Dr. Phil: Is This Man Getting Catfished?

Dr Phil’s guest, 71-year-old Mort, says that he’s in love with his “fiance” Keri, who he met online and who he has given more than $100,000 over the years. Keri is supposedly currently stuck in Malaysia, awaiting her inheritance, which will net her millions of dollars. Mort’s daughters Kim and Ann Marie think that their father is being scammed by a con artist, or in modern lingo, a catfish.

Mort met Keri on a dating website and said he’s going to marry Keri when she comes back to America. He felt so strongly about it and about other people’s denial of her existence that he broke down crying while talking about it.

It’s worth nothing that the woman in the pictures that Mort believes to be a woman named Keri Davis is probably not really the woman and is probably also not involved in any scam. Nevertheless, Dr. Phil chose to use her images. Since he posted a warning on his site for this video, I’m posting one, too.

Dr. Phil: Gullible Man Scammed?

Kim and Ann Marie say their father is getting scammed and that he’s very gullible. Last year, their mother died. They haven’t been able to bury her ashes and buy her a headstone because Mort wired her $40,000 life insurance policy to Malaysia. Ann Marie said that they both feel terrible that they haven’t been able to bury her yet.

Both of the daughters have told Mort that they believe it is a scam, but he refuses to believe them.

Dr. Phil: What Do We Know About Her?

Mort has been told that Keri is an only child and both of her parents are deceased. She’s part Malaysian and went there for her mother’s funeral, where she learned she was going to inherit $2.75 million. She also owns a home in Rapid City, South Dakota, where she’s an unemployed registered nurse. Now, she’s stuck in Malaysia trying to get her inheritance back to the U.S.

Dr. Phil estimated the amount that Mort has actually given her, based on his records, to be about $138,000. Dr. Phil wondered why Mort never went to Malaysia to meet Keri. Mort said he didn’t have a passport.

“Well, you can get one for less than $138,000,” Dr. Phil said.

Dr. Phil: Facing Criminal Charges Due To The Scam?

Mort was banned by Western Union from wiring “Keri Davis” in Malaysia. So he started a new system of hiding money in magazines, which he then sends via package through UPS. Dr. Phil said that smuggling money out of the U.S. is a crime. The government is very serious about this, because money smuggled out of the country could be going to fund terrorists.

Ann Marie added that she talked to the UPS when she was trying to figure out how Mort was still sending money and they told her they had been investigating Mort for a while for smuggling money out of the country. The penalty for that can be up to 5 years imprisonment and seizing of property.

Dr. Phil: Con Artist Or Real Woman?

Dr. Phil invited investigator Doug Kane to see what he could determine about this case. They found a picture of Keri, one of the same pictures sent to Mort, on a Ukrainian mail order bride site. It turns out that not one thing Keri told Mort was true. “Keri Davis” is a made up persona. Mort only talked to her once on the phone, although he’s been emailing her a lot. Dr. Phil asked him if he could entertain the possibility that this woman doesn’t exist and Mort seemed to be struggling with it.

One of his daughters said he intended to send $9,000 when they got back home. Mort said that Keri wanted him to, but he didn’t want to anymore. Dr. Phil urged him to stop sending this person money, especially since he’s being investigated.

“You’re a nice man. You don’t deserve this. I want you to stop doing this,” Dr. Phil said.