Don't Scam People!

An elderly woman was scammed by someone impersonating an astronaut.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Bread Show.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Let's get you hotep A trip for Tunisye Jennifer Lopez
her brand new Las Vegas residency. Jennifer Lopez off All
Night Live in Las Vegas March thirteenth, twenty twenty six,
at the Coliseum at Caesar's.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Palace, Text Vegas.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
He's seven three three seven right now for a chance
to win two tickets to the March thirteenth show, a
two night hotels day March twelfth through the fourteenth at
the Flamingo Hotel Casino, Las Vegas and ron Trefair Fair.
A confirmation text will be sent. Dennered message and data
rates may apply. All thanks to live Dation. Tickets are
on sale now at ticketmaster dot com for all shows
running December thirtieth through January third, and March sixth through

(00:38):
the twenty eighth. And I want to talk about scamming quickly,
because you know, I'm always I'm aways looking out for
the people who listen to us. I'm constantly looking at
all the different things that are happening to make sure
that none of them. I don't want any of our
listeners to be affected by scams that are out there,
camin I know you've been scammed before, Yeah, by a psidekick.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah you didn't have to say that part, but yeah,
because you.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
Told the story before, so I do Aftertoba, I know
I had to. I had it's been I had to
expose it, Caitlin, Okay, it's been a secret on the
show forever, and I had to let.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Everybody know you were scamp by psychic. Okay, it's finally out.
It's true. It's true.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Quick recap for the new people, people who haven't been
listening or who've been slacking or whatever, because you told
the story a couple of years ago.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
But what happened with the psychic this?

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, I don't remember why I started engaging, but she
wanted like a picture of my palm, and I kept
asking Jason and Paulina like, okay, there's no information she
could steal from me, and they're like no, So I
sent her that and then we were going back and forth,
and then she wanted, you know, money for this and
money for it, and I was like, I think I
initially sent her a little bit, but then she told
me that I was cursed by witches when I was

(01:41):
born and that's why bad stuff happens to me sometime
and then I had to pay more to yeah, and
I was like, accrap. But then I was in too
deep and I had a blacker and she was finding
the other places.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
But I did pay her a little bit and send
her my palm. So how much did you give her?

Speaker 2 (01:57):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (01:58):
I don't remember, but Tom, I mean even a dollar
is too much to a scamming psychic. But I really
like was like oh no. And then I came in here.
I was like, you, guys, I was cursed by which
is man born?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
And you guys, yeah, yeah, okay, well you must it
must have worked because around that time, you know, you
got yourself a boyfriend who's nice to you and worships you,
and then you I don't know, career aspirations have been
a compliment Greece. There's a bit of a turney. It
was a bit of a turning point. So I don't
Maybe you weren't scammed after all. Maybe this person was

(02:28):
absolute legitimate and them trying to find you with them
being like no, no, no, there's more work to do
for another twenty five dollars.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Well, I don't know, because I didn't pair the final
fee for a little bit.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Curs is not lifted well in investing yourself. That's crazy.
I know what was her name, Miss Cleo. I don't
know miss her.

Speaker 3 (02:48):
You told me you missed the scamming comfort you know
seljag that was the time.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yeah, if you're not familiar with that era either, that
was after the eighties. That was called the nineties and
the Yeah, if you don't know what that was about,
then if you didn't come home from scoring, this was
late at night. It would have been late at night
like there are MTV shows and that and Jemstu text
the frog for the crazy frog ring tone. If you

(03:17):
don't know what that is either, then I'm god, I'm
just old. But we talked about scams because there's a
new case of scamming. I guess there was an AI
generated bread Pitt scam. Not familiar with that. But this
is just crazy. It's just tragic really in this case,
and I will say before I tell jokes, it was
an old woman who was scammed. Okay, So I don't

(03:40):
like that. This is not This wasn't Caitlin who had
all her all of her faculties.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Uh, this was an old woman. So I don't like.
Don't scam old women I mean, don't scam old people.
Don't scam people.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
But so I say that, and now I'm gonna tell jokes,
you know, schitz and lies, but that the old people know.
But even an old person, my grandfather, even and it
is a ninety two before he died, would have called
me and said, really, but this elderly Japanese woman was
tricked out of thousands of dollars by a scammer claiming

(04:11):
to be an astronaut stranded in space. The romance scam
began in July when the two connected on social media.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Well there's the other thing.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
My grandfather wouldn't have been on social media either, but
I guess he was on the Facebook, and so my
dad might fall for something like this. He's a very
smart man, but he doesn't really know who he's talking
to and where he's posting, and what's public and.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
What's not on the social media's.

Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, the frost had told the woman in her eighties
that he was aboard of spaceship and facing an emergency.
Trusting his story, the woman, who police say developed feelings
for the man as their conversations continued, electronically sent him
more money because he needed it to buy oxygen. Oh
you want to laugh, you want to laugh, Klin, No,

(04:54):
I did not do not hold it in the worst
that it could possibly happen on this show. The very
worst that couldossibly happened is when I say something that
is fun well, especially when I say something that's funny,
but when something funny happens and you all want to laugh,
but you're worried about your images and so.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
You so you laughed quietly.

Speaker 2 (05:10):
But I can see on your face that you are laughing,
and you're as equally as bad of a person as
I am, but you don't want other people to see it.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Fred, I've talked about pooping my pants if I was
worried about my image.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
That's an excellent point on this tree, that's an excellent point.
But trusting his story, the woman sent him sixty seven
hundred dollars because he needed it to buy oxygen. Oh
that's expensive space, I mean in space, like he had
to buy it from somebody who's the Russians. I think

(05:41):
they wouldn't give it to I mean, I had a
nigga and yeah, he had access to the Internet and Venmo,
but he for some reason didn't have access to oxygen down.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
Yeah, like a real one.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
Exactly romanceer love scams or not unique to any one region.
The US Federal Trade Commission reports that America lost more
than a billion dollars to similar schemes in twenty twenty three,
was roughly half of the dating site users encountering attempted scams.
Officials warn that such scams often target seniors, who are
vulnerable to arrange of fraudulent schemes. The victim in this

(06:14):
case can at least take solace in knowing she's not
the only one. Apparently, somebody else was scammed up to
thirty thousand dollars by a man claiming to be a
stranded astronaut at the International Space Station who needed money
to buy a ticket back to Earth. Oh ticket, now
hold on great encounter now that one. Let's remember our friends,

(06:35):
Butcher Sunny. They could have used some money for They
could have used it. No one gave him any money
for a ticket back, and they were stranded there for
fourteen months or.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Whatever it was. We should have thought of that.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
He reportedly promised to marry the woman once she paid
for a rocket to get him back to firm ground.

Speaker 1 (06:51):
What's the going rate? For a ticket out of a rocket.
It's about thirty thousand dollars. Is that like an uber
Granny was down? Man, Yeah, it's about thirty thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
So so look, you know, don't scam old people. That's
that's our PSA of the day. And don't if anyone
tells you they need money to get back from space
or an oxygen oxygen, access to oxygen or something.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
Remember the guy MJ used to be on this show.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
He once told a woman he was trying to break
up with that he needed to he was leaving for
NASA basic training.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
That's what. Yeah, yeah he was.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
I guess he didn't want to break up with her,
or he was breaking up with her, but he wanted
to come up with, you know, some reasonable explanation as
to why he didn't want to hurt her feelings. So
he told him that he was going to NASA Basic Trade,
which I have to say is brilliant and if it works,
that really tells you something about the person who you're
breaking up with.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
They're that gullible. NASA.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
Now that actually might be a thing now because we
got the Space Force, so it might work now. But
back in the day, I hate to break into you,