India, Oct. 25 -- Mary Ellen Strange never expected to become a scam expert. According to a PBS Kentucky Edition report, scammers posing as federal authorities took nearly $400,000 from the southern Indiana woman. Now she's sharing her story as a warning to others, and she's teamed up with AARP to do it. The report says Americans lost more than $12 billion to scams in 2024, citing Federal Trade Commission data. Her story shows how one phone call can spiral into a devastating scam.

In June 2024, carpet cleaners were in Strange's house, and her dog was barking. She says she usually ignores calls from numbers she doesn't know, but in the commotion she picked up her phone. According to AARP's report, the caller said he was from Amazon's frau...