Beloved Vermont children's entertainer-turned-filmmaker Mac Parker has been raising funds for his film Birth of Innocence for nearly a decade. The film has yet to be completed, and what investors were promised — a three-year, $1 million project — has ballooned in both time and cost. When the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation steps in to investigate irregularities in Mac's fundraising practices, they discover he's operating a $28 million Ponzi scheme. They dig deeper and find Mac has a silent partner named Lou Soteriou, a chiropractor in Connecticut who is being purposefully hidden from investors. Over the years, Lou has received more than $4 million in payments from Mac. Realizing the scope of the case, Vermont investigators call in the FBI. As federal agents unravel this enormous Ponzi scheme, it becomes clear that the relationship between Mac and Lou is a complicated one. The investigators are left wondering, who really is the mastermind behind this crime?

Malcom "Mac" Parker aspires to be a filmmaker. In Vermont, Mac is known as a beloved children's entertainer, appearing on public television and performing around the state. Mac is so well respected in his community that when he begins to raise funds for his film Birth of Innocence, investors are quick to jump on board. His promises of high returns and a chance to be a part of the film industry sweeten the deal. Mac claims that he will need approximately $1 million and three years to complete his film. But after nearly a decade passes, the film is still unfinished, and Mac raises well above his $1 million goal. Investors grow weary, and when investigators step in to sort out the mess, they discover that Mac is embroiled in a $28 million Ponzi scheme.

Bill and Allison are devoted to their dogs, so when they discover their 11-year-old beagle mix Archer missing one evening, they are distraught. They spend hours searching the neighborhood and start putting out alerts online, including their contact information and photos of Archer. Then a late-night call comes in from someone claiming to be from a veterinarian's office. Archer has been hit by a car and needs emergency surgery to prevent him from becoming permanently paralyzed. The surgery will cost $2,746 and needs to be paid before the doctor can start. The scammers even send a convincing photo of Archer on the operating table, but Bill and Allison quickly suspect the photo might be AI-generated.

After escaping the Palisades fire in January of 2025, Ellen doesn't know if she and her husband Steve will have a home to return to. Miraculously, their house is still standing, but it needs extensive cleaning and repairs. They move into an apartment and begin working with insurance and contractors. In March, Steve is diagnosed with cancer and passes away just a few months later. Displaced, stressed out and now grieving her beloved husband, Ellen is caught off guard by a PayPal alert for a charge she doesn't recognize. Soon, the insurance money meant to fix her home is gone.

Fed up with the rising cost of electricity, Steve shops around and switches to a new provider in his Boston neighborhood. The process is simple, and Steve thinks the matter is settled until a week later, when he receives a call from his previous provider claiming he is in danger of having his electricity cut off. Steve initially dismisses it as a scam, but the caller seems to know all about his recent switch. What follows is an hours-long back-and-forth, with Steve passed between agents posing as representatives from two power companies. Frustrated and angry, Steve ultimately buys $900 worth of gift cards in the hope of keeping his electricity flowing. This sophisticated scam is one of a number of scams involving utility companies threatening to cut off basic services. Monica Martinez, the executive director for Utilities United Against Scams, shares tips on how to spot utilities-related scams.

To learn more about utility scams, visit: aarp.org/utilityscams

Jeanette moves back to Vermont, expecting a peaceful retirement in a beloved community, but a tech support scam upends her life. She reaches out to her local police, who advise her to report the incident to the FBI. Now faced with an empty bank account, Jeanette starts making drastic changes to her lifestyle. She unplugs appliances to save on electricity and sets her thermostat to 58 degrees throughout the winter. After more than four years of living frugally and juggling tax bills, on Christmas Eve in 2025, Jeanette's life takes another unexpected turn.

In this bonus episode, Bob meets some Fraud Fighters working to make their Nebraska community a little bit safer from scammers. When Omaha passes a city ordinance requiring all crypto kiosks to display a scam warning, local law enforcement teams up with AARP volunteers to ensure that every kiosk in the county has the necessary sticker. Along the way, they hear fraud stories and learn how looking out for our neighbors in one small way can make a big impact in the fight against fraud.

Dr. Maurice Sholas, a pediatric rehabilitation specialist based in New Orleans, discovers that his likeness is being used in an ad when a friend sends him a TikTok clip that looks convincingly like him. It's an AI-generated version of him selling vitamin supplements, something he has never done. Feeling violated, Sholas must now defend his reputation, and attempt to protect potential victims from losing money on and possibly being harmed by a fraudulent product. In addition to causing monetary losses, AI‑generated impersonation of doctors and celebrities can undermine trust and speed up the spread of health misinformation.

After taking a break from her tech career to care for her aging mother, Dawn is reentering the workforce in her mid-50s, and she isn't having much luck. She takes a chance on an offer for a new kind of job at "Facebook." Guided by a "mentor" through an onboarding process, she learns that her new role involves placing Facebook ads as part of an AI testing initiative. Dawn will have a digital wallet into which she must add her own money to pay for ad placements, but she will receive a percentage of the ad revenue. Dawn is reassured when she signs on to the platform and can see all the posts and private messages in her Facebook account. As required investments increase, Dawn deposits $176,000, only to have her account frozen when she tries to withdraw funds. Realizing that it is all an elaborate scam, Dawn comes forward to warn others about this sophisticated job scam.

It's tax time, and that means it's also tax scam season. The Federal Trade Commission warns about a recent surge in fake IRS calls to taxpayers. Personal finance columnist Michelle Singletary joins host Bob Sullivan to discuss how AI might be supercharging these age-old scams, how recent changes in the way the federal government issues refunds could create new opportunities for scammers, and some practical tips for protecting yourself against these and other scams.