At 76, I lost my life savings to a jackpot scam – now I’m at risk of homelessness after scammers cheated me out of $800,000
A MAN is left with nothing just days after a cruel scam.
Bogdan Nalivaiko, 76, is a Ukrainian immigrant currently residing in Washington state after selling his home abroad a few weeks ago.
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His daughter Julia Elders said he lost everything within days.
The elders said the crooks specifically targeted their father, telling him he had won over $17 million and would have to pay taxes on it before they could give it to him.
She said her father withdrew tens of thousands of dollars from Chase Bank and Bank of America to pay the scammers.
Since Elders lives in Minnesota, miles from Nalivaiko, she wasn’t able to stop him or learn much about what was going on until he became homeless.
“On April 25 he sold his house. On the 26th he had $800,000 and on May 3rd he had zero,” she told one Fox Partners.
His daughter said when she found out about the scam she broke down.
“Because I couldn’t imagine losing everything you’ve ever had in such a short amount of time,” she said. “It’s the merit of a lifetime.”
She said the scammers could have gotten exactly what they wanted from her father, which was everything.
The elders expressed their disappointment with the banks’ decision not to report their father’s voluminous withdrawal requests and called them, only to receive the reply: “We have done everything we could.”
Kelly Smith, the deputy FBI agent, said that’s probably the best answer the banks could give.
He said the banks could be fooled just like everyone else.
“I think banks are in the same position we are and would like to prevent this before it even happens, but the skills of organized crime groups sometimes mean that they are just as deceived as the victims in the cases,” Smith told Fox .
He advised future scam victims to always report the incident, no matter how embarrassing it might be to admit it, and also seek a second opinion on anything that might seem suspicious.
And even though Nalivaiko gave his entire life savings to his scammers, he says he still gets calls from them.
“No, I’m not talking to you at the moment. I ignore it,” he told Fox.
Currently, his daughter has set up a GoFundMe for him while she works with moving company Joe Kenney to give him a better life.
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