SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A Seminole County man is out tens of thousands of dollars from his retirement account. He’s a victim of an elaborate scheme that the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office is working to get to the bottom of.
Channel 9 sat down with the victim, a man who only wanted to go by Ed on camera.
“I mean I went as far as to update my will, write a letter to my wife in case something happened. I disappeared,” Ed said about the scam.
Ed says it started with a phone call in mid-January. A man said he was an investigator who had seized a package with firing pins for a gun. Ed said they had the wrong person.
“In the background, I can hear him saying my name. They gave my social security number, and they said, ‘so has anybody contacted you yet?’ And I go, ‘about what?’ They said,’ well, you’re a suspect in a money laundering case that happened in Lake Mary.’ I go… ‘what are you talking about?’,” Ed told Channel 9′s Ashlyn Webb.
The so-called FBI investigators said if Ed didn’t do it, then maybe ed’s bank account was used in the alleged crime.
“So you thought you were a victim of identity theft originally?” Webb asked.
“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Ed replied. “So I assured them I’d cooperate in any way I could.”
The fake investigators claimed they had to talk to him every two hours for a check in—for his and his family’s safety.
“If I didn’t check in with this agent every two hours, they would start calling,” Ed said.
It lasted for roughly a month, being questioned over “secured messaging” through Telegram and Skype with login pages bearing what looked to be the FBI’s logo.
Some of the so-called investigators claimed to Ed that they believed he hadn’t done it.
“They were trying to help me prove that I didn’t have it, they wanted access to an account or two,” Ed said. “They said the best way to do this is through Crypto. I’ve never messed with Crypto.”
It wasn’t until later that Ed realized he was scammed-- money gone straight out of his retirement account.
“I’m embarrassed, really, that I fell for this,” Ed said.
Ed says he’s sharing his story so hopefully, others can avoid making the mistake he did.
This was a scam where the criminals didn’t immediately demand money in the urgent techniques that they often do.
Detective Thomas Johnson, the III with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, says when scammers know they’ll get a big payday, they’re not urgent.
“It’s more of the slow burn if you will, they take their time,” Johnson said.
One step you can take to avoid the scam is to understand what techniques scammers are using to fool you. Johnson says scammers are often using high tech like deepfakes and AI to get you to fall for their scheme
Also, know that scammers can use local numbers or change caller IDs to make it look like they’re from a law enforcement agency.
So, take the extra step to verify.
Find the right number for the agency and verify that they called you.
In this case, Ed did call the FBI. He learned the alleged investigators didn’t work there, and the agency had no investigators with the scammers’ so-called badge numbers. But, Ed made that call after it was too late.
Know that law enforcement won’t typically call you. If you are wanted for a crime, Johnson says law enforcement will physically meet with you to question you or arrest you.
Lastly, Johnson says if you believe you’re a victim of a scam, immediately call your local law enforcement agency. In this case, Ed did call the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office as soon as he learned he was scammed, and luckily, the Sheriff’s Office believe they’ll be able to crack the case.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
