Jackie | Betrayal Weekly

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Speaker 1 Hey, Betrayal fans, I have exciting news to share. Season three of Betrayal is now a docuseries on Hulu.
It's the gripping story of Stacey Tyler and the doctor who betrayed them.

Speaker 1 See the voices you've come to know in betrayal under his eye, streaming now on Hulu.

Speaker 36 The state trooper traced two of the wallets, one to Shanghai, one to Nigeria.

Speaker 36 And she said the building was as big as a casino full of tables and computers and people scamming.

Speaker 1 I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything.

Speaker 36 I've always been an advocate for the underdog.

Speaker 36 I would give anything to help people, and I always stick up for people as well.

Speaker 1 That's Jackie Crenshaw. She's a mammographer in New Haven, Connecticut.
That means she administers breast cancer screenings and she's been doing that for over 30 years.

Speaker 1 She was the first black woman to manage the imaging center at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Speaker 36 And when I go to like conferences around the country, they might be like, all right, I've heard your name.

Speaker 1 It's more than a career for her. She's passionate about addressing racial disparities in breast cancer detection.

Speaker 36 Statistically, African-American women are diagnosed later as the breast cancer has progressed. I am the outreach coordinator.
So I teach people how to examine their breasts.

Speaker 36 Some people just do well when they see someone like themselves.

Speaker 36 I actually

Speaker 36 do, they're called beauty shop chats. So we go to beauty shops and I teach breast cancer prevention.

Speaker 1 She's the one calling her four older sisters, checking to see if they've had their annual breast exam.

Speaker 36 I have to say, I'm not bossy, but I've always taken the lead.

Speaker 36 Even as the fifth of five girls, a rainy day, back then there was no computers or any of that stuff. So I was the teacher as the youngest.

Speaker 1 Jackie never had kids of her own.

Speaker 36 But I have raised many. I probably have 50, 60 nieces and great nieces and nephews.
So a lot of checks to college, you name it, I did it.

Speaker 1 She always put her career and her friendships over romantic relationships.

Speaker 36 The last serious relationship I had was about 15 years ago. It was a 10-year relationship.

Speaker 1 She ended it because he seemed threatened by her independence. Her whole life, Jackie's been the breadwinner.
And she's had a hard time finding a partner who was comfortable with that.

Speaker 36 Most of my people around me would say, oh, people are intimidated by you because of my career and, you know, wit and everything.

Speaker 1 And Jackie was comfortable on her own.

Speaker 36 At that time, say in May of 2023, I had everything I needed. I owned my condo, had a nice car, good job.

Speaker 36 I basically was at a place where I could have gotten anything I wanted and I had everything I wanted as far as material things.

Speaker 1 Around that time, Jackie started thinking about what she wanted the last chapter of her life to look like. She'd been saving for retirement for decades.

Speaker 36 I would put extra away, just putting away a nice amount every two weeks and stacking things up. I thought I would, you know, retire.
First I thought about 62 and then I'm like, nah, 65.

Speaker 1 She wanted to travel. and take it slow in retirement.

Speaker 36 And the more she thought about it, she realized, I didn't feel like I was desperate or lonely or any of those things, but I was ready for some companionship.

Speaker 1 She'd never been on social media, much less on a dating app.

Speaker 36 And then a friend of mine suggested this website, which specialized in African-American dating.

Speaker 1 So Jackie gave herself a pep talk.

Speaker 36 I was like, okay, Jack, maybe try this site. Because again, she helped me set up my profile because I didn't know anything.

Speaker 1 She picked her photos and set her preferences for a potential match.

Speaker 1 She wanted someone self-sufficient, someone who had their own thing going, but she also wanted someone fun to experience the next stage of her life with.

Speaker 36 Someone who liked to take care of themselves. You know, they didn't have to be a muscle head or anything like that.
And someone who liked to travel.

Speaker 1 Within a a few days, she got a match that piqued her interest. She opened his message.

Speaker 36 Hi, Jacqueline. My name is Brandon, and you're beautiful, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1 When she looked at his photos, one thing immediately stood out.

Speaker 36 The eyes, these blue eyes.

Speaker 1 Brandon worked in construction and he looked like a family man.

Speaker 36 There's pictures of him with the kids, pictures of him at work.

Speaker 1 Brandon was also a little cheeky.

Speaker 1 She hovered over one photo in particular.

Speaker 36 It's like a picture, beautiful face, and you could like see his bum a little bit, just laying on the bed. I was like, oh my God, are you showing your assets?

Speaker 1 His messages kept coming.

Speaker 36 The first few times, it might have been twice a day or something like that, but it became very regular.

Speaker 1 Brandon wanted to start talking on the phone. So a few few days later, he gave her a call.

Speaker 36 He didn't have a deep, deep voice, but it was just very calm and soft-spoken.

Speaker 1 They started talking on the phone almost every night, sharing their life stories.

Speaker 36 He's like, oh, you know, I just went back to work two years after losing my wife.

Speaker 1 His wife had died in a car accident. right at the beginning of COVID, leaving him as a single parent to their two sons.
He had had kids later in life after starting a successful career.

Speaker 1 Now, Brandon was 50 and ready to date again.

Speaker 1 He trusted Jackie with really personal challenges.

Speaker 36 He told me one of his sons had like stopped talking when the wife died, but he said, oh, but we'll have enough money to, you know, get him special help and all these different things.

Speaker 1 Brandon lived in New York City, a two and a half hour drive from New Haven. And after a few weeks of talking, they set a date to meet in Connecticut.

Speaker 36 He made reservations at a really nice SIFO restaurant, which I'm like, how does he know?

Speaker 1 He'd clearly done his research and picked a place that would really impress. It would be his first date after his wife's death.
So this was a big deal. And he knew Jackie was nervous too.

Speaker 1 So he offered to get her a gift in advance, a new date night outfit. Something she would feel beautiful in.
He sent her a few hundred dollars and she got an expensive expensive dress.

Speaker 1 But as the date approached, Jackie started to get cold feet. So she asked her older sister for advice.

Speaker 36 She's like, no, don't go. You're going to get kidnapped or something.

Speaker 36 So I didn't go to the restaurant.

Speaker 1 She sent him a text to let him know. And Brandon said he understood.
They were both new to online dating. He could see why she'd be cautious.

Speaker 1 So they decided to slow things down and get to know each other more.

Speaker 1 Brandon started wooing her from afar.

Speaker 36 So he's like, oh, what's your address? I'm going to send you something. And he did.

Speaker 1 It was a bouquet of flowers and balloons. It made her smile.
And from there, he started sending little deliveries.

Speaker 36 Like if I got home late and, you know, I worked a 10 to 12 hour day or something like that. And I'm like, oh, I'm just going to eat both cereal.

Speaker 36 Then there'd be food delivered. And that was like every single weekend.

Speaker 1 He asked about her favorite restaurants. Whenever she had a long day, he started sending her food that would be waiting for her at her front door.

Speaker 36 Oh my God, he must really care about me that he's feeding me and just looking out for me.

Speaker 1 Whenever he saw an opportunity to make her feel special, he took it.

Speaker 36 Oh, there were love songs, poems. You know, very touching.
And it's like, oh, I haven't had this in a while.

Speaker 1 They looked at the calendar to see if there was another weekend they could meet in person. A redo of their first date when Jackie got spooked.
But Brandon traveled a lot for work.

Speaker 1 If he was on a work contract, he could be tied up for weeks, if not months. Plus, being a single dad made it even more difficult to find time.
But he wanted Jackie to know he was serious about her.

Speaker 36 He's like, I feel like we have a connection and we should get off the site.

Speaker 36 That's when we really started talking quite a bit,

Speaker 36 like maybe three, four times a day. It felt good.

Speaker 1 After that, they were official.

Speaker 36 He was the best, like perfect boyfriend that you could think of. He just kept saying, I'm here for you.
I'm going to take care of you.

Speaker 1 Jackie told her friends and family about Brandon.

Speaker 36 They were almost relieved. I think they were generally happy for me.
You know, oh, she's found somebody finally.

Speaker 1 He was a good match, someone who grounded her when she got overwhelmed.

Speaker 36 He'd always say to me, calm down, calm down, calm down.

Speaker 1 A few months in, they started saying those three words.

Speaker 36 He said it first,

Speaker 1 but she felt it too.

Speaker 1 Brandon opened up more about his two sons. The loss of their mother caused both the kids to shut down.
It sounded like the whole family was just coming out of a very dark period.

Speaker 36 He was like, oh, I thought about taking my own life.

Speaker 36 You know, and I'm like, you gotta leave these kids with no parents.

Speaker 1 On the phone at night, Brandon would sometimes cry. Jackie had helped her siblings raise their kids, and she knew how exhausting it could be to be a single parent.

Speaker 1 Brandon also traveled for work, which meant that the kids mostly stayed with the nanny.

Speaker 36 He's just me like, can't wait to get back with the boys after this job.

Speaker 1 Faith had been a huge part of Brandon's life and had helped him through the grieving process. So on the phone one night, Brandon asked if they could pray together.

Speaker 1 It became something they did every night.

Speaker 36 And it was like, oh, pray to the kids and this and that. And it's just, that was your turn.
That was my turn, you know, back and forth.

Speaker 1 Jackie's a spiritual person, but praying together with a partner was new to her. It took her spiritual practice to another level.

Speaker 36 I started praying, not like I ever had before.

Speaker 1 Jackie was about to turn 60, and for the first time in her life, she had a true partner, someone who would take care of her.

Speaker 36 All that I've given to my community and taking care of everyone,

Speaker 36 I said, oh, it's finally my turn for someone to take care of me.

Speaker 36 Like God has answered my prayers.

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Speaker 28 Malcolm Glabwell here.

Speaker 31 I recently recorded the first episode of Smart Talks with IBM, where I learned how AI agents are joining AI assistants as a major productivity tool. Let's start with AI agents.

Speaker 31 AI agents can reason, plan, and collaborate with other AI tools to autonomously perform tasks for a user.

Speaker 31 Brian Bissell, an expert from IBM, gave me an example of how a college freshman might use an AI agent.

Speaker 38 As a new student, you may not know, how do I do with my health and wellness issue? How many credits am I going to get for this given class?

Speaker 38 You could talk to someone and find out some of that, but maybe it's a a little bit sensitive and you don't want to do that.

Speaker 31 Bissell told me you could build an AI agent, a resource for new students that helps them navigate a new campus, register for classes, access the services they need, and even schedule appointments on their behalf, which in turn buys them more time to focus on their actual schoolwork.

Speaker 38 We can see patterns of how agents and assistants can help employees and customers and end users be more productive, automate workflows so they're not doing certain types of repetitive work over and over again, and streamlining their lives and making data more accessible to them 24 hours a day.

Speaker 31 To learn more about IBM's AI agents and how they can help your business, visit ibm.com/slash agents.

Speaker 23 This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats.

Speaker 24 Facing a beauty emergency? Need a last-minute gift?

Speaker 25 Well, don't panic. Sephora is now available for delivery on Uber Eats.

Speaker 24 You can now get all your beauty essentials delivered in as little as 25 minutes for the same price as in-store.

Speaker 27 Plus, treat yourself to $10 off when you spend $50 or more on your first Sephora order on the Uber Eats app.

Speaker 1 Order Sephora on Uber Eats today.

Speaker 27 Offer ends October 30th. One order per customer.

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Speaker 1 Jackie met her new boyfriend Brandon Miller on a dating site for black singles.

Speaker 36 Within a few months, he was saying things to her like, oh, you seem like someone someone I want to settle down with. You're the one.

Speaker 36 I want you to raise my kids. We're going to be together.
I used to call Mr. Miller.
I'd be like, hey, Mr. Miller.

Speaker 1 And he had his own pet names for her.

Speaker 36 He would always say queen. My queen.

Speaker 36 Baby, you know, Mrs. Miller.
Yeah, like perfect.

Speaker 1 It was easy to envision a future together. She wasn't intimidated by the idea of helping him raise his sons.

Speaker 36 I've been taking care of children my entire adult life. So it wasn't like, oh my God, I'd be overwhelmed by children.

Speaker 36 At my age, how are you going to meet someone who does not have children?

Speaker 1 Plus, he could afford a full-time nanny for the kids. And he continued to send Jackie gifts.

Speaker 36 He even sent me a necklace that had my picture on one side and his on the other.

Speaker 1 When she would send him pictures of her day he noticed she wasn't wearing the necklace he's like oh you're not wearing the necklace i said no i'm not gonna wear it until you get here they hadn't met in person yet but it was always just around the corner the next time he finished a work contract and had time available he promised to come visit her i'm gonna come i'm gonna see you we're gonna be together

Speaker 1 One of Brandon's side hobbies was investing. He had invested the payout from his wife's wife's life insurance, which helped him to stay afloat during COVID.

Speaker 36 He used that money to invest and get all this money to be able to invest more and just keep investing.

Speaker 36 Because that's all he had to do during COVID with the kids at home was learning all about investing.

Speaker 1 And he wanted to help Jackie learn how to do the same.

Speaker 36 He said, oh, have you heard of crypto? I said, I've heard about it, but most people, you know, don't like it. And he's like, oh, I've really got to read up on it.
And, you know, I know a lot about it.

Speaker 36 Let me know if you think you want to invest.

Speaker 1 He sent her screenshots of his returns.

Speaker 36 So then he starts to send me these statements, which she had, I think at that time, I don't know, invested 2 million and had 4 million.

Speaker 1 Jackie thought about her own accounts and what it would mean to double that number. Doubling her retirement fund would mean being able to travel more.

Speaker 1 Maybe she could buy a vacation home and bring her family there too.

Speaker 36 I'm like, I really want to retire. All right.

Speaker 36 So, okay,

Speaker 36 I'm going to do it.

Speaker 1 She decided to start small with $40,000 from her 401k.

Speaker 1 The account would be in her name and she would be the only one with access to it. But Brandon would help her set it up.
He put her in touch with a friend of his who could broker the deal.

Speaker 36 This second person, whose name is Mike, he has like an English accent.

Speaker 36 He calls me and he's going to help me set up the account, show me how to buy

Speaker 36 Bitcoin.

Speaker 1 So Jackie invested $40,000.

Speaker 1 It was pretty easy.

Speaker 36 And the next month, they sent me a statement and I was like, what is this? It's $100,000, $100 and something.

Speaker 1 This didn't make sense. No returns could be that high.

Speaker 1 This must be someone else's money. And that meant someone else had access to her account.
She called Brandon.

Speaker 36 And I said to him, you told me nobody would have access. And I even have a email that I sent.

Speaker 36 And I said, I want my money back because I was told that this was only going to be my account.

Speaker 36 He said, no, no, no, no. I wanted to put this in so you could grow your money faster.

Speaker 1 Brandon had invested some of his own funds as a gift to increase increase her returns. And he also wanted to open up a shared account, one where they could both invest in their future.

Speaker 36 So then he's like, you know, I'm going to send you $100,000

Speaker 36 and we'll invest it, you know, more.

Speaker 1 They started painting the picture of what their life together could look like, what this money could buy them. They also started planning for the moment they'd finally meet in person.

Speaker 36 So the holidays come and he's not able to come again, but it's like, look, I'm going to make this up to you. Your 60th birthday is coming.

Speaker 36 And I said, well, you know, I had a 50th birthday party on a yacht.

Speaker 1 If a yacht is what she wanted, Brandon could make it happen.

Speaker 1 He offered to pay for Jackie's 60th birthday party. He wanted it to be the celebration of a lifetime because she deserved it.

Speaker 1 This party was especially meaningful because Brandon would be there to meet all of Jackie's family and friends.

Speaker 36 And I was like, well, what's the budget? He says, blank check.

Speaker 32 Blank check.

Speaker 1 Blank check is the kind of phrase that does something to your body. She'd never been worried about money, but this was the first time in her life she'd gotten to play with money.

Speaker 36 Now I know how to plan a party.

Speaker 36 So I find this boat. I start making all these plans.
I mean, I had a photo booth, a a cigar bar, sparkles, DJ, everything you could think of, to the tune of 80 grand.

Speaker 36 Now, if I was retiring, there's no way in hell I would have paid that much for a party. My other party 10 years before, it might have been 20,000.

Speaker 36 But, you know, my birthday is in July, and I always want to give my friends and family the experience that they would never have.

Speaker 36 When it came time for Brandon to pay, he sends $16,000 back my way through why it transfer to my account. I get a cashier's check and I pay the vendors.

Speaker 1 Her confidence in him and their relationship started to deepen. Whenever he said he would do something, he was good for it.

Speaker 1 When Jackie's niece joined the party planning, Brandon was happy to connect with her.

Speaker 36 My niece and I went to see the boat and he called and he was talking to myself and my niece.

Speaker 1 Plus, Jackie was already seeing returns from her initial investment. So she decided to invest more with Brandon's broker.

Speaker 36 And I showed several people and I was like, they're like, oh, wow, you're making all this money.

Speaker 1 That's when Jackie got a letter about a shareholder opportunity. It was from one of Brandon's connections in the finance world.

Speaker 36 This letter is addressed to both of us.

Speaker 1 It was an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new crypto company.

Speaker 36 It was a million-dollar buy-in.

Speaker 1 Brandon agreed to split it with her. At this point, Jackie was all in.
She cashed out one of her retirement accounts, which was $419,000

Speaker 36 after taxes.

Speaker 1 And she made the transfer.

Speaker 36 Bought Bitcoin, transfer to the wallet.

Speaker 1 Their party was still a few months away. The relationship felt strong.
And the returns on their investment were even stronger.

Speaker 36 By now, I think he has like 10 million in his account, you know, and I think mine may have reached 2 million.

Speaker 1 Jackie was counting down the days until her party. She'd booked the vendors and sent out the invites.

Speaker 36 So all the buildup for my 60th birthday party was going to be everyone was so excited to meet Brandon.

Speaker 36 They were going to meet Brandon and the kids. And this is a person who I was going to spend my life with.

Speaker 36 And I think everyone was knowing I deserved a partner to spend the rest of my life with, knowing how I've dedicated my life to my family and all my co-workers and the hospital.

Speaker 36 I've been loyalty to a fault. So they were really, you know, looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 Brandon planned to come a few days in advance to finally meet her and help with last-minute preparations. And in the weeks leading up to it, they were constantly in touch.

Speaker 36 So

Speaker 36 we're planning a party. I'm buying dresses and sending in pictures.
Oh, that's beautiful. They're going to look beautiful.

Speaker 1 That blank check Brandon mentioned, he followed through. Jackie got a check for $100,000.

Speaker 36 So eventually the check did come and I'm like, I told my girlfriend.

Speaker 1 Jackie's friend was excited for her, but she was also a little skeptical. $100,000 was a huge amount of money to receive in the mail.

Speaker 1 And there was something else about this check that didn't seem right. Brandon's name wasn't on it.
Instead, it was a woman's name, a woman Jackie had never heard of.

Speaker 36 When she asked Brandon about it, he told me that she was one of his clients and she owed him money.

Speaker 37 I'm like, all right.

Speaker 1 But Jackie's friend wasn't convinced. She encouraged Jackie to go to the police to make sure the check was safe to cash.

Speaker 36 I go to the police and I I say, I've got this check. I don't know if it's fraud or it's fake or whatever, but they just blew me off, took down my statement and just said, oh,

Speaker 36 see if it clears.

Speaker 14 The check cleared.

Speaker 1 If the cops weren't worried about it, Jackie wasn't either. Brandon had one more surprise.
The day after the party, he wanted to take her on a trip.

Speaker 36 We were going to Santorini.

Speaker 1 That trip would be the beginning of their life together, finally in the same place.

Speaker 36 So he wanted to move to Connecticut. I was like, you know, the weather's like here.
And he's like, yep, he, you know, had been in New York and Virginia.

Speaker 36 And that's when he started sending me along with these statements, he's sending me real estate listings of million-dollar homes. in affluent parts of Connecticut.

Speaker 1 They were strategizing about which town and neighborhood would be best for his kids.

Speaker 36 And he's like, oh, what are the schools like around there? And I'm telling him about the country day schools and where they are.

Speaker 1 The date of the party was growing closer. Brandon was finishing up a work contract across the country.

Speaker 36 And he's still, he's coming, he's coming, he's coming, he's wrapping up the job in California.

Speaker 1 About a week before the party.

Speaker 36 I get a call on my cell phone and I says, East Haven Police, I'm like, oh, what the hell do they want?

Speaker 1 She picked up.

Speaker 36 And it's a detective Tran. He says, this Jacqueline Crencho.
I say, yes.

Speaker 36 He said, Jacqueline, we got a call, an anonymous call, from a gentleman with a thick Indian accent stating you were being scammed and they felt sorry for you.

Speaker 2 Life's messy. We're talking spills, stains, pets, and kids.

Speaker 3 But with Anibay, you never have to stress about messes again.

Speaker 7 At washable sofas.com, discover Anibay Sofas, the only fully machine-washable sofas inside and out, starting at just $699.

Speaker 10 Made with liquid and stain-resistant fabrics.

Speaker 11 That means fewer stains and more peace of mind.

Speaker 14 Designed for real life, our sofas feature changeable fabric covers, allowing you to refresh your style anytime.

Speaker 4 Need flexibility?

Speaker 16 Our modular design lets you rearrange your sofa effortlessly.

Speaker 18 Perfect for cozy apartments or spacious homes.

Speaker 19 Plus, they're earth-friendly and built to last.

Speaker 20 That's why over 200,000 happy customers have made the switch.

Speaker 8 Upgrade your space today. Visit washable sofas.com now and bring home a sofa made for life.

Speaker 4 That's washable sofas.com.

Speaker 22 Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

Speaker 28 Malcolm Glabwell here.

Speaker 31 I recently recorded the first episode of Smart Talks with IBM, where I learned how AI agents are joining AI assistants as a major productivity tool. Let's start with AI agents.

Speaker 31 AI agents can reason, plan, and collaborate with other AI tools to autonomously perform tasks for a user.

Speaker 31 Brian Bissell, an expert from IBM, gave me an example of how a college freshman might use an AI agent.

Speaker 38 As a new student, you may not know how do I do with my health and wellness issue? How many credits am I going to get for this given class?

Speaker 38 You could talk to someone and find out some of that, but maybe it's a little bit sensitive and you don't want to do that.

Speaker 31 Bissell told me, you could build an AI agent, a resource for new students that helps them navigate a new campus, register for classes, access the services they need, and even schedule appointments on their behalf, which in turn buys them more time to focus on their actual schoolwork.

Speaker 38 We can see patterns of how agents and assistants can help employees and customers and end users be more productive, automate workflows so they're not doing certain types of repetitive work over and over again, and streamlining their lives and making data more accessible to them 24 hours a day.

Speaker 31 To learn more about IBM's AI agents and how they can help your business, visit ibm.com/slash agents.

Speaker 23 This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats.

Speaker 24 Facing a beauty emergency? Need a last-minute gift?

Speaker 25 Well, don't panic. Sephora is now available for delivery on Uber Eats.

Speaker 24 You can now get all your beauty essentials delivered in as little as 25 minutes for the same price as in store.

Speaker 27 Plus, treat yourself to $10 off when you spend $50 or more on your first Sephora order on the Uber Eats app.

Speaker 1 Order Sephora on Uber Eats today.

Speaker 27 Offer ends October 30th. One order per customer.

Speaker 23 Additional terms apply. See app for availability.

Speaker 26 Delivery fees may apply.

Speaker 1 Goodbye.

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Speaker 1 After planning a blank blank Czech 60th birthday party, scheduling a trip to Santorini, and going in on million-dollar investments, Jackie still hadn't met Brandon.

Speaker 1 That's when she got a call from a detective.

Speaker 36 He says, this Jacqueline Kern shall I say yes? He said, Jacqueline,

Speaker 36 we got a call, an anonymous call, from a gentleman with a thick Indian accent stating, you were being scammed and they felt sorry for you.

Speaker 36 I think I like blanked out, maybe had a little seizure or just the gut punch.

Speaker 36 He was like, hello. I said, uh, he said, are you being scammed? And I said, uh, no, like very doubtful.

Speaker 37 Like,

Speaker 28 oh,

Speaker 36 so I hung up.

Speaker 1 Immediately, Jackie tried to sign into her online account where she managed all of her investments, but the website was down. She was locked out.
In that moment, everything clicked for Jackie.

Speaker 1 The doubts she pushed away about Brandon, about that $100,000 check. She wasn't ready to admit it out loud, but she knew the truth.

Speaker 36 My head exploded.

Speaker 36 Like, I said, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

Speaker 36 I sat for probably two hours, numb.

Speaker 36 Very numb, thinking, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

Speaker 36 and just trying to tally up all the losses.

Speaker 1 The loss was massive. She'd cashed out all of her retirement accounts, hundreds of thousands.
She'd even borrowed against the value of her home. While she was reeling, she knew one thing.

Speaker 1 She couldn't let Brandon know that she had been tipped off.

Speaker 36 So the next day,

Speaker 36 Brandon called. I said, oh, I'm not feeling well.
You know, I've got a sinus headache. And I didn't say anything.
I just was trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

Speaker 1 She went to the police again. This time, it wasn't a suspicion.
She knew something was wrong and she wanted her money back.

Speaker 36 I get an appointment with the state police and he's like, you know, try to bring all the information you can.

Speaker 1 And Jackie had the receipts, thousands of them.

Speaker 36 She went to Geek Squad Best Buy to transfer all of her text messages and emails with Brandon to a hard drive it took them six hours i think there has to be over 10 000 i don't know 20 000 text messages and all this stuff i made copies and i have a suitcase full of these text messages so i went dramatically to the state police dragging a suitcase

Speaker 36 and the C drive.

Speaker 1 The investigation would take some time and the cops wanted to get get as much out of Brandon as they could.

Speaker 36 When I went to the state police, they tried to get me to still talk to him, but I just couldn't fake it any longer.

Speaker 1 She needed to confront Brandon about all the money he had stolen from her.

Speaker 36 I said, you ruined my life.

Speaker 36 You know, he denied it.

Speaker 36 He's like, oh, where's this coming from?

Speaker 36 And I was like, I can't even believe this. And he just like, no, let me talk to my broker.
I'm going to get this straightened out.

Speaker 1 This confrontation wouldn't be without consequence.

Speaker 36 I was getting all these rejection letters from credit unions, Christian credit unions, credit card companies, all over. I'm like, what is this? I did not apply for any of this.

Speaker 1 Since Brandon knew Jackie was onto him, he made a last-ditch effort to squeeze her for all she was worth.

Speaker 1 Suddenly, Jackie was getting notifications from banks and credit card companies she'd never heard of.

Speaker 36 How could I owe Citibank $100,000 when my limit was $40,000? On my credit report, there is an account from Fifth Third Bank. I do not have the Fifth Third account.

Speaker 36 So if that account was opened at that bank, they may have used checks to make payments to my MasterCard,

Speaker 36 which were fake checks anyway, but they paid them.

Speaker 1 After that, Brandon went to MIA. He disappeared from Jackie's life entirely.
And the police investigation uncovered that the real person in Brandon's photos was a gentleman from Australia.

Speaker 1 The guy in the pictures had no idea who Jackie was. He lived in Australia, worked in construction.

Speaker 1 And unbeknownst to him, someone somewhere had been stealing his photos straight from his public social media profiles. Jackie was reeling.
because she'd spoken to Brandon's two kids on the phone.

Speaker 1 All of a sudden, she realized those must have been adults disguising their voices and playing the part of children.

Speaker 36 He was controlling it all because he was like texting me at the same time, I guess, acting like he was the kids.

Speaker 1 It was so intricate. There was no way Brandon could have done this alone.
The police had been investigating her case and they came back with a few answers.

Speaker 36 The state trooper traced two of the crypto wallets, one to Shanghai, one to Nigeria.

Speaker 1 The investigation led the police across the world to warehouses full of computers.

Speaker 36 And the police actually investigatively had traveled to Thailand and Cambodia and said the building was as big as a casino full of tables and computers and people scamming.

Speaker 36 So I stepped into

Speaker 36 something huge. I think it is international

Speaker 36 and I have no idea where this person is.

Speaker 1 As far as that $100,000 check Jackie got in the mail, the police went back to check it out. They found out that it was sent from a woman in Florida who was another victim of this complex scam.

Speaker 36 I find out later from the state police that she sent two people $100,000

Speaker 36 and she thought I was an investor. That's what she was told.

Speaker 1 One thing she doesn't have the answer to is who called to tip off the police. She wonders if it was Brandon himself disguising his voice or someone else who she'd never met.

Speaker 36 My girlfriend thinks that maybe it was him. And she's like, I think he had feelings for you.

Speaker 36 And I think somebody probably, if you were talking to me for a year, you'd probably get feelings for for me too.

Speaker 1 While detectives chased wallets across borders, Jackie had to live in the wreckage at home. There was still the question of her party, which was supposed to be the following week.

Speaker 36 Why would I cancel if we've already, I,

Speaker 36 someone was invested like 72 grand?

Speaker 1 She'd already paid for the party, so she might as well enjoy it.

Speaker 36 It was a white party.

Speaker 36 It was open bar.

Speaker 36 It was unbelievable. Some people will never experience this again in their life.
You know, it was a beautiful day.

Speaker 36 So, you know, we're all just on this 60th birthday party having a great time.

Speaker 1 But the whole party was built on an illusion. And Jackie was one of the only ones that day who knew the truth.
It was hard enough for Jackie to go through with the party.

Speaker 1 She couldn't bring herself to tell her friends and family what really happened.

Speaker 36 So we go on, the party goes on without a hitch. You know, they're like, oh, where's the oh, couldn't, you know, couldn't make it.

Speaker 36 Because I was kind of, it was kind of dark and I'm going through with the state police and the investigation.

Speaker 1 But after the party, it was time to face the music.

Speaker 36 I'm starting to have to deal with what is happening now. with all these finances.
It seemed like mission impossible with how I was trying to deal with this.

Speaker 1 She had to tell her family and friends what happened.

Speaker 36 I tell my niece and I tell my best friend. My godmother, who's in her 80s, I thought she was going to have like a heart attack.
She was so heartbroken that someone would do this to me.

Speaker 1 Even Jackie was having a hard time believing it. Everything about Brandon felt so real.
They prayed together. He sent her meals multiple times a week.
He really knew her.

Speaker 1 It made Jackie question the things she knew to be true about herself.

Speaker 36 I thought I was like a sharper tack in the box. It seems ridiculous because there were some of my friends are like, Jack, come on, can't show his face.
This is a scam.

Speaker 36 Holy limit, maybe twice I heard this is a scam.

Speaker 1 When she reflects on how this happened.

Speaker 36 It's a psychological thing where I feel like I got softened by that partner being just that great and supportive. and I'm so proud of you, and da-da-da, this and that.

Speaker 36 But I am human, and I think that human factor got in. And he was able to, whether you say, manipulate me or just have me trust him.

Speaker 1 The emotional manipulation is the thing that she struggles to make sense of.

Speaker 1 She wasn't desperate for a partner. She was just open to connection.
And Brandon, whoever he was, took advantage of that. It was enough of an opening for the scam to work.

Speaker 36 He really sold me like, yep, we're going to be together. So I think just that vulnerability, which I didn't at the time think I had,

Speaker 36 it is so hard to stop my brain from just, you know, rehash, rehash, rehash.

Speaker 1 Jackie's had to face steep financial consequences. When we asked her the total amount, she started shuffling through papers.

Speaker 36 40,420,189,000 plus another 150,000 plus 100,000 to Bank of America, 30,000 to Navy Federal.

Speaker 36 Did I say Citibank 100,000? It's definitely over a million.

Speaker 1 She'd been wiped out. For the first time in decades, she had to budget for every dollar.

Speaker 36 I was in my local grocery store and this cheese company had some smoked good cheese. So I said, oh, I'll taste that.
And I said to him, oh, how much is this? It was $8.99.

Speaker 36 And I said, oh, shit, I can't justify paying almost $10 for a little tiny ball of cheese.

Speaker 1 Jackie borrowed money from her niece to get an attorney to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Speaker 36 I owe Citibank $100,000.

Speaker 36 They want $2,500 a month. What I tried to do was negotiate, but it's not working.

Speaker 36 My credit went from $790,000 to now $500.

Speaker 36 I've never, ever had bad credit. I never missed a payment on anything.

Speaker 36 But now

Speaker 36 having to see what bad credit does.

Speaker 36 I work hard. I make my money, and it's going right back out.

Speaker 1 Because of this scam, she'll never have the retirement she planned and saved her entire life for.

Speaker 36 That part

Speaker 36 brings a lot of anger and hurt. I got a tax bill from the IRS for the 403B.
I owe $55,

Speaker 36 $56 now.

Speaker 36 And

Speaker 36 I'll have to make a payment plan

Speaker 1 and because she borrowed against the value of her home i'm in a short sale we got to find somewhere to live

Speaker 36 i'm just not sure what the future holds

Speaker 1 she held out hope for a few months that the police could recover her assets but because crypto transactions use the blockchain and not traditional banks That money can't be traced back to individuals.

Speaker 1 The police hit a dead end.

Speaker 36 I know I'm not going to get a dime of that money back, but they are keeping the case open.

Speaker 1 The police were so worried about Jackie's mental health that they sent a social worker to do a wellness check.

Speaker 36 Maybe because I do have a gun permit and I have a gun that they might be like, uh-oh, because people have taken their lives or harmed themselves with all of this going on and with just the pure magnitude of how much money I lost.

Speaker 36 But that was never a thought, ever a thought.

Speaker 1 Jackie's resilient. She kept going.

Speaker 36 I don't let it consume me because that would paralyze me. I'm like, I got to go to work.
I got to face these people.

Speaker 36 And that, right, was one of the hardest things I had to do at that time was put a smile on my face and continue on.

Speaker 36 There's a ignition in me. that is gonna prevail with this.

Speaker 1 She says her line of work puts loss in in perspective.

Speaker 36 Working at a cancer hospital, you know, I like stuff. I like nice things,

Speaker 36 but you can't take any of it with you.

Speaker 1 Her niece stepped up and started a fundraising campaign, which helped Jackie cover a few bills.

Speaker 36 Maybe like 4,000. People gave what they could, but I was overwhelmed with people just being generous.

Speaker 1 Unfortunately, this type of crime is prevalent in older demographics. And Jackie's story, while devastating, is not unique.

Speaker 1 AARP, a nonprofit organization that provides resources related to aging, reached out to Jackie. They wanted to work with her to help educate others about these types of scams.

Speaker 36 I was the spotlight speaker for April.

Speaker 36 And one woman, you know, confessed that she was scammed. And she's like, you know, how do you move on? I said, one

Speaker 36 day at a time. There's times I want to beat myself up, but nope, I

Speaker 36 just educate people and I always say, don't do what I did.

Speaker 36 That's what is motivating me to fight.

Speaker 1 Jackie wants to help prevent this kind of scam from happening to other people. To show how sophisticated these scams can be.
Jackie didn't trust Brandon based on his online messages alone.

Speaker 1 He invested real money into her life, and she saw the payoff. Her favorite meals were delivered to her door, expensive jewelry arrived in the mail, her bank accounts grew.

Speaker 1 It was more than just a promise of luxury. It was the true taste of it for many months.

Speaker 1 Scammers like Jackie's are willing to spend $100,000 on their victims if it means they will eventually get a million back. These scams don't happen in the blink of an eye.

Speaker 1 The scammers invest money, emotion, and time into their victims for months before pulling the rug out from under them.

Speaker 1 We end every weekly episode with the same question.

Speaker 1 Why do you want to share your story?

Speaker 36 I have to tell myself every day I'm a victim.

Speaker 36 Whoever it is on these websites scamming people, their entire job is to distance me with my money. And I know just talking to people, they are plagued with fear and embarrassment.

Speaker 36 And that fight in me

Speaker 36 said:

Speaker 36 if you go hide and you don't tell your story,

Speaker 36 and you know, you're embarrassed, you're not going to help anyone.

Speaker 1 On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly,

Speaker 1 within seconds, I get a Facebook message: Is this about your dad?

Speaker 1 And I got like a chill down my back.

Speaker 1 I responded with yes, with like a bunch of dots. And he immediately replied,

Speaker 1 I know this because it happened to me too.

Speaker 1 Before we end the episode, I have some exciting news. Betrayal will be doing our first ever live show as part of the Virgin Voyages True Crime Cruise.

Speaker 1 We'll be answering listener questions and discussing them live on stage with Stacey and Tyler from Betrayal Season 3, as well as Caroline from Season 4.

Speaker 1 So if you have a question for us, please email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com with the subject line listener question.

Speaker 1 And if you want to join us on the Caribbean cruise, there are still spots available. Search virginvoyages.com slash true crime.

Speaker 1 If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at betrayalpod at gmail.com. That's betrayalpod at gmail.com.

Speaker 1 Or follow us on Instagram at betrayalpod.

Speaker 1 You can also connect with me on Instagram at it'sandrea Gunning. To access our newsletter, view additional content, and connect with the betrayal community, join our substack at betrayal.substack.com.

Speaker 1 We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts.
And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way.

Speaker 1 A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts.

Speaker 1 The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning.
Written and produced by Monique Laborde. Also produced by Ben Fetterman.

Speaker 1 Associate producers are Caitlin Golden, Olivia Hewitt, and Kristen Melcuri. Casting support from Curry Richmond.
Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck.

Speaker 1 Audio editing and mixing by Matt Delvecchio. Additional audio editing by Tanner Robbins.
Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MIBE Music.

Speaker 1 And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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