Scammed

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:00:00

Scammed

Detective Marcos Saenko

When the last restaurant Daniel Giddens worked for closed, he got tired of looking for another job. He took unemployment and posted his resume on Monster.com. Before long, companies offering him bookkeeping work at home got in touch, and then some started sending checks.

Dan knew it looked a little shady, but he was curious to see what would happen, so he took one of the checks to the bank and cashed it. Then, following the directions that came with the check, he mailed 80% of the cash to Nigeria.

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Detective Marcos Saenko hears stories like this all the time. He's a police officer who specializes in financial crimes in Coventry, R.I. He includes himself when he says that we're all a little greedy - we want to believe we can get money for nothing. But he says scams are dangerous. He's seen people lose thousands of dollars. Some got so involved with the scammers, they became criminals themselves.

Marcos and Dan join Dick to talk about the seduction of scams, and how to resist them.

Get tips from the FBI on spotting and avoiding scams

No Plastic

Joanne Charron

Joanne Charron decided to give up plastic for her New Year's resolution. That's right: no plastic. She felt that the amount of plastic she was using in her daily life was out of control, and after being told that the plastic she does intends to recycle may not actually be recycled properly, she made a decision: no more! She talks to Dick about the things that she misses, and what happens when she just can't figure out a way around the no-plastic rule.

Music heard in this show: Wait (Whisper Song) [Instrumental] for the album Instrumental Icons, Vol. 3

See a recent article on New York City's decision to curb plastic bag use

- Scammed

Scammed

Scammed

No Plastic