Con Artists | 60 Minutes Full Episodes

Cream Puff (1991) (11s)

• Odometer rollback, a common practice in Houston's used car market, involves illegally reducing the displayed mileage to increase a car's value.
• Former used car dealers Charles Vance and John Hazet revealed the prevalence of odometer rollback in Houston, stating that it dominates the market and inflates car prices.
• Bill Whitlow, a notorious used car wholesaler, admitted to rolling back tens of thousands of miles on cars and forging titles to match the altered odometer readings.
• Whitlow's illegal activities generated an estimated $50,000 monthly income, and he evaded income taxes for over a decade.
• Vance and Hazet investigated a van with a rolled-back odometer, showing 52,000 miles instead of the actual 131,000 miles, highlighting the extent of the fraud.
• Dealers involved in the sale of the van claimed ignorance despite evidence suggesting otherwise, and it was estimated that 40-50% of used cars on lots have had their odometers rolled back.
• Odometer fraud also involves forging titles, facilitated by the lack of a uniform title form across states.
• Vance and Hazlett faced retaliation for exposing odometer fraud, receiving threatening phone calls and having bullets fired through their office wall.
• Federal investigators indicted Bill Whitlow and four others for odometer tampering, resulting in guilty pleas from two individuals.

The Tax Refund Scam (2015) (12m55s)

• Identity theft tax fraud is a significant tax scam in the United States, involving stealing someone's identity, filing a fraudulent tax return in their name, and collecting a refund before the victim files their return.
• Florida, particularly Miami, is the epicenter of this scam, which has tripled in the last three years, affecting millions of Americans and costing taxpayers billions of dollars annually.
• Fraudsters can easily execute the scam with a laptop, a stolen Social Security number, and a date of birth, and they can file fraudulent returns from anywhere with Wi-Fi access.
• The IRS pays out approximately 40% of fraudulent tax returns, and victims face difficulties in resolving the issue, requiring extensive paperwork, multiple office visits, and months of waiting to claim their rightful refunds.
• The IRS lacks stringent documentation requirements for electronically filed tax returns and does not cross-check taxpayer returns with legitimate W2 forms, allowing fraudulent returns to be processed before legitimate ones.
• Insiders with access to personal information, such as those working in banks, hospitals, and clinics, are often involved in identity theft tax fraud schemes.
• Prepaid debit cards are commonly used by criminals to receive and spend stolen tax refunds electronically, and the IRS lacks efficient systems to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent prepaid card accounts.
• The IRS is working to modernize its systems and implement better fraud detection measures but faces challenges in keeping up with sophisticated con artists.

1-800-Con Man (1991) (27m7s)

• Danny Ferris, a convicted murderer, ran a nationwide jailhouse shopping network from his cell in Miami's Dade County Jail by using stolen credit card numbers to order merchandise from mail-order catalogs.
• Accomplices outside the jail received and sold the merchandise, sharing the profits with Ferris.
• Despite evidence of his fraud, the State's Attorney dropped the case due to insufficient evidence.
• Ferry continued his operation, using a hidden credit card number to place newspaper ads and set up a telephone answering service to collect new credit card numbers.
• The Secret Service investigated and confiscated stolen credit card numbers and catalogs from Ferry's cell, but he still managed to continue his activities.
• Jail officials hesitated to restrict Ferry's phone access due to concerns about violating his rights, even though he exploited his legal phone privileges to facilitate his fraud.
• Inmates at the Dade County Jail were still able to commit credit card fraud using the jail's phone system, having learned the scheme from Ferry.
• Danny Ferry was eventually sentenced to five years for credit card fraud and moved to a tougher prison where he can no longer commit fraud.
• Dade County Jail officials have implemented new procedures for inmate phones to prevent further fraud.

Con Man (1999) (41m17s)

• Blair Down, a Canadian con artist, ran a telemarketing scam targeting elderly Americans, promising increased chances of winning foreign lotteries by purchasing shares in ticket pools.
• Down's syndicate used psychological tactics to befriend victims and exploit their loneliness, convincing them to send money continuously without receiving any winnings or proof of lottery ticket purchases.
• Despite victims' suspicions and attempts to stop sending money, Down's syndicate used deception to keep them engaged, accumulating significant wealth, including a $17 million mansion in Barbados, while his victims suffered financial losses.
• US authorities, led by US Attorney Katrina Flamer, pursued Down due to the growing number of American victims, resulting in a plea bargain where he agreed to serve 180 days in jail and repay $12.4 million of the hundreds of millions he allegedly took from elderly Americans.
• Martin Kenny's company, Interclaim, has been engaged in a legal battle with Down in a Canadian court, seeking to recover over $100 million for his victims.
• Interclaim's aggressive approach, including freezing $100 million in assets belonging to Down and his relatives, forced him into bankruptcy, allowing his assets to be liquidated and distributed to his victims.
• Despite Interclaim's efforts, not all victims have been compensated, and the US government lacks access to Down's complete list of victims, hindering their ability to identify and compensate all affected individuals.
• James Blair Down was released from jail after serving 180 days, and the bulk of his assets remain frozen while Interclaim appeals a Canadian judge's ruling that they lack legal standing in the case.