Husband Lost $270,000 Of Our 401(k) In A Scam

[Music] Brought to you by Xander Insurance. Identity theft protection isn't a luxury in today's world. It's a necessity. Get yours at xander.com. Well, I received this weekend I received some devastating news that my husband was scammed out of our his almost his entire 401k and um so now it's tax time and um we're going to have to pay taxes on it. So, we have no more retirement and our savings is going to be wiped out. And um I I don't know where he began from here. What did he How did he get scammed? What did he put it in? It was a crypto. Crypto. It was a Yes. How much? And 270,000. 270,000. Yes, sir. And there there's a little bit of a backstory. I'm not making excuses for him, but there's a little bit of a backstory as to why he felt financially strapped that he felt he needed to do this to secure a financial our our financial future. Um, how how old are you? I'm 57. He's 58. Um, we have no debt. We paid off our home in February of 2022. What's your household? What's your household income? These days, it's not if your identity gets stolen, it's when. So, you need ID theft protection from Xander. They monitor your personal info proactively and alert you of any suspicious activity, including home title fraud. Then Xander takes care of everything, including up to $2 million of stolen funds, protection, and white glove service to help you get your life back. Plus, kids are covered for free on their family plan. Call 800356-4282 or go to xander.com. What's your household What's your household income right? I right now he makes approximately 98,000 Mhm. annually. And I I'm currently not working. I um had to quit my job in January of 2023 because um I was diagnosed with cancer and the medication that I'm on just causes me a lot of side effects that we chose it's better for me to stay home because because we could afford it. Obviously, we have no debt again. and um he was I think he he was looking into securing our future so that he may be able to retire early. He started um doing some research as to how to invest money. He knows nothing about he's not he's not educated in that. So your your voice is fairly muffled. Speak directly into your phone, please. Okay, there you go. Um he's not okay. He's not um No, he's obviously even if he is educated, he's not wise. Mhm. And he got desperate. It sounded like he he did. And right after I get desperate, I usually get stupid. That's what it was. And so that happened in January 2024. in in about March or April, he came up to me and told me that um that he invested a little bit of money and I was like, "Okay." Um and he says and he showed me that it was he showed me the the app and he showed me that the money was I mean we had made it made about 3 or400,000 and I said, "Okay, well, how much did you invest?" And he told me at that time he said 30,000. I said, "Where did you get the money from?" Cuz I take care of all the banking. and he said that he pulled it out of the 401k. And I said, "Okay, mistake. You know, we'll get we'll get through this." I found a temporary job. I made enough money to cover the taxes. I made I I calculated we probably owe about 6,000 um taxes. I said, "Okay, great. Well, I'll take care of it and I'll get a permanent job so it won't affect our savings." And now that it's tax time, I kept looking for the the form that comes in, the 1099R, I believe, and he kept making excuses as to why he hasn't gotten he had we hadn't received it. So, I kind of had a feeling that it was worse than what I knew and uh that it was worse than what he had told me. And this weekend, he gave me the paper and it was 270,000. So now we will have to and now it's worth zero. Of course it Yes. Well, he I looked at it last night and there was about 16,000 in it right now. But was it really a scam or did he just lose? Like did he get scammed by a scammer or he invested the money and he lost the investment? No, it wasn't an an actual scammer. I had demanded that I I back when he told me it was 30,000. I demanded to know where he sent it, how he sent it. I I wanted to know everything. And apparently it was a company in Hong Kong and um I I looked up the address and it's it's it's in the slums of Hong Kong. I'm like, why didn't you do the research before? Well, the thing is now he said that it was the 200 I'm like, how can you how can it go from 30,000 to 270,000? and he said it was about the same time it he invested here, you know, in a couple different Okay. Let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Yes, sir. Does he now own that this is stupid or is he still defending? No. No, he owns it. He's been living with this for the past year and it's I mean he had he's Well, he was lying about it 20 minutes ago. Yeah. You said he just came clean with it. Yeah, he he just came clean with it. But he was living with that lie for the for the But I mean, he's now saying out loud, I completely screwed this up. Yes, he has. That's important because otherwise he's going to do it again, right? And he's like, I I'm prepared to work till I'm 70. I mean, you might as well job right now. And there's not a choice at this point. Belly up, buddy. How's your How's your health? Are you improving? It's getting there. I'm I'm on a clinical trial. Okay. Um and so I'm I'm hoping that this will be something that will, you know, give me more time and um I feel pretty good except, you know, just the usual side effects. I mean, not the usual, but the side effects of medication. But thank you. I'm I'm happy to, you know, every day is a good day and I'm not going to let this bring you down. But it it does scare me for our future. The good news is you have no payments. And so what he needs to do is max out his 401k and you'll need to max out your Roth IAS and um you need to tell him that if he makes any transactions without the two of you being in agreement ever again that that will be the last time he'll do so as your husband. Absolutely. He needs to understand that this has extreme consequences because he not only did something stupid, he lied about it at length. deceived, created a web, a full scenario of lies. That concerns me actually more than his stupidity. Correct. And so, um, you know, that's a big deal. So, yeah, you guys can catch up. I mean, you can make 120 and you max out your 401ks and Roths, max out your Roths and work another 10 years, 12 years, and you will have enough of a nest egg to retire on if you don't do this again. But as soon as he gets desperate and tries to pull off a fast one, that's when you get messed over. And so, ouch. I'm so sorry, honey. With everything you're facing, it's just not fair. Wow. All right, guys. Let me give you a couple principles on that. There's a guy who scammed a bunch of people and wrote a book from jail in the 70s. The book he wrote about himself was Conman or Saint. Obviously, he thought he was a saint, but he was in jail, so he was a con man. Okay. But there was I read that book in the in the early 80s and as a teenager early 20s and the only thing I really got out of the book was he said it's very it's almost impossible to con someone unless they are afraid or greedy. This guy was afraid. His wife had cancer. He's trying to get a bunch of money so that he can not have to work and take care of her. Yeah. and he got desperate based on fear and he said that set him up in the emotional category to be conned. The other crypto people that get conned are the greedy ones. They're trying to make double your money in 20 minutes because I'm the cool kid and I'm the smart one and I grew up with a cell phone in my hand, a smartphone in my hand, so I know everything about digital. No, you don't. You're a greedy fool and you're going to lose your butt in crypto. Also, the second thing you can do you can do is who can find a virtuous wife for her worth is far above ruby rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her and he will have no lack of gain. If you have to hide the investment or the financial move from your spouse, warning, warning, warning, you're screwing up. I have no lack of gain because Sharon and I talk about it before we do it and it keeps me on the rails. The best ID theft protection is from Xander. They not only monitor, they help you get your life back. Go to xander.com to learn more.