Bay Area man loses life savings, owes more than $30,000 in taxes after scam

CONCORD, Calif. (KGO) -- A Concord man who once professionally assisted people with security became the victim of a scam himself, losing his life savings. Now on top of it, he anticipates owing more than $30,000 in taxes as a result of the scam.

The perpetrators took advantage of this victim's sense of right and wrong, convincing him that his computer had been hacked and used for illegal activities. They had lots of proof and posed as federal law enforcement. At one point, even involving unsuspecting couriers who may have been rideshare drivers as part of the scam. It all fell apart though when a CVS employee more than 400 miles away in Huntington Beach, California had a feeling something wasn't right.

On March 27, Concord police showed up at Chester Frilich's home.

"And they say, you've been scammed," said Frilich.

Frilich says it all began earlier that month with someone claiming to be from Xfinity. According to a police report he later filed, Frilich told investigators Xfinity told him someone used his personal information to upload videos to a pornographic website and that they were generating a report to the Federal Trade Commission.

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"And about an hour later, I get a call from this man called Jason Brown from the FTC and he informs me that I'm under investigation for wire fraud. And he lists all the credit cards I've had in 40 years," said Frilich.

Frilich says Agent Brown also told him someone rented an apartment in Texas in his name and that the FTC didn't believe he'd made those transactions. To help him, they would move all his money to a secure account.

"And the scam continues - after a couple of days, they have me withdraw more money and this goes on about five times," said Frilich.

Frilich received a letter he believed was from the Department of the Treasury confirming the plan to clear his name. He put large amounts of cash and gold in boxes, picked up by couriers who supplied a password he'd been given. Concord PD believes the couriers may have been rideshare drivers.

"It doesn't appear in most of the cases that the couriers are involved they're somewhat unknowing participants," said Concord PD Detective Dylan Luciano who is is with the financial crimes unit.

He continued receiving letters confirming the transactions. Until one day, he was told there was no courier in his area and that he'd have to mail $8,500 in cash in a box to Huntington Beach via UPS.

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"So I do that and that's when I find out somebody's knocking at my door and it's the police department from Concord," said Frilich.

It turns out UPS delivered the package to a Huntington Beach CVS where Concord PD says two people showed up to pick it up with photos of an ID rather than an actual ID.

"I think it rang enough bells for the employee to deny the package," said Detective Luciano.

Unfortunately, even with both Huntington police and Concord police involved, Frilich didn't get the $8,500 back. That final package is now missing.

"I lost the $8,500 plus all my life savings," said Frilich.

In total, he lost nearly $200,000.

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"They were able to get into my computer, they knew everything about me," said Frilich.

"Having that information is somewhat mission critical for them to be able to convince someone that they are legitimate," said Detective Luciano.

On top of his loss, Frilich says because he cashed out CDs and an IRA, he anticipates owing more than $30,000 in taxes. The IRS told him if he can't pay it off, they'll put a lien on his house.

"It's frustrating for them and it's frustrating for us 'cause it just doesn't seem to stop. It's one problem after another, after another, after another," said Detective Luciano.

"The last thing in the world I want to do is be out on the street," said Frilich.

Frilich says he believes his biggest error was panicking. Once he did, he said he wasn't thinking properly. Concord PD says no legitimate law enforcement agency will ever discourage someone from verifying their identity. The perpetrators had this victim sign a non-disclosure agreement to keep him from verifying who they were. Concord PD says they continue to educate the public about scams like these to prevent other people from being victimized.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help Chester Frilich. You can make a donation here.