Liza Montgomery- Lady in Las Vegas who wrote the fake checks to buy furniture, jewelry, etc.
Dan Tondevold- The guy who lived with that old lady and sent her on a trip. When she got home, she discovered her utilities shut off and her bank accounts depleted. Then he went missing.
"Con Team"- The 2 ladies who were roommates with the korean lady. They advised her to go on a R and R trip to release stress. When she got home, the ladies were gone and she discovered she was robbed.

I guess in this day and age, you can only trust yourself.

If anybody else has UM cases about scams/frauds, please post. Thank you.

Ed Barbara was a fraud case I'm pretty sure.

The Sweetheart Swindler, and that guy who pretended to be a famous racecar driver named Jonathan. Did they ever catch them?

The Sweetheart Swindler, and that guy who pretended to be a famous racecar driver named Jonathan. Did they ever catch them?
I want to say that the guy who was the fake race car driver has been captured. I remember reading that quite recently.

Here's an old thread with an article about him:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=50680&highlight=Palmer

The Sweetheart Swindler, and that guy who pretended to be a famous racecar driver named Jonathan. Did they ever catch them?

I thought the Sweetheart Swindler was another guy. I can't recall exact details, but the sirname Berekette comes to mind (it was French-Canadian I believe, and I probably just butchered it).

I do remember the John Palmer case too.

A few other "Con Juans" - J.D. Method, Louis Carlucci, Jack Lutter. Females: Jackie Edmonds.

Not related to love-based scams, but for the fraud thread - Steven Cox, Dennis Walker, Gene Flannes, Lancaster extortionists, "Dr." Jorge Cortez, Ron Rushton, Wade Mitchell Parker, Arthur Frankford, Robert Leads, William Eugene Hiliard, Woody Kelly, Josephine White.

The Sweetheart Swindler was caught because Lifetime did an update and he was sitting in a courtroom. I believe his real name turned out to be Alfred Berricat.

How about Eric Kessler. He was the man who developed a relationship with a woman that owned her own hair salon. He talked her into expanding her business and she ended up going bankrupt & having to sell her business.

The nudist camp guy was a con artist and possible child molester. Did they catch him?

How about the guy who told his wife when she asked about finances that she "didn't understand business" and then left? She had to divorce him so as not to be responsible for his massive debts. She was so upset she deemed to stop crying over him, then found she'd been crying in her sleep. If this is the guy who ran off with his 13-year-old daughter, I think they caught him in Canada.

man these ones really make me mad....especially the unsolved ones. I think there is one that involves murder. I can't remember her full name and I don't even know if I have it right, but there was one that featured socorro la pine. She was a mexican woman who would lure rich men into marriage. Then she would poison them and strip them of their entire estate. she is known as the black widow. she even faked her own death and cashed out of insurance policies on top of it all.

The nudist camp guy was a con artist and possible child molester. Did they catch him?

How about the guy who told his wife when she asked about finances that she "didn't understand business" and then left? She had to divorce him so as not to be responsible for his massive debts. She was so upset she deemed to stop crying over him, then found she'd been crying in her sleep. If this is the guy who ran off with his 13-year-old daughter, I think they caught him in Canada.

Yes thankfully they caught him years ago. Wow, I was shocked when I saw a recent picture of him and how bad he looks:

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/ActiveInmates/detail.asp?Bookmark=1&From=list&SessionID=102939432.

As far as the one who was crying in her sleep (so sad) that was Brett Pabst. It seems like I read somewhere that Mike Eschwyler was located but can't remember for sure.

These are my 10 year old daughters favorites. She loves the two "pigeon drop" segments - the one with the older Eastern European woman being swindled by the man and the woman who apparently found a bag of money, and the one with the lady conned by the "winning" lotto ticket.

When I asked her why she liked those above the others she said it was because of how the con artist were like actors and how they "played tricks" on people. She then said something that surprised me...she said that the thought they (the con artists) were just as bad as the murderers and kidnappers because they "take all old people's money".

LOL

I think the sad-looking old woman really got to her when she was knocking on that door, waitin for an answer that would never come.

How about that old couple in Florida where the guy had to come out of retirement and take a job due to a bad investment engineered by some con?

Seems the guy in Corky's avatar is Rusty the nudist camp swindler. So I take it by the updated photo that they caught him? He was way baaaaaaaad, picking the pockets of people who didn't even have pockets! :grineyes:

I think the one that bothered me most was the Adelina Gonzalez case. She was a housekeeper for Judge Leland Geiler, he was a retired blind man who was pretty well off. She would take money out of his bank accounts and go on lavish vacations and buy gifts for her friends. She was supposed to be paying his bills for him, but was keeping the checks and also selling all the Judge's beautiful furniture and paintings. Then she has the audacity to try and get his house and leave the poor guy penniless & without a home. When his former housekeeper went to check on him, the man was living in squalor, and called the police, because she realized that Addie was up to no good. It's such a shame that the Judge died and "Addie" couldn't be brought to justice and the charges were dropped.

Corky...is that the Get Along Gang in your avatar?

"Spanish Lotto" was just the subject of a comic strip story: http://www.baldocomics.com/resources/LOTTO_SCAM_page_1.php

Liza Montgomery- Lady in Las Vegas who wrote the fake checks to buy furniture, jewelry, etc.
Dan Tondevold- The guy who lived with that old lady and sent her on a trip. When she got home, she discovered her utilities shut off and her bank accounts depleted. Then he went missing.
"Con Team"- The 2 ladies who were roommates with the korean lady. They advised her to go on a R and R trip to release stress. When she got home, the ladies were gone and she discovered she was robbed.

I guess in this day and age, you can only trust yourself.

If anybody else has UM cases about scams/frauds, please post. Thank you.

Dan Marino, Al Tom Nelson, and Ricky Nelson. They scammed elderly homeowners out of thousands by pretending to do home improvement work on their homes. They all jumped bail after being caught by undercover officers in a sting operation. I don't know if they have ever been caught. Does anyone know?

Dan Marino, Al Tom Nelson, and Ricky Nelson. They scammed elderly homeowners out of thousands by pretending to do home improvement work on their homes. They all jumped bail after being caught by undercover officers in a sting operation. I don't know if they have ever been caught. Does anyone know?

I don't, but I was just thinking about them when I read a newspaper article saying the state of Oregon requires an expensive state license for any such work (handy work involving going on anyone's property) and some guy got fined $600.00 for running an ad on Craig's List offering to do odd jobs.

Ed Barbara was a fraud case I'm pretty sure.

Yep! and it only aired one time. I've been trying to get a copy o fthis segment. "Goodbye, kids!"

Dan Marino, Al Tom Nelson, and Ricky Nelson. They scammed elderly homeowners out of thousands by pretending to do home improvement work on their homes. They all jumped bail after being caught by undercover officers in a sting operation. I don't know if they have ever been caught. Does anyone know?


The fact that a con man featured on Um shares a name with my all-time favorite football player (and the greatest QB of all-time), has always irked me. lol Ironically, he was apprehended in Monroeville, PA which is just a few miles from Pittsburgh where the former Dolphins QB grew up.

Con man and fraud segments are among the most entertaining. What about JD Method... "I'll pay you right back" lol

Yep! and it only aired one time. I've been trying to get a copy o fthis segment. "Goodbye, kids!"

Yes, I saw it recently. Old Ed was quite the character. He hired a geologist to prove that his strip mining operation, Dynapack, was actually turning up real gold. The geologist's findings were to the contrary. The geologist turned up dead the day before he was going to go public with his claims. :eek:

Although the segment didn't out and out say that Barbara was responsible for this man's death, it did infer it was possible. There was also news footage of Barbara discussing the geologist's findings and he said plainly "they suck".

Barbara had cancer and died. I have found some anecdotal evidence he may have been dead when the segment aired. That could explain why it wasn't syndicated.

I think NOPEC counts as a fraud case.

Speaking of scams, someone is jacking peoples' email addresses and sending a message to everyone in their address book claiming they are stranded in England after being robbed at gunpoint and need money to get home.

Also, people calling up old people in the middle of the night claiming to be one of their grandchildren in trouble and needing money wired to Canada.

Don't forget Lena Marie Wilson, her male accomplice, and Ann Corachelli.

"Con Team"- The 2 ladies who were roommates with the korean lady. They advised her to go on a R and R trip to release stress. When she got home, the ladies were gone and she discovered she was robbed.

That segment depressed me. That poor woman (I think her name was Young Sun-Kim) was dealing with the aftermath of a very painful divorce at the time. She was stressed all the time. And then for her to be betrayed by two women she considered to be her friends - and her own words, two women she would do anything for - that had to have hurt badly.

They didn't just ransack her house and take her valuables. What was up with that animal blood splattered on the bedroom wall? Were these women known to take part in satanic rituals which involved sacrificing animals? I don't think that information was released after they were captured.

Yes, I saw it recently. Old Ed was quite the character. He hired a geologist to prove that his strip mining operation, Dynapack, was actually turning up real gold. The geologist's findings were to the contrary. The geologist turned up dead the day before he was going to go public with his claims. :eek:

Although the segment didn't out and out say that Barbara was responsible for this man's death, it did infer it was possible. There was also news footage of Barbara discussing the geologist's findings and he said plainly "they suck".

Barbara had cancer and died. I have found some anecdotal evidence he may have been dead when the segment aired. That could explain why it wasn't syndicated.


Where oh where did you see this segment? I've been wanting to see this again since I was a child (when it originally aired).

I recently watched the original "Sweetheart Swindler" segment. There was more info probably because there was no update yet. I found it pretty interesting that Robert Stack listed some of the SS's quirks:

Loves video arcades
Drinks diet coke by the dozen
Chews unlit cigars so his teeth are brown and chipped at the gumline
Tick where he twitches or nods his head involuntarily
Fond of gambling and horse racing

I recently watched the original "Sweetheart Swindler" segment. There was more info probably because there was no update yet. I found it pretty interesting that Robert Stack listed some of the SS's quirks:

Loves video arcades
Drinks diet coke by the dozen
Chews unlit cigars so his teeth are brown and chipped at the gumline
Tick where he twitches or nods his head involuntarily
Fond of gambling and horse racing

hehe I remember watching that episode with my dad way back when and he laughed at that description, wondering why women were so attracted to this guy.

I remember some strange things....

I've always loved the Bonnie Wilder case.

What was the name of the old guy who passed away while the UM segment aired? Dan Marino and his 'team' had taken over his house and left him broke?

The entity episode... Always thought those Cowboys were sCamming us.