uncover their tricks. >> two huge men show up. >> show up with a cate of money. >> it's all dyed black. >> and then turn the tables to scam the scammers. >> mr. grant, there's something you need to know. i'm chris hansen with dateline nbc. tonight "dateline" goes undercover as we follow the money. good evening, and welcome to "dateline." i'm chris hansen. if you've seen any of our earlier stories about internet scammers, you probably thought to yourself, that could never happen to me. the woman you'll meet tonight knew all about e-mail cons, but these guys are so good at what they do, she still fell for the scam and lost her life savings. her troubles started with a simple e-mail, and she's not alone. they come from internet boiler rooms overseas promising big money. >> $850,000. >> $10.7 million. >> but to get it, some people wind up paying a fortune. tonight our story starts in connecticut with this woman. she got one of those e-mails. we've agreed to use only her first name, sharine. >> when i received the e-mail he claimed to be a bear ster in new jeer ya. >> she was caught up in a scheme that stole her life savings, but she felt so foolish, they was reluctant to tell anyone. >> i was almost like crying and everything, and i was just taking money out from my ira. >> how hard was it for you to go to the police? >> very hard. >> i'm proud of her for coming forward. i don't know whether i'd come forward and face family members and friends to say i fell for this. >> gary mcnamara of the fairfield, connecticut police says when his department got the case, he could hardly believe it. here's an educated woman in an affluent community with family and gets taken by these guys? >> yeah. we're all vulnerable when it comes to hope. >> thousands of people fall for similar scams, but they rarely admit it. the scams can fool people you'd think would be too smart to be taken in, but sergeant james perez says that's because the thieves are surprisingly sophisticated and their scams may not be obvious at the start. >> most of the victims are well-educated. professors, doctors, it runs the whole gamut. >> how do they fall for these sca scams? >> they're extremely intelligent in psychological warfare. they're going to play the game and stroke her psychologically for as much as they can before they start the attack. >> like an online sexual predator grooms a potential target? >> absolutely. i like to see attack, because that's truly what it is. >> how does the scam work? for her it involved a he series of phony documents starting with a e-mail from a lawyer overseas about a tragic action. >> unfortunately they all lost their lives. >> he tells her here's the attorney for this family with a horrific accident and left behind a vast fortune of about $15 million. >> why would anyone believe that? well, to begin with, the lawyer sends this real-looking newspaper clipping about the accident. the people have the same last name as shireen. >> that would lead anyone to believe that maybe they have a relative out there with a fortune that really truly does belong to me. >> there's more than a newspaper. there's also a death certificate. >> it's a very real-looking death certificate. >> may i see it? >> sure. >> how believable are these documents? >> these are very believable. >> and shireen says there's something else that made the bar ster's story believe the fortune was from oil. >> he said the client died and he worked in a chevron oil in nigeria. >> she knew there were engineering in her extended family. she was born in bash la desh but has lived in the united states for most of her life and she had relatives all over the world, including some that worked in the oil industry. you had a number of engineers in your family? >> yes. >> your thought process was maybe one of my relatives had been working over there unbeknown to me? >> right. >> the scam works by promising you a fortune but forcing you to pay big fees to claim it. in order to get you hooked, the scammers start small. tell me about the first fee. >> he said that he needed -- i believe the first one is $250. >> $250? >> yes. >> did you sort of think, it's worth it. let's see where it goes? >> that's exactly what i was thinking. >> first a lawyer's fee and then a court fee, and now some bank fees. >> you as the beneficiary will need to send the sum of $2,150 for the office duty stamp. >> the fees are designed little by little to lure people in. >> she's completely invested now into this process. she can't just turn away and walk away, because now she loses that money. so in a way they have her on the hook now. >> and boy, did they. >> from ubs warburg, attention beneficiary. >> to convince shireen it was all real they poured it on sending her official-looking e-mails from the banks and lawyers. they were sending her these forms in color with seals and official-looking stamps allt allteliallte telling the same story about multi-million dollar inheritance. >> here we have a document, a very real-looking document that's a fund release order. >> it has a stamp of approval. >> it has her name on it. it look lists -- >> it's customized for her? >> they list her as the beneficiary. these are convincing documents. >> for operations document, lagos, n nigeria. it lays out this whole $15 million transfer. >> of course she's elated because she's well on her way to get her fortune, and, of course, she's invested in it already. she has to continue. >> by now, shireen not only has sent money, she's even made a trip to london to meet face to face with people she thought were bankers handling her inheritance. she gave them another $10,000 hoping it was the final fee, and before long an e-mail from the bank with good news. >> dear madam, your foelgts sum of u.s. $15 million is expecte to be your act today. >> at this point everyone is signing off and everything appears exactly he the way it should be. >> she's so close? >> she's so close she can almost see the money. she can smell it and taste it in her bank account. >> the scammers managed to get shireen to be emotionally invested here. >> they're literally pulling the puppet strings. >> suddenly a problem. bank says the money transfer can't go through. >> our transfer of $15 million reflected back to our account. >> the bank says the fund is frozen until shireen provides some official documents. >> there's this thing called an inheritance clearance certificate. >> exactly. >> guess what? they're going to cost a bundle. crooks are moving in for the big score. >> these two items, of course, aren't going to cost a few thousand. it comes to a total of $165,000. >> $165,000? >> just to be able to reach out and grab the money, because it's right there. >> little by little, 300, 500, 1700, 15,000, 25,000, and now this is the big score. >> this is it. >> in the end shireen lost her life savings, more than $200,000 and chances are she'll never get a dime of it back. believe it or not, the scammers still think they've got shireen on the hook for even more. what they don't know if she's agreed to let "dateline" step in and try to turn the tables. we start by setting a trap of our own. >> i need to do a face-to-face meeting before i send anybody money. >> but guess who may spoil the party? ♪ i dreamed a time ♪ in time gone by". >> when follow the money continues. i hired someone to make my website... five months ago. we are building a website by ourselves. announcer: there's an easier way. create your own small-business site with intuit websites. just choose a style that fits your business and customize, publish and get found in three easy steps. sweet. all from just $4.99 a month, get a 30-day free trial at intuit.com. ♪ music plays ♪ [ sneezing ] ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what are you gonna miss when you have an allergy attack? benadryl® is more effective than claritin® at relieving your worst symptoms -- runny nose, sneezing, and watery eyes -- and works when you need it most. benadryl®. you can't pause life. my me time is when i'm apologizing... for something i had nothing to do with. my me time is when my in-laws are in town. my me time is when my luggage went to the bahamas. and i didn't. discover me time any time. introducing mcdonald's new frappés. mccafé your day with smooth and icy caramel or mocha, blended just for you and topped with a decadent drizzle. ♪ ba da ba ba ba oh, i'm still here. yeah. make no mistake about it, we're at war. >> sergeant james perez has seen it firsthand. >> we're at war with a faceless enemy, an invisible enemy he that has the innate ability to get into the core of our country and try to scam people, and they're doing it at a record rate. >> he's been investigating the case of a connecticut woman who lost her life savings. >> attention beneficiary, the transfer will have affect tomorrow. >> the e-mail said she was about to inherit a fortune. the documents looked so real. shireen wanted to believe them so badly, even though at first she had her doubts. >> at one point she stopped them and said, i don't believe this. she basically told them she had seen a he "dateline" show on scams. >> shireen had actually seen one of our previous investigations? >> that's correct. >> my name is chris hansen, and you've just been caught. you've seen one of my stories, and you actually confronted barrister davis about these comments and said, are you one of these guys? >> yes. >> what did he say? >> he was very angry and said you better apologize. i'm not like that. >> she didn't realize she was being conned until it was too late. why didn't you just walk away from it. >> i know. i was going to. they kept saying, see, you already invested so much money. >> you figured i'm into it this far? >> yes, exactly. >> after shireen contacted local police, they contacted federal authorities. but international scams over the internet are tough to prosecute, so shireen asked "dateline" to help. could we crack the case and lure the thieves out from behind their computer keyboards into plain sight? >> mr. davis, i received your e-mail and noted the content. >> the first step, taking over her e-mail h. remember, the thieves have already taken $200,000 from shireen, but it doesn't take long to discover their greed has no limit. they want even more. >> dear shireen, get the balance of $5,000 before the end of the month. >> authorities say the thieves are master manipulators who know they almost never get caught. >> it goes to show you how bold and how confident they are that they're not going to be arrested for it. >> there's always an excuse? >> always an excuse. >> we're about to turn the tables. our chance comes when the thieves send this e-mail saying the money transfer is finally ready, but the bank is asking for more money than ever before. >> dear shireen, they say the only fee they will be collecting is the 10% of the $15 million. >> 10% is a staggering fee, $1.5 million. "dateline" is answering the e-mail now. we'll pay the money on one condition, the scammers have to meet me face to face. i'm a business man posing to give shireen the money to close the deal. at first they refuse to meet, but we dangle the offer to pay that $1 million fee. i'm willing to invest. i adore her, i want toe help her. i want to get this thing done. finally barrister davis takes the bait. >> dear shireen, want friend can see the fund face to face. >> it's off to london where he she met with the bankers once before. and that's where they finally agreed to meet me. "dateline" rents a suite at a prominent hotel. we started to wire it with hidden cameras, butter there's a last minute problem. apparently the bankers haven't arrived yet. they want us to send money in advance to pay for their plane tickets. >> dear shir he reason now we need to send them the 7,500 which their staff will use to travel down to london. >> we think that's just another con. >> i can't believe you don't have a representative already in london. remember, in earlier investigations we discovered the nigerian scammers already have people based in london. so i decide to call the barrister's bluff. you need to listen to me. if the bank will take a fee of more than a he million dollars, they can afford to get somebody here for a meeting tomorrow afternoon. shireen even called. >> hello, mr. davis. >> all but begging the barrister. without a face-to-face meeting, she says she has no hope of raising the money. >> my last hope is my friend mr. chris, willing to help me, but he wants to meet someone in person. >> while we're upstairs making those calls, ourl hotel is being invaded by reporters and photographers even from our own network. >> we'll talk a lot this morning about susan boyle. they're here covering that british singing sensation susan boyle. turns out we had scheduled our meeting right before the finals of "britain's got talent." it was crawling with reporters. >> it's terrible to disappoint shireen, but we have to meet face to face or the meeting won't happen. >> we don't know if it was the media frenzy or something else that stairs them off. in the end he backs out leaving shireen angry and disappointed. >> his name is davis. i think he's the devil. >> we're a lot way from throwing in the trail, and the trail will lead to a place we never expected. coming up, shireen's first brush with her $15 million inheritance, but why was this money funny? >> two huge men -- money funny? >> two huge men -- >> two g g would we eat better? 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>> i lied to you. >> at the government's internet crime complaint center, the number of complaints is up more than 20% in just a year, and the fbi estimates that last year e-mail attacks bilked americans out of more than half a billion dollars. how often do you rip people off this way? so based on our other investigations, we think we have to travel overseas again, but this time we're in for a surprise. >> to shireen, the diplomats will prepare and move your funds to south carolina for delivery. >> south carolina. this ring of thieves apparently is brazen enough to operate right here at home on u.s. soil. the barrister tells us to contact a man he calls a diplomat, somebody by the name of jeffrey grant, to work out the details. mr. grant i'll calming for shireen. we don't want to let shireen meet the thieves alone, so we make up a story she's in the hospital. a "dateline" producer is pretending to be a relative to help her with the trip. >> do you physically have the fund that she is supposed to receive? >> everything is here. that's why they sent me here. >> okay. we'll see you friday. >> okay, sir. thank you. >> the meeting has taken nearly a year to set up, but we're about to meet one of the thieves face to face. we call to let the so-called diplomat knowing we've arrived. >> mr. grant? >> yeah. how are you? >> good. how are you? it's shireen's brother-in-law. we actually got in a little early. >> hi, mr. grant. >> how are you doing, ma'am? >> i'm fivenne. thank you. >> shortly after the phone call mr. grant arrives in our hotel in greenville, south carolina. we've rented a room on the fifth floor and our hidden cameras will report our every word. you're about to see something rarely captured, even by federal authorities, an international crime ridge at work right here in the united states. just moments earlier barrister davis called all the way from nigerian to check out the deal was progressing. >> i just got a call from mr. davis, and he said that as soon as you come here to give him a call. >> okay. >> just as we suspected, the scammers seem to be part of a sophisticated overseas network. how does it work? >> bring it over here. >> bring what over here? >> the boxes with the money? >> yeah. >> for mr. grant this first meeting seems to be a scouting mission to make sure we're not the police. he tells us he'll come back later with the paperwork and money. >> give me an hour and i'll be back. >> one hour and you can bring the money actually up here? >> yeah. >> before he leaves, there's another phone call from the barriste. r. >> yeah, mr. grant is here sitting in front of me. >> it's almost as if the crook overseas is checking up on his partner in america. >> we'll meet back here in an hour, and let's do that. >> okay. >> okay. when he comes back we hope to get a look at one of the crook's favorite tricks. remember shireen had flown to london in hopes of claiming her money. during that trip she met with people she thought were bankers and lawyers and she remembers they gave her a sneak peek on what they said was her fortune. >> they brought a big trunk. it was sort of like a bundles of money or whatever. they were all covers with black. >> to bundling the black bills? >> yes, yes. >> police call it the black money trick. >> two big guys show up with a cate of money? >> exactly. >> but it's all dyed black? >> it's all dyed black. >> the scammers have an explanation for that. >> apparently they had to dye it black to smuggle it out of africa. >> exactly. they explain it has torre converted into useable noen, and the only way to do that is to dip it into an extremely expensive chemical in order to make the money legal so that you can use it. >> sergeant perez says most of the so-called money is just plain black paper, but in a magic trick fit for houdini he shows us how they say it was real by washing a couple of select bills before her very eyes. >> he he clean twod bills. >> when he cleaned those bills what was revealed? it was two $100 bills. >> exactly. >> they hand her the money so for the first time she can see and feel the money in their hands, and they go so as to tell her, hey listen. you don't have to take our word for it. take this money and go out to the store and spend it so that they can really convince her this money is so real and it's all right there. >> of course, it's all a trick to get more money. the scammers use simple supplies, elm measuer's glue an iodine. after it dries the black is easy to wash out. but the thieves say they're using special chemicals and they're very expensive so it's another big fee to pay before you can actually spend your fortune. when we call mr. grant earlier to set up the meeting, we asked about the chemicals. >> she said something about chemicals or a person with chemicals needed? >> that's what i'll do. >> okay. >> so is that black money trip what the drip mat has up huz sleeve. coming up, shir convenient told her inheritance is just a car ride away packed in a trunk stored in an underground vault. do you think it's filled with money, with gold? do you think it's filled with valuables or what? when "follow the money" continues. 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[ chuckles ] yeah. ocean spray blueberry juice drinks. real blueberries, real good. mom: thank goodness pizzas at pizza hut are now just ten dollars each. ten dollars! mom: we could actually get everybody the pizza they love. dad: yeah, supreme pan pizza, pepperoni lover's... mom: we saved a ton of money and all eight kids got exactly what they wanted. mom: well, make that nine kids. dad: they shot me first! anncr: right now any pizza at pizza hut is just $10. any pizza, any size, any crust, and any toppings - for only $10. only at your pizza hut. when you've been a victim of a scam, it's embarrassing. >> part of the problem with investigating these crimes is most victims will never come forward. they're just too embarrassed. they do not want to let their families know, and these scammers realize this and they use that very fair against them. >> but shireen, the connecticut woman who lost nearly a quarter of a million dollars in an internet scam, not only was brave enough to tell police, now she's helping "dateline" as we try to turn the tables on her scammer. mr. grant, this is shireen. we've met face to face with the so-called diplomat, jeffrey grant who is supposed to deliver shireen's $15 million inheritance. to our surprise the meeting is happening right here in the u.s. in a hotel room we rented in greenville, south carolina. it seems as if mr. grant is a part of a ring of internet thieves operating in america. after a few minutes he told us he had to leave to pick up forms and the huge pile of catch they've been promgsing shireen. >> you can bring the money up here? >> when he returns, we wonder if he'll pull the same black money trick shireen saw before in london. mr. grant is gone for more than two hours, and i'm beginning to worry he might be on to us. so i call just to make sure he's coming back. hello plshgs grant. >> yeah. >> but we're in for another surprise. when he hears it's me, mr. grant quickly puts a woman on the phone. she says she's from a local storage company that's been protecting a mysterious shipment. >> we just know that it's heavy and it's stored if one of the underground vaults. >> of course, we're supposed to think the container holding shireen's multi-million dollar inheritance, but what this is leading up is another attempt to dip into shireen's pocketbook. before we see the serious shipment, the woman says we need to give more cash to mr. grant, 3 $37,600 to be exact, supposedly so he can pay the storage fees. >> mr. grant is going to come here and get the $37,600 and he'll bring it to you. >> bring it back to our office. >> do you want cashier's check or cash? >> absolutely cash. >> absolutely cash. okay. cash, exactly what criminals want. i'll bet you dinner at your favorite restaurant there is no container. but i think we have a local ring here. turns out we haven't been made at all. in fact, the scammers apparently think they can take us for even more money. you want some coffee? sure enough that plaerch grant is back at our hotel to collect $37,000. before we hand over the cash i have a few questions, like confirming the money we have to pay. the amount i have to give you now for shireen is 37,600. that's the number? >> yeah. >> sl anything else involved? with each question the answers getting more suspicious, for instance, since i'm handing up over so many cash up front shouldn't i about there to pick up the fortune. would it be wise if i went with you to pick up the cate. >> it's good to go for me but for security reasons. >> he's telling me coming along to the underground vault would be a security problem, but i keep asking. >> maybe i could help you carry it if it's that heavy. >> it's not a problem. >> are you insure i'm happy to go with you if you'd like. >> trust me it's no problem. >> then the question of what's supposed to be in the container. remember shireen has been promised $15 million, but remarkably mr. grant claims he he not know what's in the mysterious trunk. do you think it's filled with money or gold or valuables or what? in fact this so-called diplomat can't give us a receipt for the tens of thundershowers of dollars we're being to hand over in terms for shireen's supposed fortune. do you have any paperwork for us or a reseat of some sort for the money you want to gich us now. do you have a receipt with you? >> what receipt? >> a receipt for $36,700? >> no. >> if there was ever any doubt that was part of a scam to take more money from a woman who's already lost her life savings, there's none now. it's about time for me to tell mr. grant who i he really am. mr. grant, there's something you need to know. i'm chris hansen with dateline nbc. despite everything you've just seen, the so-called diplomat insists he's done nothing wrong. now that you're in trouble -- >> i'm not in trouble. >> i think you are in trouble. when "dateline" continues. or imagine catching icy caramel flakes as they drift down -- melting just as they touch your tongue or sliding down mounds of whipped cream right into a pile of rich chocolaty goodness. [ male announcer ] send your taste buds a sweet shiver with mcdonald's new mccafé frappe. a creamy blend of ice, coffee and mocha. or caramel. mmm. sweet. ♪ ba da ba ba ba aflac is help protect and care for your employees at no cost to your company insurance. if all you know about us is... duck: aflac! ...then you don't know quack. to find out more visit getquack.com. so after i give you the money, you go to the storage facility. you pay them. they give you the documentation. they release this crate? we're face-to-face with a so-called diplomat. he says he'll give you us a crate kept in an underground vault in south carolina. are you going to bring it back here? i'll. >> i'll bring it back here. >> we this it's part of a sophisticated scam that stole this woman's life savings. shireen has been helping "dateline" for nearly a year trying to lure one of the thieves out of the shadows. it's time to turn the tables on a man wanting to take more of her money. mr. grant, there's something you need to know. i'm chris hansen with dateline nbc, and we've taken a look at this group you're apparently affiliated with, a group that has taken $200,000 of her money. >> i don't take my money for anybody. >> you're about to take 37,600 from me. >> i don't. >> that's not what you said a moment ago. >> i don't. >> what do you say to this woman? the people you work with and know took her for $200,000. >> i don't. >> why don't you just tell me the truth right now. you know there's no crate or riches and there's nothing of value in a crate. mr. grant denies he has anything to do with the scam, but suddenly he's bashful about who he really is. i'd like to see some i.d., please. >> what i.d.? >> your identification, your driver's license, your passport. you told me that you were jeffrey grant from south africa, and the very least you can do is prove that. otherwise, i have no reason to believe you. >> sir, you asked me a question. i answered you. i told you you don't owe me any money. >> that's not what you said before. now that you're in trouble. >> i'm not in trouble. >> irng you are in trouble, because you're agralted with a group of people that have been pulling scams. >> now he's not only denying he's part of a scam, he's saying he never used the name jeffrey grant. so your name is not jeffrey grant? simple question. >> i never told you my name is jeffrey grant? i have not. i haven't told you my name is jeffrey grant. >> that's what i called youle all day. in fact, that's the name he's been responding to for weeks. there were phone calls to set up the meeting. >> mr. grant. >> the phone call this morning telling me we'd just arrived. >> hi, mr. grant. and the first time he walked into our hotel room. >> mr. grant, this is shireen. even though we have it all on tape, he's trying to pretend it never happened. >> how do you expect to pull this off? it's a scam and con, and we've seen it before. >> whatever. >> and you're smack-dab in the middle of it. his world now seems a bit topsy-turvy. he's not mr. grant and involved in a scam, and now he's denying he knows the person that set up the meeting, barrister davis. how do you know him? >> i don't know him. >> how can you tell me you don't know. he's the one that said you're the guy to come see to do this deal? >> and you've been talking to him over the phone. >> talking to who? >> barristed davis. >> he doesn't know we recorded his every word. remember when he walked into the hotel room. >> i got a call from mr. davis. and he said as soon as you come here to give him a call. >> okay. >> he seemed to know barrister davis then. >> now you don't know him? >> how can you sit here and lie to me like that? what you're saying doesn't make sense in that barrister davis gave us the information. explain that. >> listen, i'll explain myself to you. >> not very well and not truthfully. >> if you're thinking it can't get any stranger, just listen as mr. whoever he is begins to blame shireen for the entire scam saying she's trying to take money she doesn't deserve from poor africans. >> i want to know exactly if there's poverty in africa why does it keep going over and over people getting poor because people are ripping africa off, right? >> so you're the victim, africa is the victim? >> i want to know why are you from the beginning. >> so she's the bad guy? >> that's what i'm telling you. i'm telling her she cheated with people overseas twoerz year or whatever. why was she doing that? >> she thought she would make money. >> she was ripping people off overseas. >> she's ripping people off? that's outrageous. no matter what we ask, he won't admit a thing. look, we can go round sxrouand in this forever. we were given your "nascar now" and you responded to our calls and you set up a deal in which we were supposed to give you 37, $600 to this storage facility and bring back a chest of valuables. is that wrong? >> whatever you said is -- >> is what i just said wrong? yes or no? very simple. clearly he he's not answering my questions. >> thanks very much. >> can i leave? >> yes. you're free to go. >> he may think he's free and clear of all responsibility but there are others who may not think so. >> place your hands behind your back. you're under arrest. >> we told police in connecticut about our meeting and they tipped up authorities in south carolina. greenville police had been monitoring the meeting on their own from an adjoining room. the so-called diplomat is under arrest, but we've only started to scratch the surface of just how widespread this crime ring really is. and how profitable. >> 2300 from this person, 5,000 from this person, 6,000 from this person. when i add it up, it's about $2.3 million. >> when "follow the money" continues. thanks to the new venture card from capital one, we get double miles on every purchase. so we earned a ski trip twice as fast. we get double miles every time we use our card. 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"dateline" watched as an investigator from the local sheriff's department opened the evidence they seized in that case three years ago. >> this was the great book. >> including a logbook from his apartment listing hundreds of potential victims from all over the country. eye possible clue on how thieves stay so organized when communicating all over the world. >> each page lists at least one victim. 2500 from this person, 5,000 from this person, 6,000 from this person. >> the total take if he collected it it all. >> when i added it up it was about $2.3 million. >> that's right. more than $2 million. and there's more. remember that black money trick shireen saw? bundling of black bills? >> yes, yes. >> so walk me through this evidence. >> when the detective shows me the idea he said smuggling black money out of africa was part of the scam three years ago. >> according to the doctor he saw a foot locker full of money that was black. >> this was some of the -- >> money as he called it, sir. >> is it just pieces of paper dyed black? >> pieces of paper with liquid shoe polish. >> shoe polish and bottles of supposedly he special chemicals to turn it back into real money. turns out the doctor fell for the same trick shireen saw. it was a doctor. you'd think he would know better. the detective says he tried to convince federal authorities to take the multi-million dollar case, but they declined, even though his logbooks had detailed entries and names of the scammers overseas and names of u.s. victims, the fortune they'd been promised, even the fame names he was supposed to use when he met them. meanwhile, the texas doctor who had been ripped off was getting cold feet about testifying. local prosecutors cut a deal with the suspect. he paid the doctor back and the charges were dropped. in other words, he walked free to try to rip off other people like shireen. if the phone numbers in those logbooks are any indication, there may have been hundreds of them. paid 4-7, suburban chicago, 7-02, las vegas. he's operating all around the country? >> yes, sir. >> kenneth, how are you doing sf. >>? >> i wanted to ask him about the new information. we found him at his apartment on house arrest awaiting trial. he invites us in, but when i start asking about that list of victims all across the country, he doesn't have much to say. >> when you we when you were arrested in 2007, police found all the these logs in your possession, these records. indicating for instance that these were contacts, these were targets of your scam? >> i got a lawyer. if you want to ask my lawyer a question, we'll be glad to go to my lawyer. later his lawyer told us that kenneth is innocent until proven guilty. as for that logbook the police showed us, the lawyer said he didn't know anything about it. what about the story we heard about shireen's fortune being stored in an underground vault? >> it's stored in one of the underground vaults. >> rick floyd, the lead detective in greenville, says none of it it checks out. >> we don't think there ever was a case of money. >> did you ever find the special storage vault? >> no, we did not. >> did you ever find a warehouse in. >> no. >> the trunk? >> no. >> it's stored in one of the underground -- >> what about the woman on the phone? she hasn't been identified either. what's next for kenneth? >> right now he's been indicted in south carolina, but the secret service is looking into it and will most likely adopt the case. >> at this point it looks like a federal prosecution. >> right. >> and for shireen, the victim brave enough to step forward, even though she may never get her money back, finally a measure of satisfaction. these guys drained your savings? >> yes. >> embarrassed you? >> right. >> how did it feel for you to see this guy put in handcuffs and arrested? >> it made me feel really great. finally some justice. >> what do you say to people who say this could never happen to me, i'm too isn't that right? >> we're not as smart as we think we are when it comes to human emotions. even the best of us can become victims in the end. they're sometimes better at what they do than we are at what we do. >> federal agents aren't saying anything publicly about their investigation, but the challenge will be trying to track down the members of the crime ring like barrister davis based yoerch seas. for information on how to protect yourself from e-mail scams and who to talk to if you're victimized, visit or