EP 1 - Hardcore Con - The Shoebox

Summary

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Hardcore Con – The Shoebox (EP 1)

Host: Johnathan Walton
Date: June 16, 2026

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Overview

In this powerful first episode of "Hardcore Con," Johnathan Walton takes listeners into the harrowing true story of Charlotte Coles, a seasoned financial journalist who lost her entire life savings in a meticulously orchestrated scam. Walton expertly weaves the detailed narrative with insights into the psychological tactics con artists use, reflecting on his own experiences as a scam victim and investigator. The episode’s purpose is to expose the hidden mechanisms behind fraud, deconstruct the illusion of invulnerability, and serve as a warning and guide to the public.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Set-Up: Charlotte’s Unlikely Targeting

• Charlotte Coles’ Background (03:33)
  • Ivy League-educated, successful financial journalist.
  • Never imagined she could fall victim to a con; sees such stories as distant headlines or movie plots.
  • “You think Charlotte Kohl's must be a gullible idiot for doing that. But a similar thing happened to me.” — Johnathan Walton (03:55)
• Early Life Anecdote (05:02)
  • Flashback to Charlotte as a Columbia student, hearing about the notorious Christophe Rocincourt scam.
  • “Elaborate con stories like this are just something she sees on the news or in Hollywood movies like the Usual Suspects.” — Johnathan Walton (05:52)

2. The Scam Begins: Social Engineering in Action

• The Fake Amazon Call (08:47)
  • Scammer spoofs Amazon's caller ID, reports supposed identity theft and $8,000 in bogus purchases.
  • “Con artists don't actually outsmart you. They're not smarter than you. Con artists out feel you...” — Johnathan Walton (09:16)
• Transfer to 'FTC Agent' (13:16)
  • “Hi, Charlotte, this is Agent Calvin Mitchell with the Federal Trade Commission. I've been in touch with Amazon. I'm looking into your case right now.” — Scammer as Agent Calvin Mitchell (13:16)
  • Agent provides badge and call-back number (with a Washington, D.C. area code) to establish legitimacy.
  • Scammer confirms Charlotte’s SSN, heightening her trust through access to private info gained via data breaches.
  • “All of our social security numbers and all of our personal information is out there on the Dark Web right now.” — Johnathan Walton (13:23)

3. The Psychological Trap: Fear, Guilt, and Isolation

• Crime Stories from Afar (15:30-17:20)
  • Scammer details a supposed multi-state, multi-million dollar crime involving Charlotte’s identity, drugs, and laundering.
  • “...the minute you can't prove something is false, the way the human brain works, you are that much more likely to just accept it as true.” — Johnathan Walton (17:59)
• Blame and Self-Doubt (19:13)
  • Scammer hints that Charlotte’s use of public Wi-Fi “allowed” the theft, preying on real vulnerabilities and her sense of personal responsibility.
  • “...seizing on a sudden opportunity to make Charlotte blame herself for what's happening, piles on telling her that her recent public Wi fi use...is the reason...” — Johnathan Walton (19:18)
• Forcing Secrecy (21:29)
  • The 'CIA agent' warns Charlotte not to tell anyone about the investigation, under threat of implicating her husband.
  • “...by keeping your husband out of this, you are protecting him.” — Scammer as Agent Michael Serrano (21:29)
  • Charlotte is now fully isolated and dependent on the scammers' narrative.

4. The Extraction: $50,000 in a Shoebox

• Withdrawal & Instructions (22:57–27:04)
  • Charlotte instructed to withdraw all her savings, under guise of protecting her assets during a supposed investigation.
  • Scammer plays on Charlotte's professional knowledge about insider bank frauds to intensify her mistrust.
  • “...half of all bank fraud cases are perpetrated by someone on the inside, by someone who actually works at the bank.” — Johnathan Walton (23:06)
  • She's told to put the cash in a shoebox, label it, and hand it off to an “undercover CIA agent” in a white Mercedes SUV.
  • “That's sunk cost fallacy. Agent Serrano tells her to put the $50,000 in cash in a box...” — Johnathan Walton (27:04)
• Memorable Moment: The Handoff (29:18–30:00)
  • As Charlotte leaves with the shoebox, she passes her husband and lies to him, per scammer instructions.
  • “Charlotte is now standing outside her apartment building, looking up and down the street as rush hour traffic drives by...She opens the back passenger door, puts her colorful shoebox on the back seat and slams the door shut.” — Johnathan Walton (29:19–29:55)

5. The Fallout: Shock, Reflection, Lessons

• Realization and Aftermath (31:24–32:00)
  • Charlotte has her own “Keyser Soze moment” of realization and collapses in tears.
  • She reports the scam to police and writes a public essay, but the scammers remain uncaught.
• Systemic Failures & Lack of Law Enforcement Response (32:00–34:00)
  • Most scam victims are turned away by law enforcement; their cases aren’t prioritized.
  • “...nine out of every 10 times when you go to the police...they will not take a report. They will actually turn you away telling you it's not a crime because you...willingly gave the scammer your money...” — Johnathan Walton (32:30)
  • Walton shares his own experience and offers tips on how to get such cases investigated (reference to his book).
• The Hidden Epidemic and Shame (34:30)
  • “...upwards of 90% of them never tell anyone they were scammed. Their shame and embarrassment stifles them.” — Johnathan Walton (35:00)
  • Scammers’ sophisticated teamwork and deep research (including knowledge of Charlotte’s personal details) emphasize the scale and severity of the threat.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the psychology of scamming:
  “Con artists don't actually outsmart you. They're not smarter than you. Con artists out feel you and then they weaponize your feelings against you.”
  — Johnathan Walton (09:16)

• On the scam’s emotional manipulation:
  “Remember, con artists don't outsmart you. They out feel you. And at this very moment, Charlotte's feelings are being played like a violin concerto by a con artist virtuoso.”
  — Johnathan Walton (10:24)

• On details making scams believable:
  “Tons of minute details have a tendency to immediately convince someone that what they're hearing is true. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many details.”
  — Johnathan Walton (17:59)

• Most chilling moment – the handoff:
  “Charlotte is now standing outside her apartment building...she opens the back passenger door, puts her colorful shoebox on the back seat and slams the door shut. And that undercover CIA agent drives away with Charlotte's $50,000.”
  — Johnathan Walton (29:19–29:55)

• On the importance of speaking out:
  “Charlotte, you will never know how many people you saved from this exact scam by speaking out.”
  — Johnathan Walton (36:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Charlotte’s introduction & scam premise: [01:33–03:33]
• Flashback: Charlotte in college, first awareness of cons: [05:02–06:12]
• Amazon scam call begins: [08:47–11:46]
• 'FTC Agent' and fake legitimacy: [13:16–15:38]
• Scammer invents cross-state crime story: [15:09–17:20]
• ‘CIA Agent’ enters, secrecy escalates: [20:53–21:36]
• Charlotte withdraws her cash: [22:57–27:04]
• Shoebox handoff to scammer in white Mercedes: [29:19–30:00]
• Moment of realization and aftermath: [31:24–32:00]
• Law enforcement failures: [32:00–34:30]
• Reflections on the scam epidemic and final takeaways: [35:00–36:41]

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Flow & Tone

Johnathan Walton’s narration is dramatic, empathetic, and deeply personal—combining suspenseful storytelling with clear, hard-earned expertise. He is never condescending towards victims, instead highlighting the universality of susceptibility to scams. The episode is structured to keep listeners emotionally engaged while delivering valuable, actionable knowledge.

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Resources & Further Reading

• Charlotte’s Essay:
  The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoebox and Handed It to a Stranger — New York Magazine
• Johnathan Walton’s Book:
  Anatomy of a Con Artist: The 14 Red Flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters, and Thieves

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Final Reflection

This episode starkly illustrates how even the most well-informed, skeptical individuals can be manipulated by scammers who expertly wield fear, urgency, and shame. The experience of Charlotte Coles serves as both a cautionary tale and a call to empathy and action—reminding listeners to stay vigilant, informed, and never to suffer in silence.

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Transcript

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

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[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

It's late October now, in 2023 in New York City. It's a cool 65 degrees outside, just past 6pm and 39 year old Charlotte Coles is nervously standing in front of her Brooklyn apartment building. She looks like she's seen a ghost and she's clutching a shoebox containing $50,000 in cash. Her cash. Her entire life savings. She had just come from her bank after withdrawing it all, when all of a sudden a man in a white Mercedes SUV pull. And Charlotte places that shoebox with her life savings in it on the back seat of that Mercedes and slams the door shut and watches as it drives away. At this very moment, even though Charlotte Coles is an Ivy League educated financial journalist for the New York Times and New York Magazine, she has no idea that she has just fallen for an elaborate confidence trick orchestrated by a team of sophisticated con artists working in unison with surgical precision to scam her. How did these people, these scammers, infiltrate her life to begin with? And what could they have possibly said and done to convince Charlotte Kohl's to fork over her entire life savings behind her husband's back. Listen, I know you think there's just no way that you'd ever hand a stranger all the money in your bank account. And I know you think Charlotte Kohl's must be a gullible idiot for doing that. But a similar thing happened to me. I got conned out of close to $100,000, and I managed to turn the tables and put my con artist in jail. And I've since investigated hundreds and hundreds of con cases and scams and wrote a book, Anatomy of a Con Artist, about the psychology of how these elaborate scams work and how these MFers know the exact way to hack your brain to get you to do what they want. You think you'd never fall for a scam like this? Well, that belief actually makes you so much more likely to. In each episode of Hardcore Con, I'm not just going to tell you a crazy con story. I'm also going to pull the curtain back and expose the dark psychology and the mental tricks these scammers use to manipulate you while at the same time making you completely unaware that you're being manipulated. Because the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And that's the reason you won't know you're getting scammed until it's all over. That's what happened to me, and that's what's happening to Charlotte Coles right now. And my sole mission in life until the day I die is to make sure it never happens to you or anyone you care about.

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

Foreign.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

I'm Jonathan Walton, and this is hardcore con. Episode 1 the Shoebox. 20 years earlier in 2003, a 19 year old Charlotte Coles is sitting on the campus of Columbia University outside Lerner Hall. She's a creative writing major, and as she opens a bag of potato chips and pops a couple into her mouth, the news of the day spreading all over campus is about a con artist named Christophe Rocincourt, a Frenchman who claimed

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

to be a member of the wealthy

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Rockefeller family in order to con the rich and famous out of $1.2 million. And at this point in Charlotte's life, she's a teenager, and elaborate con stories like this are just something she sees on the news or in Hollywood movies like the Usual Suspects. You think he's Kaiser sos?

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

I don't know.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Verbal Kaiser SOS is a shield. Or like you said, a spook story. The idea that Charlotte Kohl's would one day fall hook line and sinker for an elaborate con herself and lose her ent life savings in one fell swoop, is just so far removed from her realm of thinking at this point. And that's the problem. Laura Flynn Gold Michael Aesop Smith Adam David Ryback Charlotte Carla Coles Charlotte graduates from Columbia University in 2007 with a Bachelor's degree in English Language, Literature and Letters. A year later, she lands a pivotal job as an assistant editor at the New York Sun. And over the next decade, Charlotte's career in journalism takes off and she quickly moves up, writing for Harper's Bazaar, New York Magazine and the New York Times. And by the time Charlotte is introduced to that motley crew of con artists who'd go on to scam her out of $50,000, she's freelancing for both the New York Times and New York Magazine as a financial columnist. It's Halloween now, October 31, 2023 in Brooklyn just past, and some of the neighborhood kids are getting a jump on their trick or treating. Charlotte's working from home, trying to finish her latest piece for New York magazine while her two year old son is playing in the next room. At around 12:30pm Charlotte's phone rings. She glances down at her caller ID. It's Amazon calling immediately. Charlotte thinks maybe this is about a grocery order or a package she's been waiting on. So she answers. Hello, am I speaking to Charlotte Kohl's now? If you've ever spoken to Amazon over the phone, then you know they employ call centers in India and other far flung places to handle their customer service calls. So Charlotte thinks nothing of the woman on the phone with the thick accent, and she confirms that yes, she is in fact Charlotte Kohl's and politely asks what the purpose of the phone call is. I'm calling from Amazon customer service to

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

verify some unusual activity on your account.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

This call is being recorded for quality assurance. Right off the bat, this call seems legit. After all, it's being recorded, right? And remember, it came up as Amazon on Charlotte's caller id. But it most certainly is not Amazon at all. Just a clever scammer who knows how to spoof phone numbers. Word to the wise, never Trust your caller ID. We wanted to confirm a few recent charges totaling $8,000 for a MacBook Pro and an iPad. Charlotte immediately gets scared because those are not her charges. She didn't buy a MacBook Pro and an iPad. Could someone have hacked her Amazon account? And here's where the manipulation starts. Con artists don't actually outsmart you. They're not smarter than you. Con artists out feel you and then they weaponize your feelings against you. They make you emotional, which gets you to bypass your intellect altogether. And that's how they manipulate you. Right now, Charlotte's scared. And that fear is a powerful feeling and it's only going to grow and get her to do all kinds of things she would never do in her right mind. Especially after this fake Amazon customer service rep tells her it appears you've been the victim of identity theft. Someone has used your credentials to open an Amazon business account in your name and is making purchases as we speak. Charlotte is now in full freakout mode. And then suddenly, this con artist on the phone posing as an Amazon rep does what all con artists do to firmly establish a stranglehold in their victims lives. They offer to help. And right now, Charlotte feels like she can use all the help she can get. Which is exactly how the con artist wants her to feel. The rep tells her that Amazon has been experiencing a sudden deluge of identity theft cases just like hers. And that they're working with investigators right now from the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC in Washington D.C. and that at the end of this phone call, Charlotte can either call and report this to the FTC herself, which will take God knows how long to get one of these FTC agents on the phone. Or if Charlotte prefers, the Amazon customer service rep can transfer her to an FTC investigator they're working with right now. Which sounds great to a scared and now desperate for help, Charlotte Coles. Remember, con artists don't outsmart you. They out feel you. And at this very moment, Charlotte's feelings are being played like a violin concerto by a con artist virtuoso. She didn't stand a chance.

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[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

Hi, Charlotte, this is Agent Calvin Mitchell with the Federal Trade Commission. I've been in touch with Amazon. I'm looking into your case right now.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Agent Mitchell immediately gives Charlotte his badge number and a phone number she can call him back on in case they get disconnected. And that phone number has a 202 area code, which is in fact, a Washington, D.C. number. And then he actually tells Charlotte the last four digits of her Social Security number. Just to confirm, he has to write Charlotte Coles on the phone. At this point, it's obvious to Charlotte that Agent Mitchell has all her information, Social Security number included, on his computer screen in his office down there at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C. and the idea that this is all an elaborate ruse never even occurs to Charlotte. I mean, why would it be? But here's the thing. All of our Social Security numbers and all of our personal information is out there on the Dark Web right now. And professional scammers buy and sell bundles of this information to each other in order to scam us. You might be wondering, how on earth do scammers in, say, India or Nigeria or China get their hands on your Social Security number? Well, the answer is simple. Data breaches.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

Word of a massive data breach for AT&T.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Lots and lots of data breaches.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

That Cyber attack on JPMorgan Chase.

Tonight, Flagstar is warning customers their personal information, including Social Security numbers, may have been stolen in a ransomware breach.

Crime of our times.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

So the fact that this scammer on the phone with Charlotte, who is posing as an agent for the Federal Trade Commission in D.C. has her Social Security number and all her personal information on his computer screen goes a long way in Making him seem legitimate to Charlotte. And then this Agent Mitchell tells her,

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

your personal information is linked to a case that we've been working on for a while now, and it's quite serious.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

According to Agent Mitchell, the people that stole Charlotte's identity belonged to a sophisticated crime syndicate, who in a very short amount of time, managed to open 22 bank accounts in Charlotte's name in multiple states, and then used those various bank accounts to launder more than $3 million that they quickly wired to other banks overseas. Charlotte suddenly feels all the blood drain out of her face. Agent Mitchell then texts her a picture of a woman's driver's license. A woman by the name of Stella Kwong.

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

Do you know this woman? Have you ever seen this woman before? If you know her, you better tell me the truth, because if I find out later you're lying to me, you will be in so much more trouble, I can assure you.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Agent Mitchell tells Charlotte that the driver's license for this woman, Stella Queen Kwong, was found in a rental car that had been abandoned near the Texas southern border, and that that car was rented in Charlotte's name. And police later find drugs and blood in the trunk, evidence of foul play. And when they execute a search at the rental car company, they find reams of bank statements also in Charlotte's name with her Social Security number attached. And Charlotte nearly faints when Agent Mitchell

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

reveals there actually have been arrest warrants issued in your name in Texas and in Maryland. And you're facing multiple felony charges for cybercrimes, money laundering, and drug trafficking.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Now, there are two very powerful scamming techniques that I write about in Anatomy of a Con Artist that are being used on Charlotte very successfully here, number one, stories from far away places. The overseas bank accounts, the southern border rental car. The blood, the drugs, the felonies in Texas and Maryland. Human nature is unreliable and easily influenced. That's why advertising is a billion dollar industry. We're out of Pringles.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

Just blowing the can.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

And why when someone tells you these kinds of stories from far away places, they're hard to prove false off the top of your head. And the minute you can't prove something is false, the way the human brain works, you are that much more likely to just accept it as true. The other psychological trick the scammers are employing here, using all those exquisite details in their stories from faraway places, tons of minute details have a tendency to immediately convince someone that what they're hearing is true. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many details. Add to that at this point, Charlotte is scared, terrified actually, and she believes this ftc agent in D.C. on the phone with her and is trying to help. So she is that much more primed to just accept whatever he says as true. From this point on, as Charlotte is talking to Agent Mitchell, she texts her husband, telling him that someone has stolen her identity. And suddenly, Agent Mitchell, sensing Charlotte is distracted, commands her full attention by asking,

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

have you recently used public WI fi anywhere? A coffee shop or an airport or any place like that?

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Charlotte did in fact use public WI fi recently at the airport, and she feels really stupid now for doing it as she tells Agent Mitchell. And Agent Mitchell, seizing on a sudden opportunity to make Charlotte blame herself for what's happening, piles on telling her that her recent public WI fi use at the airport is the reason this crime syndicate was able to hack into her phone and into her life and is now using her identity to commit all these crimes all over the country. Andy says they're probably monitoring her phone right now, So she shouldn't be calling or texting anyone about anything, especially about this current FTC fraud investigation into her case. Panicking now, Charlotte quickly deletes the text she just sent to her husband, even though he already saw it. And she agrees not to call or text anyone else about this open FTC investigation. Agent Mitchell then tells Charlotte, we've been

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

working with the CIA on this case for the past few months. If it's okay with you, I'd like to transfer you to the agent in charge.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

So now Charlotte is being transferred to to a third person, which just makes the scam feel even more credible. And then to really juice up the credibility here, this third person, this CIA agent, speaks with a British accent.

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

Charlotte, I'm Special Agent Michael Serrano. I'm pleased to finally be talking to you. We've been working on your case for the past six months.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Agent Serrano gives Charlotte his badge number. And later, to assuage any concerns she has, he texts her a picture of his ID and tells Charlotte from this point on, she's not to talk about this case, this open investigation, to anyone, including her husband. Charlotte balks and tells Agent Serrano that her husband can be trusted. He's a good man, honest and hard working. And Agent Serrano firmly reminds her, you

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

are being investigated for major federal crimes. By keeping your husband out of this, you are protecting him.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

So Charlotte reluctantly agrees not to tell her husband anything until the investigation is over. An Agent Serrano explains that with Charlotte's help, the CIA wants to catch the perpetrators in the Act. And to do that, they need to deactivate her Social Security number and freeze all her bank accounts, the fraudulent ones and the real ones, because in the eyes of the law, he says, there is no difference. Charlotte asks how would she be able to pay her bills if her bank account is frozen? And now we get to the meat of the con. Agent Serrano offers to help Charlotte. Are you sensing a theme here? He says he can hold off on freezing her bank accounts to give her enough time to withdraw all her money that she can then use to live on until she's issued a new Social Security number and would be able to open up a new bank account at that point, completely separate and independent from the fraudulent bank accounts that that crime syndicate opened in her name with her old Social Security number. And Agent Serrano again implores Charlotte not to breathe a word about this investigation to anyone.

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

You need to go to the bank and get that cash out now. You cannot tell them what it is for. In one of my last cases, the identity thief was someone who worked at the bank.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Shockingly, this actually rings true to Charlotte because she's been working as a financial journalist for the past 10 years in New York City. And she knows for a fact that half of of all bank fraud cases are perpetrated by someone on the inside, by someone who actually works at the bank. So Charlotte leaves her apartment and walks to her bank. She keeps CIA Agent Michael Serrano on the phone with her, and she agrees not to mention the real reason she's withdrawing $50,000 from her savings account account as she's withdrawing $50,000 FROM her savings account, which is all the money she had in there to begin with. Now, you have to understand Charlotte's mental state at this point. She's in fight or flight mode. Her stress hormones and cortisol levels are through the roof. She's desperate, and she's not in her right mind at all. She's also petrified. And the only lifeline she feels she has right now is that CIA Agent Michael Serrano. So she's doing exactly what he tells her to do. As Charlotte is walking home from the bank with $50,000 in hundreds in her purse, she's still on the phone with Agent Serrano. It's Halloween, and costume trick or treaters are scurrying everywhere, when all of a sudden, Charlotte notices a man in a hoodie and sunglasses who appears to be the block after block after block. And when she mentions this man to Agent Serrano, he says it's probably a member of that crime syndicate and that they're onto her. Now they know that she knows about them and they're following her. Well, Charlotte freaks out and starts running far ahead and ducks into a nearby parking garage and loses the guy that was following her. The truth of the matter is no one was actually following her. But in Charlotte's frazzled and fearful state of mind, everything just feels like an imminent threat. Everything feels like an emergency. And the scammer posing as a CIA agent on the phone with her just keeps stoking the flames of her fears. Charlotte gets back home and she's shaking now. Her adrenaline is pumping, but she's unsure what to do next. Agent Serrano tells her, tonight we will

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

close down your Social Security number and you will lose access to your bank accounts. Tomorrow you need to go to the Social Security office and get a new Social Security number. We'll secure this money for you in a government locker and hand deliver a treasury check for the same amount. You can cash the check and use it for your expenses until the investigation is over.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Charlotte asks why she can't just hang on to the cash she just withdrew from her bank account. It's her cash after all. Why can't she keep it? Agent Serrano explains. Explains to her that all of your

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

assets under your current identity are part of the investigation. You are being charged with money laundering. If we secure this cash and then issue you a government check under your new Social Security number, then that will be considered clean money.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

At this point, Charlotte is falling victim to a psychological phenomenon called sunk cost fallacy. It's the reason we all continue to watch a bad movie movie until the very end. And the reason gamblers will lose everything in a casino before they walk away. Charlotte has been on the phone now for five hours, and she's believed so many lies and so many dramatic stories up until this point. So one more lie, one more story was that much easier to accept. And so she did. That's sunk cost fallacy. Agent Serrano tells her to put the $50,000 in cash in a box. Charlotte digs around in her closet and finds a colorful shoebox. And she sticks the cash in it, and she labels that shoebox with her name and the CIA case number Agent Serrano had given her. Yup, there was a case number. And Charlotte is then instructed to hand the box to an undercover CIA agent who will be driving by in a white Mercedes suv. Very shortly, Agent Serrano warns Charlotte that she is in fact being watched by members of that crime syndicate who stole her identity. And this Cash handoff needs to fly under the radar as not to expose that CIA agent's cover. She's told to put the box on the back seat of that Mercedes suv, making the exchange look like she's selling something. And the buyer came to pick it up. And here's the craziest part of this whole story. As Charlotte is walking out of her apartment, colorful shoebox with $50,000 in hand, her telephone pressed to her ear, talking to Agent Serrano, Charlotte's husband is actually walking in and passes her in the hallway.

[Sponsor/Advertiser Voice]

Hi, honey. Where are you going?

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

Remember, Agent Serrano urged Charlotte not to involve her husband for his own safety. So Charlotte pretends everything's okay. She says she has to meet a guy downstairs to clear up the identity theft thing she had texted him about earlier in the day. He accepts that explanation and Charlotte blows right by him and keeps walking. Charlotte is now standing outside her apartment building, looking up and down the street as rush hour traffic drives by. Minutes later, that white Mercedes SUV pulls up. It's got tinted windows and Charlotte can't see the driver. She opens the back passenger door, puts her colorful shoebox on the back seat and slams the door shut. And that undercover CIA agent drives away with Charlotte's $50,000. Agent Serrano is still on the phone with her at this point, telling her what an amazing job she did. And he texts her a picture of what looks like a government issued check for $50,000 in her name that she'll be receiving tomorrow. It's Halloween now, so Charlotte takes her young son trick or treating and pretends everything's fine. But deep down, the thought of putting that shoebox with $50,000 in the back seat of that Mercedes is gnawing at her. And when she gets home that evening, she starts to play the conversation she had that day over and over in her head with the Amazon operator. It appears you've been the victim of identity theft with that Federal Trade Commission investigator.

[Scammer Posing as FTC Agent Calvin Mitchell]

I've been in touch with Amazon. I'm looking into your case right now.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

And with the CIA agent, you are

[Scammer Posing as CIA Agent Michael Serrano]

being investigated for major federal crimes.

[Jonathan Walton (Host/Narrator)]

It suddenly dawns on Charlotte Coles in her own Keyser Soze moment that she's been scammed. She collapses on the floor of her bedroom in tears. Charlotte reports everything to police and even writes a piece about her experience for New York magazine. But those scammers have yet to be caught. And most likely, Charlotte will never see that $50,000 ever again. There are a few things I want to point out here as a victim of A scam who got justice. And this may surprise you to learn, but authorities do not prioritize scams as a crime. They almost don't care. In fact, nine out of every 10 times when you go to the police or the sheriff's office to file a report that you were scammed, they will not take a report. They will actually turn you away telling you it's not a crime because you. You willingly gave the scammer your money and that what you need to do now is hire a lawyer and go after the scammer in civil court. But they're wrong. Police turned me away too, when I lost nearly $100,000 to a sophisticated scammer. But I figured out a trick to change their minds and push back and get a criminal investigation started. It's actually a bunch of tricks. I have of a lot whole chapter in my book teaching people how to pitch con cases to police to get them assigned to an investigator. The other thing that bugs me about the Charlotte Coles case here is if police really wanted to, they could have caught these scammers the very next day. I mean, think about it. New York City has traffic cameras on every street corner, not to mention everyone and their mother has a ring camera or something similar. Police could have easily used all those cameras and figured out where that white Mercedes SUV went the same effing day if they wanted to. And they could have gotten Charlotte's money back and arrested the scammers. But scams, in my experience, are not a priority for them at all. Period. The other thing that's abundantly clear to me in this case is there are probably thousands of Charlotte Coles who've fallen victim to this same exact scam all over the country. But after investigating con artist cases for the past nine years, I can tell you the vast majority of victims do not go to police. In fact, upwards of 90% of them never tell anyone they were scammed. Their shame and embarrassment stifles them. And I know for a fact the team of con artists who scammed Charlotte Coles probably scammed thousands of others. Look at how well rehearsed they were. Look at how elaborate and fleshed out and flawless their A story was. And their B story and their C story. These scammers, the woman playing the Amazon rep and the two. Two men playing the FTC and CIA agents respectively. And that fourth guy in the Mercedes SUV picking up the money. They're a team. They're a well oiled machine who have no doubt been working on this same scam, perfecting it for years. And to put a finer point on things, they didn't just know Charlotte Cole's Social Security number. They knew her husband's name, her son's name. They knew her two year old son was in the next room playing before Charlotte even revealed to them she had a son. They knew her family's names and addresses too. That's why Charlotte believed these people were legit CIA and FTC agents. And why she believed those criminals who stole her identity were surveilling her apartment. And that's why Charlotte thought she was in real danger. Danger. And that fear response hijacked her brain and took over. And that's why she got scammed. And if that fear response ever takes over your brain, you'll get scammed too. My deep and profound admiration and appreciation for Charlotte Coles for coming forward and putting this scam on everyone's radar. Charlotte, you will never know how many people you saved from this exact scam by speaking out. Thank you. You can find Charlotte's powerful essay in New York magazine titled the day I put $50,000 in a shoebox and Handed it to a Stranger. Hardcore Con was created, written and hosted by me, Jonathan Walton for Jonathan Walton Media Executive Producer Evan Goldstein. All sound design was done by Jimmy O'. Holigan. My book, Anatomy of a Con Artist, the 14 red flags to Spot Scammers, Grifters and Thieves, is available everywhere. Books are sold in print and in audio, so it's like a podcast. And both print and audio are also available for free at most public libraries throughout the country and on the Libby app. And if you've got a story you think deserves its own podcast, pitch it to me@Jonathan Walton.com.

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