gloria: it over

Javier: with ... this won't take very long. I, I just wanted to kind of get a little bit more background. And did, uh- Well,

Gloria: I, I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't know him that well, and I

Javier: don't know the- No, no, no. That, that's okay. I mean, it, it's okay if you don't know certain things. That's, that's not a problem. I guess my, my question was, uh, you said you were out of money, and you don't think that he'll pay you back. How much money did you have to give him?

Gloria: I spent 20,000. I think- 20,000? ... give or take.

Javier: Wow. Yeah. And did Sherry send any money?

Gloria: Huh?

Javier: Did Sherry send him any money?

Gloria: No. I don't know, hon. I don't know nothing about her problem. Uh, let me talk to you later. I

Javier: got somebody here. Hey, hey, one, one more question and I, and I'm done, 'cause I just have one more question. Uh, around what time of y- uh, what year, what month did this happen? I'm trying to help her track down these, these people, and I just need- Yeah a date, if you don't mind.

Gloria: I don't know, sir. I don't remember.

Javier: Was it about a year ago or two years ago?

Gloria: Uh, yeah, a year ago. A

Javier: year ago? Okay. Yeah. And all right. Well, I appreciate it.

Gloria: Let me talk to this person, okay?

Javier: Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

Joe Rocko: Okay, just ask Javier. That was interesting. Like, I'd asked her if it was okay if I merged the college. She said, "Yeah, absolutely no problem." But I, I knew she had gotten scammed. I never had a dollar amount till today. And I remember that she told me she refinanced her car to help pay this stuff off.

Javier: Yeah.

Joe Rocko: Wow, $20,000, man. But Sherry says that she didn't give him that much money. so there's, like, something off there,

Javier: Ah, geez. Why, wh- The, the story here too is, like, about old people and how frustrating they are, man. It's like, you know, like, I, I... She tells me this crazy story, and I'm like, "Are you hearing yourself?" You know?

Joe Rocko: Yeah.

Javier: Yeah.

Joe Rocko: I know. It's so sad. And, and, you know, they're, they're smart women. I mean, Gloria worked for Walmart for years. Sherry was a nurse. Like, she... They, they have their wits about them, right? Mm-hmm. And I think it'd be different if you were like, "Oh, they're, you know, they have dementia. They can't remember." No, I mean, they're very smart, intelligent women. Like, these are women who are professionals, right?

Javier: Yeah.

Joe Rocko: And I just can't help but think of, like, my own grandmother, like, potentially getting scammed or something like that happening.

Javier: I don't know. Yeah. It, it, it's, it's a rough one. Yeah. It's really sad. But, but, you know, it sounds like when she texted you and said that she's not gonna sell the, the house just yet, at first my reaction was hopeful. You know? Like, oh, good, we got through to her. You know? But then part of me- Yeah ... is thinking like, oh, man, this, this, this guy sent me this podcast so they won't stop asking questions.

Speaker: meeting james

Joe Rocko: Yeah. Well, I, I keep telling her, she, she told me, like, the date, and I, I think if I remember, it's, it's September. September 1st is when she sees him in person. I said, "Well, why sell now? Why not wait till-" Wait. "... October 1st?"

Speaker: Javier (3):

Joe Rocko: Like, you don't... If you don't need to sell now, why, why sell now? Like- Yeah ... your house is fully paid off. You don't need the money for anything at the moment. but I was like, "There's no rush." Like, what's the worst that happens if you wait two months? You, you sell in October instead, and- Yeah you're not out all the price of your house and property and everything else.

Javier: And she wanted to sell the house when?

Joe Rocko: So in- initially we were gonna sell it like two, three weeks ago. We were gonna put it on the market. And then she was like, "Well, let's pause right now." And I was like, "I agree. Well, let's pause until like September if that's okay." She's like, "Yeah, that, that sounds pretty good."

Javier: Who suggested- So- ... to pause till September? You did or, or she did?

Joe Rocko: Yeah, I had suggested. I just said, "You know, what's the rush? Like, what, what, what's the problem with us holding off?" You know, 'cause originally the plan was she's gonna sell the house, she's gonna get an apartment, she's gonna move in with her, and then I think her words were they were gonna buy a bigger house together

Javier: I feel like I ran out of avenues with her, and I feel like w- m- once Gloria calls her, I think that might be it. We might not hear from Sherry Anne again.

Joe Rocko: You know, it's, it's possible. I, I think Sherry Anne may come around too.

Speaker: explain the scale of the nigerian scam

Javier: Here's what I kept coming back to. This was not one guy.

Speaker: I know Rhonda pictured Edward Smog as a person. A best friend who quoted Bible verses and always needed one more fee. But when I pulled the thread, it went somewhere she never expected. I looked at her hacked Facebook account. The logins weren't coming from Arkansas. They were coming from Lagos, Nigeria. Over and over, for months. Then I took that Wells Fargo account number, the one she wired her money to, and I ran it. It wasn't just hers. That same account, same bank, same Beaverton address, showed up in scam report after scam report, tied to a whole cluster of look-alike accounts moving other people's money the exact same way. Different victims. Different states. Same machine. I'll put the trail in the show notes, because it gets deep. And this script, the grant, the oil rig, the kidnapping, the sold house, it isn't new. There's a Nigerian man named Ronayerin Ogolor who ran almost this exact playbook. Oil rig boyfriends. Boxes of cash stuck in customs. Women who refinanced and sold their homes to keep paying. Federal agents arrested him at an airport with a ticket out. He pleaded guilty. Americans lost over a billion dollars to romance scams in a single year. A billion. Rhonda isn't a cautionary tale. She's a line item in an industry. And the guy who ran it probably clocked out at five.

Javier: I want to play you something. This is from FOX59, out of Indianapolis. A woman named Sharon. Listen to how familiar it sounds. Sharon loves to read books. A widow for 27 years, reading fills the emptiness. But in 2020, during those bleak months of the pandemic, on her Facebook page she said a handsome stranger asked to be her friend. She accepted.

Victim: His name is David J. Armstrong. His wife was in a car accident. I mean, he had it down verbatim, you know, the whole story.

Javier: Armstrong built up trust with Sharon, told her he was working on an oil rig off the coast of England and was attracted to her. He would email me or text me a nice long love letter every night, say, "Are you in bed, darling? I hope you're comfortable. I hope you sleep well." Sent me a rose once. You know, I mean, I'm just going deeper and deeper and deeper into this. Um-

Speaker: He's, he's pouring it on.

Victim: Oh, my God. Slathering it on.

Speaker: And he got you.

Victim: And he got me.

Speaker: He sure did. What's the total amount of money you sent?

Victim: Close to 150

Speaker: 150,000.

Javier: As she went through her records, Sharon said the first time she asked for a big cashier's check, her primary bank refused.

Victim: They started to do it and then sh- the teller said, "I need to, uh, make a call." And I guess she called the main bank, and they said, "It's a scam. We're not gonna do it."

Speaker: So then you went to another bank.

Victim: I went to another bank, and they did it freely. They did it twice for me, no problem whatsoever. I don't know why I didn't believe anybody. I was so cocksure I was gonna get it all back, you know? I mean, he loved me, for crying out loud. Mm. Go figure. My friends told me, my kids told me.

Speaker: What did your heart tell you?

Victim: My heart told me he really did love me, 'cause I kept saying, "How do you know you love me? You haven't even met me." "I can tell by the way you talk. I can tell by your pictures." And I'm like ... I just fell for it.

Javier: And the Federal Trade Commission says the most common fake occupation given by romance scammers is that of someone in the military or an offshore oil rig worker.

Speaker: Christopher Maxwell

Javier: Remember how Rhonda said Edward Smog didn't sound foreign at all? That he could've sold used cars? Hold onto that. Because I want you to hear from a scammer himself. His name is Christopher Maxwell. He's out of the life now, and he's talking. Here's how he handled the phone calls.

Christopher Maxwell Scammer: I was born and raised in Nigeria. I usually pick my victims from the ages of 38, um, to maybe 62, 65. Um, single women. I look for women that are single, that have kids, um, and they need someone to take care of them, to love them. And when the women wanted to actually chat on the phone with their new boyfriend, Chris said he perfected an American accent.

Speaker: terri

Javier: Terri met a man online named William. Said he was a welder for ExxonMobil. Found her on a dating app called Zoosk, swept her off her feet, talked about a future together. And then, right on schedule, he needed money to get off the platform.

Terri: They would not allow him to leave- The platform to go to the mainland, because they were assuming he was gonna run off with their money. Well, then he said he found a captain that was willing to come and get him in the night and take him to the mainland, but that captain wanted $4,000. So I went, I got $4,000, I went to that person's bank. I went to Wells Fargo here in my town and deposited it in that person's bank account.

Javier: So what do you do with all this.

Speaker: If you're listening and you love somebody who's online with a person they have never met, I'll make it simple. Nobody real needs you to pay a fee to receive a grant. The government does not FedEx you a box of cash. And anybody who wants to be paid in gift cards, or a wire to a stranger's account, or Bitcoin, is telling you exactly who they are. Believe them the first time. If you're not sure, do two things. Ask for a live video call, right now, not later. And take one screenshot of their photo and run it through a reverse image search. The excuses you get back will tell you everything. And the big one. Before any money moves, tell one person who loves you. Out loud. That's it. That one conversation is the thing these guys are terrified of. It's why they isolate you. It's why they take over your email and your phone. The scam only survives in the quiet. As for Rhonda. She's supposed to meet James in September. She hasn't sold the house yet. And the last thing she said to me was okay. Just okay. I don't know if that's enough. But she's still got a little caution left in her. A little reserve, she called it. I'm hoping that's the part that saves her. I'm Javier. Thanks for listening to PRETEND.