Scammed

Martha Mendoza (0:01)

Thanks for listening to the FRONTLINE Audio Cast, the enhanced audio version of our documentaries.

We also produce a podcast, the FRONTLINE Dispatch, available wherever you get your podcasts. Right now, here is the audio cast of Scammed.

Juliet Linderman (0:45)

Thank you.

SPEAKER_3 (0:47)

In cooperation with the Associated Press, a global investigation...

Erin West (0:51)

Victims are getting hit with romance and cryptocurrency and then losing all of their money.

Juliet Linderman (0:58)

Every single person is vulnerable to scams in a different way.

Jacob Simms (1:02)

Long con crypto-based investment scams.

SPEAKER_6 (1:04)

A police imposter.

Erin West (1:06)

He promised to love me. It's gut-wrenching and it's life-changing.

SPEAKER_3 (1:10)

The perpetrators...

Erika Kinnitz (1:11)

Do you ever feel bad about what you do?

SPEAKER_3 (1:14)

Victims...

Juliet Linderman (1:15)

Doctors... Lawyers... IT professionals... People who work with computers and work with the Internet. And they were scammed.

SPEAKER_3 (1:22)

The efforts to shut it down.

Brandon Guffey (1:24)

At some point, the big tech companies have to be held responsible because they are providing the tools. They're aware of what's happening.

Jacob Simms (1:32)

We have to fight it locally and internationally.

SPEAKER_3 (1:35)

And the dangerous role of artificial intelligence.

Juliet Linderman (1:38)

The scam industry is heading like a rocket ship towards the AI universe. You can just have an army of AI avatars scamming people.

SPEAKER_9 (1:46)

Can I send you a message?

Erika Kinnitz (1:47)

If you look to the future, it's only going to get harder to be able to tell what's real, to be able to tell who's a scammer, to be able to defend yourself on your own.

SPEAKER_3 (1:55)

Now on FRONTLINE.

Martha Mendoza (1:57)

There are so many layers to this.

SPEAKER_3 (1:59)

Scammed.

Martha Mendoza (2:01)

It's a very industrialized criminal organization that is capitalizing on human trust.

SPEAKER_3 (2:10)

FRONTLINE is made possible by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Major support is provided by Ford Foundation, Justice Begins Where Inequality Ends, and the Fialco Family Foundation, with additional support from the Abrams Foundation, committed to excellence in journalism. Park Foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. John Dee and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. Huizing Simons Foundation, unlocking knowledge, opportunity, and possibilities. And by the FRONTLINE Trust, with major support from John and Joanne Hagler, and Corey David Sauer, and additional support from Coo and Patricia Ewen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. Additional support for this program was provided by the GBH News and Journalism Fund. Corporate support for FRONTLINE is provided by The Economist.

Martha Mendoza (3:10)

This program contains mature content, including discussion of suicide. Viewer discretion is advised.

Brandon Guffey (3:26)

I don't believe that everything happens for a reason.

I believe that there is good and there is evil in this world. And sometimes evil attacks you.

SPEAKER_3 (3:38)

Brandon Guffey.

Brandon Guffey (3:40)

For someone to tell me that this would be part of God's plan, I can't. I can't accept that.

Holly Hood (3:50)

Gavin was a very quirky kid and a very artistic kid. And when he walked into a room, it just lit up.

SPEAKER_3 (3:57)

Holly Hood was one of Gavin Guffey's teachers.

Holly Hood (4:00)

I mean, he just had this spirit that spread through everybody, and he included everybody.

SPEAKER_11 (4:06)

We've walked everywhere.

SPEAKER_12 (4:07)

We found lightsabers.

Ari Redbord (4:08)

He loved arts.

SPEAKER_14 (4:09)

He loved music.

SPEAKER_3 (4:11)

Gavin's friend Nathan.

Ari Redbord (4:13)

Just a guy that you want to be with, interact with.

Trenton (4:16)

He knew how to make you laugh.

SPEAKER_3 (4:18)

Another of Gavin's friends, Trenton.

Trenton (4:20)

He was like that type of person that you wanted to hang out with.

Ari Redbord (4:26)

He was just somebody that was creative, always had ideas for stuff to do. Like, we would explore abandoned buildings. Like, that was one thing that we did a lot, which was so much fun.

Trenton (4:39)

Goop.

SPEAKER_6 (4:39)

That was the nickname he gave himself.

Trenton (4:41)

That was his nickname. He was such an outgoing person.

Playful, fun, you know, type of person that, you know, it kills me inside of thinking, like, what would he be doing? What type of life would he be having?

SPEAKER_3 (5:02)

Late one night in 2022, 17-year-old Gavin Guffey was alone in his bedroom playing video games online with friends. His father, Brandon, who was running for state representative, was just getting home.

Brandon Guffey (5:16)

I came in from a political event right around midnight that night, and I could hear Gavin on his video game with friends.