AARP Hearing Center
Key takeaways
- Recognize impostor scams by spotting urgent demands, unexpected contact and secrecy requests from callers.
- Pause before sharing personal details or moving money.
- Call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) for tips and support to protect yourself and loved ones from scams.
Summary
FBI impersonation scams are stealing millions from unsuspecting Americans, often targeting older adults with convincing stories of law enforcement investigations. When former nurse Judith Boivin received a call from her local police chief claiming she was under investigation for money laundering and fraud, she was stunned. He connected her with an FBI director, whose instructions she followed — liquidating her life savings for what she believed was an undercover operation. By the time the truth emerged, the criminals had stolen nearly $600,000.
Government impostor scams like this one create a sense of urgency and use personal details to build trust, making them incredibly effective and devastating.
Recognizing the warning signs — including unexpected contact and demands for secrecy — can help prevent loss.
The AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline (877-908-3360) offers guidance and support for anyone targeted by fraud.
The key takeaways and summary were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
Full Transcript:
[00:00:02] Judith: Hello? Impostor: This is Chief Victor Brito from the Rockville Police.
Judith: Oh my. Yes? Kathy: What if your life spun out of control because you thought
[00:00:11] you were doing the right thing? Impostor: You’re being investigated for a
fraudulent money activity. Judith: Well, that’s not possible.
[00:00:17] No way. Impostor: We think this may be the work of some very dangerous
people. Judith: They already know everything about me.
[00:00:24] Kathy: You felt threatened, maybe even in danger. Judith: I wondered, will I have
to change my name?
[00:00:30] It was quite terrifying. Kathy: The scenario I just laid out is exactly what
happened to Judith Boivin.
[00:00:43] Judith’s is a tale of incredible resilience and empowerment, and she made it her
personal mission to help ensure that what happened to
[00:00:52] her doesn’t happen to anyone else. What would you do? Judith: It was the end of
September of ’23, and I was in the car with my husband, dropping
[00:01:04] him at a medical appointment, and a call came in from Rockville Police. Hello?
Impostor: Mrs. Boivin?
[00:01:11] This is Chief Victor Brito from the Rockville Police. You’re being investigated.
Judith: He told me there was a charge against me of fraud
[00:01:20] and money laundering. There had been 3 accounts that were opened in my name
in different
[00:01:28] banks under my Social Security number. I said, “Well, that’s not possible.
[00:01:34] No way.” He told me then that this was a case that was an active investigation
with the FBI
[00:01:41] and they were going to be transferring my call to the FBI agent in DC.
[00:01:50] Second impostor: Mrs. Boivin, this is Wayne A. Jacobs, director of cybersecurity
at the FBI.
[00:01:56] Judith: He launched into the story of how they had been investigating drug
cartels for
[00:02:03] fentanyl trafficking and the amount of deaths that were being caused. ,
[00:02:10] And not just any cartel, but the Sinaloa. I knew of them, having lived in Mexico.
[00:02:17] I’ve been a caregiver all my life in various forms and shapes. I was a nurse and a
social worker.
[00:02:25] My sense of compassion and desire to be helping other people is what
[00:02:32] brings me satisfaction and actually I, I felt an excitement towards knowing
[00:02:38] more and being involved actively. Then he told me all about my résumé, my time
living in Mexico,
[00:02:50] and the impression was, well, they already know everything about me. It was
quite terrifying, and because the criminals are using my Social Security
[00:03:03] number, they would like for me to be an asset for them and work with them.
[00:03:13] And I did look him up. I had dialed one of the phone numbers to see if it really
was true.
[00:03:20] I looked up his résumé and everything and I thought, Oh, OK. And then once I had
said yes, I could be part of it,
[00:03:31] he just said that — Second impostor: I’ll call every day around 9 and 5. Judith:
And he did. Secrecy was set up from the beginning.
[00:03:43] You cannot say a word about this. Not to your husband, not to your family
members, to nobody.
[00:03:51] I thought it was part of a covert operation, and I believed it.
[00:03:59] I totally believed it. It was probably the first or second day of his calling that he
explained the
[00:04:06] technique that they wanted to use for this investigation. Because it’s my Social
[00:04:13] Security number and it’s my accounts, what we had to do to prove
[00:04:21] my innocence — Second impostor: We need you to liquidate all your accounts.
Judith: The thing that did bother me at that point was that I had to get it in cash.
[00:04:34] And I said, “Well, how do you do that?” He said, “Well, you just tell them that you
need to liquidate this.”
[00:04:41] And then as the days went on, the scheme became more fleshed out.
[00:04:47]And I was told to open 4 different bank accounts, and of course it
[00:04:53] took multiple weeks to liquidate. I had two IRAs and I had a joint savings with
my husband.
[00:05:10] The instructions for sending the money was I would take the amount I had,
[00:05:15] which was usually $20,000 bundles. I was told to wrap it in a plastic bag and
then put it in a brown wrapping,
[00:05:26] and then secure that with duct tape. And then I had to write on it, my case
number and the locker number, and it
[00:05:35] would be going into a locker as evidence. The first drop that I had, he’s on the
phone and I said,
[00:05:43] “I’m at the Target parking lot.” The vehicle came up, and all I remembered was
that it was a black SUV and it
[00:05:51] was an Asian driver with a mask on. He just kind of nodded at me. He rolled
down the back window of the vehicle.
[00:06:01] And I took the bundle and just put it in his and got back in the car, and
[00:06:07] then the impostor was on the phone. Second impostor: Stay there. I’ll tell you
when you can leave.
[00:06:14]Judith: I made the drops 5 different times. All of my money was given away from
the middle of November until the
[00:06:23] middle of December. $595,000 and 98 cents.
[00:06:30] When I made the last money drop, Officer Jacobs told me — Second impostor: I’ll
be leaving
[00:06:35] town December 15th for about a month. Judith: He left, and I never heard from
him again.
[00:06:47] I was expecting to have a recovery of all the money I was putting out there. I
thought, Gee, I wondered, will I have
[00:06:57] to change my name or something? These are not things that would be in my
bandwidth of knowing all about.
[00:07:06] We did call the Rockville Police right away. A few days later, the FBI agent came
to my house and he took a bunch of
[00:07:15] information as well, and I said, “But how come you came?”
[00:07:22] He said, “Well, Wayne A. Jacobs is my boss. The real Wayne.”
[00:07:28] And then he did share with me that they had been investigating since 2019, 12
[00:07:34] other people had been scammed by the same phone number and the same story
[00:07:41] in different states. Kathy: Judith’s case is still under investigation. According to
the FBI, these criminals stole $2.9 million
[00:07:52] before eventually disappearing. What happened to Judith is known as a
government impostor scam.
[00:07:59] There are so many sophisticated scams out there, talking about each and what
the specific red flags are
[00:08:05] just isn’t enough anymore. So we decided to focus on educating people about the
universal methods criminals
[00:08:12] often use to execute fraud. An unexpected contact that yields heightened
emotion
[00:08:18] and contains urgency. With Judith, the initial call was the unexpected contact.
The intense
[00:08:25] nature of the situation put Judith into a heightened emotional state, imploring
her
[00:08:31] to help take down a known drug cartel killing American children. The sense of
urgency was to keep Judith invested by lying to her
[00:08:41] about the fake accounts being set up using her Social Security number. Once we
understand that these 3 elements together equal
[00:08:48] fraud, we can know how to respond. We are educating people to learn how to
take what we call an active pause, and
[00:08:57] that is to take an intentional moment. Step back, assess the situation, and then
take action.
[00:09:04] It’s something that pilots and emergency medical teams are taught. Something
used widely in military operations.
[00:09:12] In the case of fraud, taking an active pause can help a person move out of an
emotional response and reconnect with logic.
[00:09:20] Then they can hopefully see the scam for what it is, and walk away. My daughter
found AARP online and found the fraud group, which I,
[00:09:36] I had no idea what was available. I can’t say enough for the AARP Fraud Network
and the fraud support groups.
[00:09:45] Initially, I must have gone 5 times a week, and that collaborative experience is,
[00:09:54] is the best kind of therapy you could have. There’s other aspects that is harder to
make peace with. The self-judgment,
[00:10:04] the shame, the embarrassment. It’s removed the security that we had
[00:10:10] for our aging process. But at the same time, it’s taught me to be a
[00:10:16] better receiver of generosity of others, which takes a lot of humility.
[00:10:24] I’ve made peace with it, for the most part. Kathy: We are so grateful to Judith for
her bravery and commitment to
[00:10:39] helping others by sharing her story. If you or someone you know has been
targeted by fraud, we can help.
[00:10:46] AARP Fraud Watch Network is a free resource for all. With AARP as your
partner,
[00:10:53] you’ll learn how to proactively spot scams, get guidance from our fraud
specialists if you’ve been targeted, and feel more secure knowing that we advocate
[00:11:02] at the federal, state and local levels to protect consumers and enforce the law.
[00:11:09] $158.3 billion was stolen via fraud in 2023 alone.
[00:11:16] 61 and a half billion dollars of that was from older adults. If you are a victim,
You’re not alone.
[00:11:24] Find out more at aarp.org/FraudWatchNetwork or call
[00:11:30] the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3-3-6-0.
