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SAN FRANCISCO — 7 On Your Side with our San Francisco sister station previously reported about a retiree who lost his life savings to a cruel scam known as “pig butchering.”
The man, a retired city gardener, thought he was starting a new life with a new love. Instead, he lost $500,000.
Now we’ve learned he immediately fell for the same scam again.
This time, 7 On Your Side stepped in to stop it.
No sooner had he lost everything in the first scam, this retiree began chatting online with another person claiming to be his true love. He ignored warnings from friends and family, so the 7 On Your Side team showed him evidence the new love was a scammer.
“This is her. This is her picture,” Adan Look said.
Look is sure this time he’s found real love with a woman he met online: “Vicky.”
“She is my queen. I’m her king,” Look said.
Vicky told Look she’s an Army combat medic based in Kuwait. They can be together once she gets out — in four years.
“She wants to be with me, be my caretaker,” Look said.
“I was like, ‘Not again.’ I couldn’t believe he’d fall right straight back into something,” Jonathan Look, Adan’s son, said.
To his son Jonathan, this was no romance. It was another scam, just like last year. That’s when 7 On Your Side first met Adan.
He had just lost everything in an online romance scam.
“I was head over heels, pretty much out of control,” Look said.
He’d been tricked into believing he was starting a new life with a young woman he met on Facebook: “Annie.”
Annie told him she’d made millions investing in cryptocurrency. He could too. Together they’d make enough to build a dream home in Hawaii.
So Look began wiring his money to banks in Asia, shutting out any warnings.
“Suddenly we were all the enemy. ‘She’s not a scam. Get away,'” Jonathan said.
That is until Adan Look ran out of money and realized the crypto investment was fake. So was Annie.
A half-million dollars was gone.
“I had to go back down to Earth. I’m back to Earth now,” Look said.
Or was he?
“I just want you to understand, babe, nothing can break us apart,” Vicky texted Look.
Right after losing everything, he met “Vicky,” the supposed Army medic.
“Your sweet words make me melt,” Vicky texted Look.
They’ve been chatting since February.
She sent him pictures. He blew the pictures up to poster size.
“I think she’s a pretty good-looking woman,” Look said.
He believes this time it’s real, not like Annie.
“I have a picture of her that she is in the military. It’s not Photoshopped,” Look said.
Soon Vicky started asking for money.
She needed an iPhone.
Her mom had a brain disease.
Her son needed an iPad.
“I sent her a little bit, but nothing like the other person, you know,” Look said.
Look told Vicky he’d just been scammed.
“So I said, ‘I don’t have any money. The other scammer took everything,'” Look said.
“I will help you get back to your feet,” Vicky wrote.
But she pressed for more.
“I was seeing some transactions, suspicious, for like, thousand-dollar gift cards,” Jonathan said.
Look tried three times to wire $2,000 to someone named “Priscilla.” Vicky claimed she was a diplomat.
Luckily, Bank of America flagged the account and blocked each transfer.
So Look sent $1,000 through Zelle and $1,000 in Apple gift cards.
“I actually called a bunch of Apple stores and was like, ‘Hey, so-and-so will be coming in to buy gift cards very soon. Please stop him. He’s being scammed,'” Jonathan said.
Then Vicky said she could pay off her commander to get discharged right away.
Look jumped at the chance, texting, “How much do you need?”
She replied, “About $45,000.”
He wrote, “Wow. Extortion.”
But he tried to find money and risked losing his home.
“He was already preapproved for a mortgage loan at $500,000. So, I called the loan officer. I was like, ‘The guy’s being scammed,'” Jonathan said.
“So they’re trying to smear her. Smear her,” Look said. “How can you say anything bad about someone that’s serving in our military and helping our combat medics? I think that’s wrong.”
During an interview with 7 On Your Side, Look pointed to proof Vicky was real.
“You’re looking at it right now. The flower arrangement is from her,” Look said.
Sure enough, fresh flowers were delivered from Vicky.
“I can’t wait to be with you in your arms. I will never let you down, my king,” the note read.
But did she really send them? 7 On Your Side called the owner, Fred Tabar, of Fillmore Florist.
“He or she or them placed order on our website, used stolen credit card. After delivery, we find out card was stolen,” Tabar said.
“I just don’t know anymore. She says she has nothing to hide. Everything seems fishy,” Look said. “I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
“The fact is, this person has repeatedly lied to you,” 7 On Your Side’s Stephanie Sierra said.
And so, 7 On Your Side met with Look, along with scam investigator, Erin West, of Operation Shamrock.
“We’re trying to help you understand some of those red flags,” Sierra said.
“Everything that you found out, I’d like to know,” Look said.
“There’s technology these days that helps people identify whether, you know, pictures are real or fake,” Sierra said.
“Yeah, I’d like to know that, today,” Look said.
So, 7 On Your Side pulled up a photo Vicky sent of herself.
“That’s really her, right? Do you guys know?” Look said.
7 On Your Side did a reverse image search. That exact photo popped up. It was someone on an adult dating site under a different name.
“So, it doesn’t appear to be authentic,” Sierra said.
“She’s fake. OK,” Look said.
“Vicky claimed to you that she was an Army combat medic based in Kuwait,” Sierra said.
“Right, right. I’d like to know the truth on that one,” Look said.
“Well, so we reached out to the Army. And they say we are extremely confident that the alleged service member under that name does not exist,” Sierra said.
It was the truth he feared.
“I’m a target. That’s what I see,” Look said.
“So, I want to tell you: I went to Nigeria because I wanted to understand this. And I met with some men who do this,” West said.
West showed Look video of alleged scammers in Nigeria.
“He’s been talking to someone like you for six months,” West said to Look.
“And they have scripts that they use, and they buy pictures,” she said. “I want you to know that there are really bad people out there who are trying to steal from you, right?”
“Yeah. Fake. It’s all fake,” Look said.
She urged him to cut Vicky off.
“I’ll confront her. I’ll confront her,” Look said.
“Just say, ‘Vicky, you know what happened yesterday? 7 On Your Side came to my house, and they showed me a document saying you don’t exist. It’s right here,'” West said.
Look got right on it.
“I’m just gonna say she’s not real,” Look said.
He texted Vicky: “You’re not really you.”
The scammer replied, “I knew you’d tell them our business. Now you let them get in your mind!”
“You got this!” West said.
Look did block Vicky, but is he safe from future scams? It turns out, no.
“This is Suzy. So she’s saying good night,” Look said.
He’s already met “Suzy.” He thinks she’s real.
“Have a good night. Hope you sleep well. Have a sweet dream, darling. Have a good night. Hope you sleep well. Have a sweet dream, darling,” the “Suzy” said on a video.
“I feel good, but sad. Information is powerful. You gave me a lot of information. I appreciate that,” Look said.
Pig butchering scammers prey on those who are lonely or looking for love. They cultivate a long relationship so victims develop very real feelings for a person who doesn’t exist. It’s a big part of the heartbreak.
Sadly, Look and his son remain torn apart by the scams. What’s clear is that there is little anyone can do to stop a loved one from wiring money to scammers. Laws don’t allow family members to intervene without permission from the victim.
Jonathan says he used 7 On Your Side’s previous story to help convince banks and even Apple stores to stop giving Look money to send to scammers.
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