Producers: Fraud Squad TV Inc.

Car thieves break into people’s homes to get their car keys and every year, hundreds of thousands of cars are stolen in North America. Learn how this affects car insurance rates and how to protect yourself. Also, in an ultimate breach of trust, a college professor defrauds the families of eight of his own students. After pretending to hire the students to work in his real estate company, he steals money from their family and friends.

A look at counterfeit currency — how it is produced and how the average citizen can learn to identify the real from the fake. Also, the compelling case of a woman who finds out she is being held responsible for a $300,000 mortgage on her own property. A fraudster, pretending to be the woman, had walked into a bank and with minimal identification had arranged the mortgage. Learn how the victim survived this experience in a heroic tale of hope.

Scam artists take advantage of people’s generosity to charities, victimizing not only the donors, but the integrity of the legitimate charitable organizations. Also, in one of the biggest cases in Canadian history, Michael Holoday stole more than $20 million in just a few years from some of the most savvy investors in the business world.

A travel agent is sentenced to four years in jail for defrauding over 30 customers out of more than $278,000 in bogus vacation packages. In another story, a veteran and his wife are conned by a fraudulent loan company. When the veteran is unable to get approval for a loan at his bank, the fraudster offers to do the deal instead, provided the vet pays certain fees and charges in advance.

An elderly couple is charged $900,000 for $60,000 worth of home improvements. The woman is so traumatized by the experience that she suffers a fatal heart attack. Her Alzheimer-afflicted husband ends up institutionalized. The shady contractor is finally sentenced to 114 months in jail. Also, debit card fraud can be simple or sophisticated, but the resulting damage is equally harmful. Rare police surveillance footage highlights the dangers.

Collection agencies begin calling “Ann Marie” demanding the repayment of thousands of dollars. A woman assuming Ann Marie’s identity, with only social insurance and driver’s license numbers, had opened a bank account and stolen thousands of dollars from Ann Marie’s credit cards and line-of-credit accounts. Also, an 83-year-old woman loses most of her belongings to heartless fraudsters, by financing promises of lottery winnings.

A woman takes a $4,800 cheque from a fraudster and pays him $3,500. She anticipates making a tidy profit, but the cheque bounces and she loses her $3,500. A college student trying to earn some extra cash ends up working for nothing when he is paid with a fraudulent cheque. Also, an adoption agency takes fees from several couples, without enough children for all of them, and also lies about the children’s backgrounds.

Repeat fraudster Harris Dempsey “Butch” Ballow skips bail for his first $10 million pump and dump stock fraud, and while he’s on the lam, manages to set up another $3 million scam. Also, a couple selling a car get a call from a buyer in Nigeria, who sends them a cashier’s cheque for more than the asking price, asking them to cash it and send back the remaining cash. They do so, but lose the money they advanced when the cheque is later declared a fake.

A man approaches several homeowners, telling them that he is paving driveways in their neighbourhood, and offers to do the jobs at a special rate. He takes the homeowners’ money but never completes the work. In another story, an individual loses a lot of money getting involved in a pyramid scheme promising an easy, fast return.

A homebuilder suffers eye damage after his fraudulent Oakley sunglasses shatter. He sues the retailer that sold the counterfeit merchandise and is awarded $70,000. Also, a young woman from Portland, Oregon, lives in fear after being the victim of identity theft. The investigation of her case leads to a raid of the scam artists’ home and to their arrest.