@@wsidechrishighly doubtful. . . . IF that was the case, they will be arrested for FRAUD, and it's highly unlikely they are the scammers, so stop assuming shit.
They are naive, innocent, hardworking people who aren't used to dealing with the dregs of society. Sadly, they didn't double check the bogus email addy (.corn). The escrow company is also at fault for not encrypting confidential information before sending it out over the Internet. It's shocking! Everyone so naive, yet they're dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Mad respect for saying yes bro. sometimes opportunities present themself and you Gotta take them. i am kind of a *Strongwidget* fan, but this recovery was a great message. you both already won For participating!
I'm a Realtor. Between us, mortgage lenders and closing attorneys, we continually stress to clients that the attorneys will NEVER email wire instructions. Instead, a hard copy of the wire instructions will be mailed and are to be confirmed via telephone call to the attorney's office. To anyone reading this: Always, always, ALWAYS call the attorney or title company to confirm wiring instructions BEFORE sending a wire.
Why on earth would anyone send a wire unless it's going to a foreign country!!! only wire I ever sent in my life was for a puppy purchased in Bosnia from a long time show kennel and she was shipped door to door to me in Iowa, I used CHarles Schwab to send the wire
@@HobbyOrganistGuess you havent purchased a home with a loan in the past 15 years I've done 4 property closing as a buyer and they have always asked to wire the funds
@@pumpkin_it_slawson3588 Closing attorney and/or title company provides the wire instructions with bank name, account number, wire routing number, amount, and your title file number.... you go to your bank, request to send a wire transfer and process it. The minute you enter the routing number, it immidiatly pops up the Bank Name, which should match the one provided in the wire instructions. There is generally a processing fee on your end and for the most part I noticed is $25-$45 per transaction.... Not all states require a buyer to hire a closing attorney, but it definetly does not hurt either
This is exactly why I was skeptical of wire transfer. I had over 40K to give at closing and was upset they wouldn't take the cashiers check. Had to do the wire. I was nervous as can be sending that amount of money over. I went to the bank and did 5 dollar wire first to be sure the closing company got that first before I sent the remaining money. Made the bank check those numbers several times too. Wire transfers stress me out. You would have had to admit me to hospital if I lost 800k.
We did it the old fashioned way as well. Certified cashiers check straight from our local bank. I don't trust wires but I do empathize with this couple how devastating
@@frankyu6984I thought the same. They are probably the real scammers. They probably worked in concert with the scammers, trying to scam folks on gofund me
@omarr2808 Keep in mind that it is a misconception to believe only stupid people get scammed. Scammers use social engineering techniques to manipulate their victims. Victims of scamming that refuse to report it due to embarrassment means this happens more often than what we see on the news. Also, the fact that this couple has allowed the news to report this means less people will fall victim to this scam because it helps the rest of us be aware of it. With all of that said - is this still a laughing matter to you?
many certified checks are fake. the title company i just dealt with in midland michigan will not take any check. so i knew who i was dealing with ( i talked to them in person at the business) then had my bank wire them the money.
@@pumpkin_it_slawson3588 Last year when I purchased a plot of land next to my home, I was told that if the amount is over $10,000, a wire transfer was required.
Some guy approached me offering American money for my Canadian money. I was thrilled because American money is worth more, so I accepted. Then I remembered getting scammed on RuneScape and demanded he give my money back. Luckily I was bigger than him so he gave it back. I gave his fake American money back because I'm a nice Canadian. Thank you, RuneScape.
@@mischaraine1645 they setup the gofundme after they were scammed out of 800k. That’s a lot of money and don’t think there is a way to get that back in an instant.
@@mkhanman12345 They mean that if they were wealthy enough to accumulate $800k before the age of 30, they're wealthy enough to not beg people to replace it. $800k is double the median household price, and that was just their down payment. That being said, I presume that amount was gifted to them by family.
@@TangoIndiaMikeJuliet If I'm to live in the house for the rest of my life, hell ya that's MORE than a wise "investment"! You just don't know how to do maths! No matter what, you'll still have to pay the FULL AMOUNT, PLUS INTEREST! You're not going to OWN the house even if you pay 95% of the Principal, and the moment you stop paying, you'll lose EVERYTHING! So, why pay a big down payment, and try to finish paying asap to pay LEAST AMOUNT OF INTEREST and MAXIMIZE YOUR PROFIT? I guess you can attempt to "educate" aka "brainwash" the idiots, not me! 😅
How much was the house $1.6 million? You could buy 5 2000 sq ft houses brand new, near where I live for that. You can buy a 4800 sq ft house a county away for $979k, I just checked. Regardless tragic story for the couple. Definitely a high cost of living area IF the down payment alone is $800k.
The work he does is important and the world needs more people like you. I just love podcasts so you post. I love hearing that these scammers are trying to keep a good job, when instead it takes courageous well-meaning people to do it. There should be entire government buildings full of 𝗛𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 on the internet doing things like this to protect and serve their own duped civilians. That would be tax money well spents
You can Clearly tell that Strong widget is tired of playing nice guy. You can see the Anger and frustration towards these scumbags in his eyes. *STRONG WIDGET* I support you 100%. You are doing AWESOME work. Never give up. This is the kind of recovery agent that should get a tv show. National Platform to show the scammers their days are numbered. Thank you for what you do…
$800k wired? This story don't make sense and it's weird that this couple is able to do an interview on TV with composure. This couple is chill like they lost their grocery money for the week.😂
Idk they don’t seem chill to me. They seem restless. Almost detached from reality. It could be a coping mechanism to deal with the situation. I think that’s how I’d most likely react if I was in this situation. I’d pretend like everything is fine.
Bottom line is they have a kid to raise and HAVE TO keep the bare minimum of composure. As she pointed out, they can't sleep and are having nightmares and panic attacks. Don't mistake a few minutes on air as the complete picture.
The fact the *Strongwidget* was facing adventures to help the people was so kind. Mad respect to you man. Appreciate all you do to help others. You are setting a great example for the community Strongwidget.
This was legitimately so wholesome. You can tell at the ending of getting Your money back that it wasn't scripted at all when *Strongwidget* proposed.... This warmed my heart today! Congratulations Guys! So happy for y'all!…..
60% of down payment for a home instead of the required 20% to avoid paying PMI and they wired the money instead of using a cashiers check?Why didn’t the title company open an escrow account for the real estate transaction and impound the down payment initially? This is strange!
@@fremontpathfinder8463 we had to wire a similar amount. I made the title rep come to my bank and meet me in person. We were worried because we received fraudulent emails telling us to wire as well. I didn't recognize the email addresses. I live right next to Solana Beach too.
mad respect for him.. i can't even imagine the physical and emotional toll this challenge would put on a person. no doubt this is the best pro on youtube!!! Been watching *Strong widget* for about 2 years now and to see his growth is still good to accept, hes so humble and normal it’s almost like hes been on RU-vid his whole life..,..
30 days. We've overcome a lot of ups and downs, joy and tears, THE GREAT RECOVERYs, amazing game plans, slapping scammers, a total of $14 million recovered, and here we are - the end of the journey. It was fun while it lasted, but every series has an ending. Hope *STRONG WIDGET* reach 10 mil subs soon for your hard work!..
@@reprovedcandy nah PLENTY of acceptably priced homes... these two GOOFIES are GREEDY and have no financial literacy... now we have a bunch of bigger goofies donating to their gofundme...
Yesterday another customer from a well known key person in San Francosco summoned me for an insurance document loss claim related to wiring money to a scammer. It wasn’t that much he said but the scammer changed 1 number in the email they sent.
Some thieves use witchcraft n demons to rob you, it happened to me once the demons tried possessing me to give them one of my debit cards info, but I was able to fight them off, they got mad they couldn't possess me to give the info to the thieves in texts they sent me
When this happened to me in Canada I successfully sued the company I was doing business with, as they claimed their email account was hacked. In Canada a business is responsible for having proper firewall protections in place, the, we were hacked, defence doesn't work. The company ended up refunding all the money they was wired, I picked it up via cheque as I could no longer trust electronic payments, for obvious reasons.
Yeah, I was thinking that too. Seems like the lawyer is 100% at fault for this. Why should the couple expect that an email that came from the escrow lawyer was suspect?
Yes!!! Shouldn’t they be responsible? They are the ones who sent out the email that was hacked if they sent the email on a protected firewall this would’ve never happened so you’re absolutely right!
@@SL-pg4dh it was probably partly an inheritance. She's a UCSD nurse and he's a chef. I'm sure it was life-changing money for them that they thought would be put safely in a home for their family.
Young American married couples are dumber than you think. Just because they're both gainfully employed with good income doesn't mean they're gonna be the brightest when it comes to having street smarts. I've lived with scammers that do it for a living.
This almost happened to one of my coworkers in CA when she was buying a house and she noticed one digit of the wire transfer account was different, she said she went over and over he numbers just to make sure, then called the Co to verify the information, and sure enough one digit was off, this would’ve sent her down payment money to scammers.
This was an side job. I’ve heard of this happening before. It’s very odd that a buyer just happens to get an email with wire instructions out of blue right after you close on a house. Crazy.
Yes, I believe most bank scams are bank insider jobs, and this one as well is likely an inside job, they need to compare notes with other customers from this SAME REAL ESTATE COMPANY!
@@UncleDavesKitchen that's another flag. like womenmyownage who only talk about their little dog. the husband is an afterthought. I see a divorce. Hitting the 'send" button is completely on her as far as I understand he wasn't standing behind her while she did it.
Go Fund Me used to be for things like paying for funeral expenses of murder victims and helping families who lost everything in wildfires get back on their feet. Not helping affluent couples buy beach neighnorhood homes.
They're way at the back of the line for people who need a donation. In comparison they're more fortunate to be able to have lost $800k. Looks like they only raised $21,000.
🤣I don't know what's going on here with this couple, I feel for anyone who lost a big chunk o' change like that, but using their logic, every American living paycheck to paycheck should have a gofundme! I wonder if they realize that.
800k is only a deposit? That's 4x my mortgage. Anyway, any big financial move should be conducted through mail and in person. And initiate all calls. Use local agents you can see in person & has an office.
Yeah, the reporter said the $775,000 was 60% of the total purchase price. That would put the cost of the home in the $1,291,000 range. For Carlsbad, CA (North County San Diego) that's about average. There are 1,800 sqft condos near the beach in Carlsbad for more than that.
ex-Realtor here from MN, I always advised my clients to bring a cashiers check to closing, not possible in all circumstances/states but it kept my clients safe
Never ever use a computer to send money for anything. If your gonna buy a house, always do it in person inside a bank where you can put a down payment using a check the old fashioned way. And never carry no more then $40 cash on you and a credit card. And anytime no matter who it is weather it’s family/friends or even co-workers never ever loan them money because they will never pay you back. Tell them if they want to borrow money to borrow it from the bank. That’s what banks are there for to help people with there financial life. I’m saying this from experience. Always let everyone believe that you are poor. Then everyone will leave you alone.
@@Sunshine-lo6vdWith a ~pre-filled~ out cashier’s check rather than actual cash, that money is safe regardless if the paperwork gets stolen or not I know, as i’ve done such type transaction before
Husband looks like a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any moment. I would hate to be the guy who looks at him the wrong way, or the driver that cuts him off in traffic, etc...
Yea, maybe so but Oklahoma has nothing on Carlsbad, California. Despite all the negative news you hear about California, if you have the means, Southern Cal is unbeatable.....Again, that's if you have the means and time to enjoy what the State has to offer.
With the Waite California is going to be no way I would move there. Unfortunately it has nice weather but that’s about it. There’s a lot of places you can move with nice weather that don’t have the craziness that’s going on in California.
@@PC_TV_73 California definitely has some crazy cities but they are not all full of nutzos. Case in point, where this guy is buying a house. Carlsbad is a very nice area. We have much more going on here besides the weather. For example, endless entertainment, beautiful ocean, mountains, rivers, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, endless cuisines, hot women, lots of money to be made, etc. As long as you have the means, California is still one of the most desirable places to live.
She shouldve CALLED the escrow company first to confirm the number, send a small amount like $50, confirm they got it, then send of rest of the money. So many missteps. Totally preventable. Hindsight is 20/20.
When I have to send over a 100$ in Zelle to a friend/new account, I send a 5$ first, ask them if they got it and then send the rest. You’d think those who send 800k$ will take some precaution.
Yup, I'm the same way and thought the same as you. I'm so carful with this stuff. I don't know what I would do if I had to wire 800K. I would without doubt send it in small increments and verify with the bank.
@@Fighter4Street My houses I used certified checks but that's not so popular any more. This would be scary as heck. I can see how they missed this with the scammer using the official emails. A good lesson to learn from someone else's mistake and not our own.
Exactly! Here in the UK I always send £1 first and then obtain confirmation that it was safely received and only after that send any further funds. This couple were too stupid for words to wire $800,000 dollars in one go without any form of confirmation.
I actually heard of this happening to someone we know. He lost $55,000 to scammers on the closing of his new home. This individual was driving to the title company from out of state with all his belongings in a U haul truck. Long story short, he never got his new house.
How did they get so much cash at such a young age? That is depressing as I've been working for 30 years in a 40 hour a week white collar job, no kids, and investing most of it every paycheck and I don't have anywhere near that kind of money.
Famous last words before YOU do something stupid. See it a million times. You're busy judging someone else, then bam! You screw up in some way. And then your screw up, from that day on, makes you a little more sympathetic toward others.
How is it foolish when a hacker literally intercepted an email and stealthily posed as their Escrow agent? Many times this is because of poor cybersecurity systems or practices by the Escrow agent, not the clients.
I bought small house for $400k. I put 5% deposit. If I can do they can do too. I won’t donate shit to dumb people who are buying house more then million dollar with 60% down payment.
@@fredrezfield1629 It's better to buy one $400k house and have 400k to save, or spend on other things. Or better yet, pretend the money doesn't exist, invest it, and 10-20 years later you'll likely have millions. But that's something an intelligent person might do. A young working class couple has no business buying a million and a half dollar house.
Unless he was standing behind her at the terminal or laptop, this 'send" issue is completely on her. He's only kicking himself for "empowering' her to "manage" the accounts. Now, he pays. And pays.
I bought a house three months ago and was concerned about this happening. Went to my bank in person to review and practice the transfer instructions with a bank employee. Also, called the closing attorneys as I was getting ready to wire the funds to make sure I had the right info. I was paranoid. It all worked out for me, but was stressful. I hope they recover their funds and get the house.
A go fund me? Is it the I am an idiot go fund me page. I wire money all the time and I always check and double check to make sure I have the correct information. SWIFT etc..
I’ve only bought one house in my lifetime and that was in 1998. For the down payment handed a cashiers check to the sellers lawyer. For the final payment we brought a cashiers check to the closing.
Most Americans are struggling to make their own payments and bills. Can’t imagine the gofundme will gather much. Especially if the young couple want more careful.
Trust me. Those 2 were told about 3 million times NOT to wire any money and to ONLY talk via voice to their escrow officer but NOOOOOOO they always make an exception. The emails demanding payments most always reference a sense of urgency.
Just the fact that they had $800k and theyre buying a house for over a million dollars.It's hard to feel sorry for them. Sounds like they have more.... There's people RENTING in roaching infested houses. Now they're left with a beautiful apartment and 2 good paying jobs how awful...
Most escrow companies will require wire transfers. I was given a paper copy by the escrow and called them at the financial institution while executing the transfer. It’s crazy how many times the escrow told us to look out for email scams. Makes me wonder how often this happens.
@@jimmyjay689yeah sure, but wouldn’t 2 millions be a very small amount of money compared with 800k right now due to inflation? I doubt owning 2 millions in 40 years is worth the same as 800k right now…based on google only 25% of Americans have more than 100k in their bank accounts.
The amount of bravery this took was INSANE. These people all had their lives in danger, but still decided to go through with the recovery for the sake of busting bad scammers. True respect Strong widget! If the FBI was half as dedicated and ingenious (and honest) as you guys are, the USA would be a much safer country. Amazing work!..
Left San Diego 5 years ago. No where can compete weather wise. But now I can afford to live. My 3 bedroom beach house on east coast is 1200 month. Yeah we have winter and I hate it. But I also hated paying 3000 a month in San Diego for a rented apartment. 😔
I used a major national title company for my real estate purchase earlier this year and they required the down payment be paid via wire. All these comments saying "just pay with a check" are misguided because it's often not even allowed to do that.
Thanks so much for exposing scammers... They are a plague to this world and what you are doing is admirable and amazing! *ExelaSupport* I'm your big fan.
i encounter same issues with chase so I contacted chase bank over email for compensation. But I haven't received any reply. Also i want to acknowledge *ExelaSupport* about the rbi circular. Which will help in fraud compensation and how to prevent more people from falling for the scam.
Lol. Literally them: Hey America, I know y'all are struggling to pay your bills, but give us some of your money to help us recover from our own poor judgement! We really need this money for our dream $1.3M house!
