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March 30, 2023 11 mins

The $200,000 Brisbane Catfish: Part 10 - The Finale

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Robin tearily Kid on Brisbane's Kiss ninety seven to three.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Our podcast numbers have gone through the roof this last
week because of this cat fishing story.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
I'd say it's so full on and there's so many
twists and turns. None of us expected the outcome.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, we are going to add after the show today
a full podcast just separately about this cat fishing story,
and we'll have some of the unedited interviews because there
was so many people that got involved, so many people
telling us their story. So that'll happen after nine o'clock
this morning. You'll be able to get that on the
iHeartRadio app. But meantime, if you haven't heard the story,
this is where we got to.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
It all started with a phone call from a worried
sister in law named Jane.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
My sister in lawnette a guy online. He is overseas.
She's just come out of a divorce, she's just had
a property settlement done, and she told him about this
and she has been scammed two hundred thousand dollars.

Speaker 1 (00:59):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
She's now in an absolutely horrific situation.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
But still believes in him. Yep, we've got a PI
that we can access maybe we could help, do you
reckon she'd be up for it.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
That would be awesome, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
So we got in contact with Annie so she could
tell her story.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Going through the draws.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
My family suggested, Hey, wanting to go online dating?

Speaker 4 (01:20):
And then I met this man.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Certain things had occurred, like he dropped his phone, cameras
didn't work so we couldn't FaceTime, and then he needed
assistance money.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
So I sent money every time he needed to have
more money.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
There was another issue, so I got a.

Speaker 5 (01:37):
Credit card to help.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
I got short term loan, borrowed money from my mum,
my text three friends from last year, my bonus, my
diraorce still went. Everything's gone.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
So we said our own PI Dave to get some
answers for her. Annie was able to provide me with
the address that this gentleman said that he owned and
had lived there for a number of years. I've attended
on that address and with the occupants and they have
never heard of this male person. I was able to
do some inquiries about this bank account, which led me
to an address in Ipswich and spoke to a female

(02:13):
that was where Annie had transferred about fifty thousand dollars,
and in fact, she was then sending this money to
a male person in South Africa. Africa. No, no, what
do you mean.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
We got done? The money's gone overseas to him.

Speaker 6 (02:33):
Have it? Well, I've got some good news to Annie.
She actually has twenty five thousand dollars left of the
money that she's called willing to return to you.

Speaker 5 (02:43):
We then caught up with Annie to see what happened
when they got in contact.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
I had twenty four thousand dollars and posted into my
bank account yesterday.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Oh that's great.

Speaker 3 (02:55):
When I saw my bank account really all no, thank
you so much. Oh my god, this will never happened
without you.

Speaker 1 (03:02):
The woman who was honest enough to return it tells
us her own terrible cat fishing story. Hello, how are
you going?

Speaker 4 (03:11):
I just feel like an idiot. I was devastated.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
He told me he loved me and he wanted to
marry me and go.

Speaker 4 (03:18):
To make me the happiest woman in the world.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
And you totally understand what Annie's talking about. That he
was really convincing.

Speaker 4 (03:25):
He is really convincing it.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
And I feel sorry for the people out there that
eat cons.

Speaker 5 (03:30):
Next, Annie, what it'd like to hear Megan's voice. After
all this time, let me just say thank you.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Honestly, you have helped me, Like, I'm totally grateful.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
I don't feel bad because I feel like I should
be painted some of that face.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
No, no, no, no, don't.

Speaker 3 (03:50):
You have stopped a lifeline of finances that is going
to annoy him, which is great and newly revitalized.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Annie then went on the offensive and decided to catfish
her own catfisher by recording They're called.

Speaker 5 (04:08):
Happened to your lives as if you're gone for like
to riches.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
Yeah, I had to go back into hospital to function
because I'm not functioning very.

Speaker 5 (04:18):
Well, and I feel the pressure that you're not going
to be coming home, and it just got to mean
I brokew. Did you get impression or we're just busy
listening to what people we are telling you that's what
made you to feel like that? That was something making
the mountain out of a mole hill. Oh okay, it's
very wrong for you to speak like that.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
It's it's it's not surprise.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
I think for my sanity and everything, we're just not
going to have to be in contact with each other anymore.

Speaker 5 (04:48):
Take care of yourself.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Let you know that it's fine, Good.

Speaker 6 (04:53):
Nights Toky, that you're in this position and in how
is this feeling feeling fun?

Speaker 5 (05:06):
The way you're going and you're operating so well on
that call, I think p I Dave might have some
casual work for you.

Speaker 1 (05:13):
You've got to be proud of yourself. You have turned
this around. You have absolutely now starting to take the
power back and the amount of people you are helping
just by proving that you can still hould your head
up even though you have been scammed and you know
you've been scammed. What a difference, mate, What a huge difference.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
Cyber dot gov dot au. By the way, if you've
got a crime like that to report this, please report.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Them, please, please please. This is the only way it's
going to stop. But we're now in a position where
as a Brisbane radio station, we have called in kind
of all the favors that we have and the people
that we know. So immediately when all this started to unfold,
I thought there is one organization that potentially could go
bigger and broader and harder, Yeah, and could even end

(06:01):
up in Africa. And we have approached that organization.

Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yes, and we're going to have a chat to them next.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
You may have heard the montage we just played the
story of Annie, the Brisbane lady who's been catfished, and actually,
while we retell the story, we should play a bit
of this current affair music just to show you how serious.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
This moment is. Dramatic.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Dramatic.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yes, so Annie, I mean, it's been a tough story.
There has definitely been some good news at the back
of it. But she lost over two hundred thousand dollars
to a guy who said he was from Sweden and
then was now living in Redcliffe, was just doing a
bit of work in South Africa, would be back soon,
and she kept sending money to try and get him home.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
He never came, and Annie is so empowered by her
own realization and taking back everything that she'd given away
to this guy. But for us, this guy remains at
large and there could be so many other women in
Brisbane or around the country or even around the world
that are being catfished by this bloke. So we want
to get him. So we figured we'd bring in, as

(07:05):
we said, the big guns, and that is of course
a current affair. And when it comes to the one guy,
yes that is happy to doors stop anyone to run
after criminals and get them. It is Chris Allen and
he joins us, Chris, Mine, guys, how are you very
very well?

Speaker 5 (07:22):
Mate? Though every time I speak to you, I want
to put my T shirt over my head and run
down the street.

Speaker 4 (07:28):
Oh I'm trying here. I have that effect.

Speaker 6 (07:32):
Yes, it's not a goal scoring celebration.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
It's because Chris, you will have seen on a current affair,
Chris is always chasing down bad guys.

Speaker 6 (07:38):
There.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
You must feel good at the end of the day
when you catch someone out, you must feel great.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
Chris.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
Oh, look, it does because most of the people we
go down the street that way I do have something
to hide or refuse me to answer questions, and usually
it's the only way you can get something out of it,
you know. It's what we do here is take it
to the people who do bad things.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
So ACA has bigger budgets, tougher people, and more resources
than we do, and we figured if there was anyone
that could catch them, maybe you guys would be interested
in picking up the story.

Speaker 4 (08:11):
Yeah, look, we'd love to. It is extraordinary and we
have done a couple similar to this in the past,
where people have been defrauded of a huge amounts of money,
and it's so sad because once it leaves the country,
it's you know, even the police can't help them get
it back. And it's just so sad for those people
that they've been misled in the worst possible way.

Speaker 5 (08:31):
Can I tell you, Chris, there's another aspect to this.
It's clear that there are many, many, many women you know,
and men being deforded this way in this town. And
even a few who've called into us, you know, and
we've a kund of the story, they're still not willing
to accept that the person they're on the line too
is not the real deal.

Speaker 4 (08:50):
Yes, I know, it's extraordinary, isn't it, Even when you
and I may listen to them and think, no, this
isn't an American marine. You're talking to someone in Higeria. Yeah,
I don't know. I think the need, you know, for
that kind of company and what these people are trying
to flog it is so great that they just get blinkers.
They don't see it.

Speaker 5 (09:11):
Well, haven't listened to this guy. And actually we have
a little bit of any who recorder an interaction with him.
See if you're hearing Swedish engineer.

Speaker 4 (09:17):
I'm going to you that I'm going to pay you
back your money. I told you that my mom.

Speaker 3 (09:21):
Did you eraise me to play around with people's feelings
or do it well?

Speaker 5 (09:25):
With your money?

Speaker 4 (09:26):
I'm going to pay you.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
Resent you assisted me with. Then you know that I
was never lied to you.

Speaker 5 (09:32):
So what is your Christian And I love that I'm
not lying to you?

Speaker 1 (09:36):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (09:38):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (09:40):
Have you ever traced someone down, say in Africa or Nigeria?
I mean you've done these stories before. Have you ever
been able to get close?

Speaker 4 (09:49):
Look, I personally haven't to be to be honest here,
but I have seen it done on occasions they have
raided because I usually operate out of call centers with
Change and it's a group effort. But the police are
getting better and better at isolating them. So I'm glad
to hear that the women you have spoken to have

(10:09):
contacted police as well, and we'd be happy to talk
to them and see what we can do, because once
they know, usually the jiggy is up, they'll stop annoying
these people. But you know that of course they've already
done a huge amount of damage. But no, we would
love to I'd love to go and kick a door
down and yeah and give it to them. But you know,

(10:30):
and I dare say, if if we could establish exactly
where they were and what they're up to, we'd be
up for that, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (10:36):
I know you would be that asking, well, we're just
about to go and break Chris. So if we'll give
you all the information to see what happens and then
let's talk to you after Easter and see if you've got.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Any further Absolutely, Robin, we'd be happy to.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
I'll be watching your socials if you if you're taking
a little holiday to Africa over easter, we know what's happening.

Speaker 4 (11:00):
And well done, guys, well done.

Speaker 1 (11:01):
It's involvement Terry and Kids on Brisbane's Chis ninety seven
three
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