In 2015 and with the support of Experian, Neal O’Farrell released “In The Company Of Thieves”, one of the first documentaries to go inside the world of professional identity thieves and fraudsters.
The documentary focused initially on the lives of two notorious identity thieves. The first, known as the Ma Baker of identity theft, was one of the nation’s most prolific identity thieves and yet was never arrested once in 30 years.
Her skills were in such demand that when the Hell’s Angels discovered that she was trying to leave the business they placed a contract on her life.
She was still in the witness protection program when Neal interviewed her at his home in California.
The second thief was described by law enforcement as one of America’s most dangerous identity thieves, and only arrested after a 20-year crime spree. Through his connections with law enforcement Neal was able to gain unprecedented access to this thief while still in jail, and just relocated from the notorious San Quentin prison where he had continued to operate his identity theft scams while serving a seven year sentence.
Check out some of the episodes below.
SENIOR SCAMS IN PERSPECTIVE
Financial fraud cost older adults up to $81.5 billion in 2024.
Adults age 60 and older are more likely to report losses of $100,000 or more due to financial fraud.
Between 2020 and 2024 the number of seniors reporting losses to scams increased sevenfold.
Those in their 70s reported losing a median of $20,000 to investment scams, compared to the median of $1,551 stolen from victims in their 20s.
Scams are more than just financial losses and can impact mental and physical health, reduce trust and self confidence, increase isolation and loneliness, and even shorten lives.
Traditional scams targeting retirees and other older persons are increasingly powered by artificial intelligence, raising the risk of those targeted becoming victims to financial losses and identity theft.
