In this episode of Mailin’ It!, hosts Karla Kirby and Jonathan Castillo continue their True Crimes series with a gripping account of a romance scam that turned fatal. Retired Postal Inspector Natalie Reda joins the show to discuss the tragic case of Laura Kowal, a 57-year-old Illinois woman who was scammed out of $1.5 million through an online relationship. What began as a search for love ended in financial ruin and a mysterious death. Tune in to hear how the U.S. Postal Inspection Service worked alongside other agencies to investigate this heartbreaking case, uncovering a web of fraud that led to devastating consequences.
This week on Mailin’ It, Karla and Jonathan speak with retired Postal Inspector Natalie Reda about a tragic case of romance fraud that shocked investigators. Laura Kowal, a retired hospital executive, fell victim to an online romance scam, losing $1.5 million before her suspicious death in 2020. Natalie walks us through the investigation, revealing how the scam was connected to a larger fraud network and how law enforcement traced the money. The episode sheds light on the tactics used by scammers, the emotional toll on victims, and steps listeners can take to protect themselves from similar scams. If you or someone you know is active in online dating, this episode is essential listening to stay informed and safe.
Karla Kirby:
Hello and welcome to Mailin’ It, the official podcast of the United States Postal Service. I'm Karla Kirby.
Jonathan Castillo:
And I'm Jonathan Castillo. Thanks for tuning in to the second episode in our Postal Inspection Service True Crime series, where we speak with US Postal Inspectors about some of their most notable cases. Today we're talking about something the Inspection Service sees. All too often, romance scams. Romance scams are a type of fraud where a criminal or group of criminals create fake online personas that they use to attract romantic partners. Once they've gained a partner's trust, they then exploit the relationship by stealing from them. As if that isn't bad enough. The case we will be discussing in this episode, expose and even darker side of romance scams.
Karla Kirby:
Well, that clearly sounds like Catfishing 2.0. Today we'll be speaking with retired Postal Inspector, Natalie Reda, about one case that took a tragic turn. Back in 2020, an Illinois resident left her house mysteriously one day only for her body to be found days later in the Mississippi River, miles from her home. We'll talk about how an online romance scam may have played a part in her death and how the Postal Inspection Service helped investigate the crime. Natalie, welcome to Mailin’ It.
Natalie Reda:
Good morning everybody. Nice to be here. Thanks for having me.
Jonathan Castillo:
Natalie. Thank you so much for joining us remotely from Chicago. Could you quickly take us through the basics of the case before we drilled down to the specifics?
Natalie Reda:
Sure. years ago, I was involved in an investigation that identified a victim by the name of Laura Kowal. She was a 57-year-old woman who was a retired hospital executive and lived in Galena, Illinois. In 2018, she became involved in a relationship that involved online dating through an online dating website. Things started off well with her and her online boyfriend, and seemed to be going well until things took a turn for the worst. After Laura's death, things became clearer that she was involved in a romance scam, and that she had lost almost $1.5 million.
Karla Kirby:
That's a lot of money. So let's dive into how the story goes from an online dating to someone having their life savings emptied and how the Postal Inspection Service enters the picture. Natalie, how did you first get involved with this case?
Natalie Reda:
In early 2020, I was contacted by an Internal Revenue Service agent, criminal investigator, as well as an Homeland Security investigator. Both had initiated contact with me because they were investigating an inheritance scam. The scam involved mailing form letters to intended victims for an inheritance scam, and the mailings are considered mass marketing fraud because of the number of individuals that they contact. The inheritance scam basically asks individuals to respond to this letter that is either from a loved one or from an attorney that was hired by a loved one or a relative. It was the Homeland Security and Internal Revenue Service special agents who spearheaded the investigation along with the DuPage County Sheriff's Department, and they looked into the investigation learning that it involved also other scams such as business email compromise and romance scams. The reason that the Postal Inspection Service was contacted was because obviously the mail system is being used, but also they suspected a Postal Service employee was involved. The Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security initiated an undercover investigation into the mailings and the subjects of interest in the case led back to Illinois. The investigation involved the undercover sending an undercover mailing to the fraudsters, and it was a payment to the fraudsters for an inheritance scam. The Postal Service or the Postal Inspection Service was tasked with tracking that piece of mail and observing the mail being delivered. Laura Kowal’s name came up in the investigation because she was an individual who had sent money to the fraudster's bank accounts.
Karla Kirby:
So, Natalie, you mentioned an inheritance scam. What did that have to do with the romance scam that Laura got caught up in?
Natalie Reda:
Well, oftentimes scammers utilize bank accounts for various scams. They're indiscriminate in what they send to a bank account. The bank accounts are just a means of funneling money from victims and the bank accounts that we were looking at in, in the case of Laura Kowal showed numerous wire transfers, deposits and money being withdrawn in what we dub as suspicious activity. Earlier in the year the IRS investigator tried getting in contact with Laura Kowal to find out why she had sent the money, but Laura never responded to her phone calls. So by the time I had been involved in the investigation, it was already further along. We knew who the suspects were, but we hadn't contacted all the individuals who had sent money to the bank accounts. That's what I was tasked to do, and that's what initiated my call to Laura. I actually called Laura on a Friday morning, left her a message, never heard back from her, but I also spoke to Laura's daughter Kelly, who ended up calling me back.
Jonathan Castillo:
Wait, so Kelly just, you know, gets this call out of the blue from you? I'm sure that must have been pretty jarring on her part, you know, but did she know anything about the IRS's investigation at this point?
Natalie Reda:
No, Kelly had no idea why I was calling and didn't know that the IRS had actually contacted her mom. When I called, I tried to explain to her why I was calling, but when you initially call somebody, of course they're suspicious or you at least hope they are, and Kelly was, Kelly actually said, I can't talk to you right now. I'm gonna, I wanna verify who you are. So I gave her suggestions on how she could verify my identity. That included calling a local post office, calling local police, going to a local post office, calling the 800 number for the Inspection Service, everything. Kelly ended up contacting the local post office, and they were able to identify who I was. And so Kelly felt comfortable calling me back. So when she called me back, she immediately told me that she knew what this involved, what the money her mom had sent to the suspicious bank accounts involved, because she went back to an online relationship her mom had a couple years earlier that her and her mom had had a disagreement about. Kelly was suspicious of this online person and had expressed her concerns to her mom. So mom must have just stopped telling Kelly what was going on. When Kelly called her mom that morning when I called her, her mom said, don't worry about it, Kelly, I'll call her back, meaning me. I never heard from Laura Kowal.
Karla Kirby:
So you never heard back from Laura after speaking to her daughter, and she also didn't attempt to call you back?
Natalie Reda:
No, Laura never, never called me back. And actually later that day, Kelly called me probably a couple hours later. She called to say that she couldn't get ahold of her mom and asked if her mom ever called me back. I told her no, I never heard from her mom. Kelly then said, I don't like the fact that I can't get ahold of my mom. It's not like her. It's very out of character. To be out of touch with Kelly. Kelly's dad had died two years earlier, and mom had changed her life dramatically by moving to Galena, Illinois and then retired. So Kelly and her mom were in constant contact, and when her mom didn't pick up her calls or call her back, Kelly got suspicious. By the time lunchtime had hit that day, now it's still Friday when I called, it's lunchtime, and Kelly calls me to say, I think something's wrong. I'm heading to my mom's house. And initially I thought, well, you know, that's a bit over the top. Why would you head out so fast? And Kelly said, I just have a gut feeling something's wrong, and I'm going to my mom's. Now, Kelly lived about two hours away from her mom and just got in the car and said, I'm heading out. On the way Kelly called her aunt mom's sister to say something's wrong. Gave her an update about my call and everything else that Kelly was suspicious of. And mom's sister ended up meeting Kelly in Galena at their, at her mom's house. So Kelly and her aunt show up at mom's house. Mom's house is closed, but the windows are open, and the dog was left home. It was very uncommon for her mom to leave the dog home much less for that many hours. Kelly couldn't get ahold of her mom and suspected her mom had turned off the telephone around lunchtime, which I think was one of the reasons that it had raised Kelly's suspicion to, you know, immediately go to her mom's house.
Jonathan Castillo:
I can only imagine, you know, how disturbing and, you know, just downright scary that would've been for Kelly not knowing where her mother went, but you know, in the back of her head, knowing that, you know, her mother had been scammed. So what happened next?
Natalie Reda:
Well, Kelly and the aunt sat for a while, I think, in the house and, you know, just kind of waited for mom to come home, but now it's getting later in the day. And as it got closer to dinnertime, Kelly calls me and says, I think I'm gonna call the local police and file a missing persons. Kelly believed her mom had broken ties with the online romance or boyfriend by the name of Frank Borg. And it had been years, but Kelly, back, back when she had confronted her mom was suspicious of this Frank Borg and told her mom. So, so at dinner time when she called the local police, she is reporting that her mom is missing and she doesn't know where she went. Local police said, okay, you know, we'll get back to you. Call us if you hear anything. A little bit of time goes by. But the local police had done something proactive, which I didn't realize that they would do, but they pinged mom's phone in case there was something that they could find out her location and then alleviating any fears that mom was missing. Well, they had learned then, which we didn't know until many hours later, that mom had turned off her phone around lunchtime close to the Iowa border. She mom was in Illinois, she was gonna cross over a bridge into the Iowa border, and that's when the phone was turned off. And I don't know if you're familiar with Illinois and Iowa... The Mississippi River basically runs between the two of 'em, and that's where the two states are separated. So Mississippi River is very prevalent up and down the west side of Illinois, and mom was crossing over the Mississippi River in an area that she didn't normally go to. So again, suspicious for everybody. Later that evening, the sheriff's department comes and Kelly starts explaining to the sheriff's why she thinks her mom is missing. And while Kelly was searching the house, she found a letter buried under paperwork in Laura's desk that was written to Kelly, telling her that she was still involved with Frank Borg and that she had been leading a double life, and that she didn't tell Kelly the truth about the relationship that she had with Frank. The note was amongst other documents such as wire transfers to foreign countries like China, and it reached into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don't think at the time Kelly realized the gravity of what all that money meant, but she certainly found out later that it was a great deal of money. We learned over the course of the weekend that mom had not used her car through an IPasss toll booth. Her cell phone records showed no activity. Kelly had access to those credit card information. We found out that mom had maxed out her credit cards months earlier, so there was no activity on those, and her bank account wasn't being utilized because it was pretty much empty. So over the course of the weekend, we got a clearer picture of what was going on with mom's finances, and we had no leads as to where mom was. Kelly was the one that actually went into mom's email account and found communications with this Frank that showed the romantic nature of their relationship and that it had been going on over the course of two years.
Jonathan Castillo:
I'm curious, and I I just wanted to go back really quickly to something that you had said a little bit earlier, which was, you know, it sounded like Kelly knew from the get go that this Frank Borg was, you know, just not to be trusted. Did she ever mention to you why she had that gut feeling? If, if she saw any red flags in that type of situation?
Natalie Reda:
She didn't like the way her mom was acting within this online relationship, and Kelly had a bad feeling that this guy was a conman, but mom didn't wanna hear about it. And so, you know, Kelly and Laura had a disagreement about it, and then Laura told Kelly that she had broke it off with Frank. So fast forward to now when mom is missing, mom had sent all this money out of the country, but Kelly didn't know for what purpose, and she suspected it was all connected to this Frank Borg because of what had gone on with her mom earlier years earlier.
Karla Kirby:
So we had one person who could answer all the questions about where her money went, but we couldn't seem to find her. You know, you mentioned Natalie, that you were in contact with the police over the weekend trying to locate her, trying to get more information on the case. What happened as that weekend closed out?
Natalie Reda:
Over the weekend I talked to Kelly I countless times, and it went from morning to night for three solid days. By Sunday evening the local county sheriff called me and notified me that Laura Kowal’s body had been found by boaters on the Mississippi River, and that she, she was deceased. Law enforcement believed that Laura most likely committed suicide, but the autopsy revealed that Laura's death was by drowning, and they had no other answers.
Karla Kirby:
Was there anything in the car or anything that would've led law enforcement to believe there was foul play?
Natalie Reda:
Law enforcement really had no idea what happened with Laura, but they did find that she had locked all her valuables in the car and found her car key fob and sweater by the edge of the river.
Jonathan Castillo:
That is just a heartbreaking story, and obviously we don't know all of the details in Laura's case, but what we do know is that romance and inheritance scams are very real. Let me ask you this, Natalie, how does Laura's case compare with some of the other romance scams that you've investigated?
Natalie Reda:
Over the years I have interviewed hundreds of romance scam victims, and they're not dissimilar to Laura's case, but for the fact that she ended up deceased. A lot of these victims are completely crushed by scammers asking for money that oftentimes some of these victims don't even have. Romance scammers often go to people's loneliness and search for love. They're looking for somebody who is vulnerable and victims are hopeful. They want to find a companion or someone who cares about them. They're scammed because they fall so readily for somebody who flatters them, gives 'em attention, talks to them, and gives them hope. And these scams are indiscriminate. It doesn't have to be someone who is old or lacking in mental capacity. This is everybody. It's all ages. It's young and old. It's all education levels. It doesn't matter your race. It doesn't matter what you do for a living. These guys find a way to get into your life, and they intertwine themselves so well that the person being scammed believes that they know this person. Oftentimes, romance scam victims have never even met the individuals, and they've never seen 'em even on video. So it's very scary to think that you would give up your life savings to somebody you've never met, but they do.
Karla Kirby:
So I've looked at some of the numbers, and it looks like the Federal Trade Commission reported that more than 64,000 Americans were defrauded out of over $1.14 billion by romance scammers last year alone. So obviously this is a huge problem. Was anyone arrested for either the romance scam or the larger inheritance scam in this instance?
Natalie Reda:
Yes. There were two individuals that were foreign nationals living in the US as well as the US citizen who was a, also a postal employee. The three of 'em were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and the investigators identified $750,000 in loss associated with the scam. The defendants two pled guilty and one was found guilty after a trial. All three hour waiting sentencing at this point.
Karla Kirby:
So what are some ways that our listeners can protect themselves and their loved ones from these types of scams?
Natalie Reda:
First off, I think that education is the number one way to protect ourselves. Education that I can't stress it enough, is the only way that we are gonna stop people from sending money to other individuals. It would be very smart to consider who you're talking with online. Of course, Google their name, search their photos. You can take a photo off one site and drop it into Google and it will show you where those images are related to. Look for things that are red flags, such as, yes, this profile has shown up in different accounts, maybe under different names. That's a huge red flag. When you're talking to somebody online, a dating site through chat, whatever, initiate phone calls. If they can't make a phone call, you gotta ask yourself, why couldn't they make a phone call? You can talk to your friends. Your friends have no problem talking to you. If these scammers give you an excuse that they're too busy, well then they're not interested. Just move on, find somebody else. Never date somebody that's supposedly out of town for work and just can't make it back to the States to see you. I think it is a red flag when someone isn't giving you their time. Video chats, yes, you can video chat with somebody. We do it all the time, FaceTime, whatever it is. You can protect the background, you can blur your background so they can't find things that would make it obvious where you live or personal information. If they can't get on the video, you, again, you have to ask yourself why. If they use excuses, like their video doesn't work, their phone doesn't work, maybe you don't even wanna be dating somebody that can't handle simple tools of life like a phone that works. Those are all red flags. Do not send money to anybody you've never met in person. And even then you have to question, why do you need to give this person money? You're adults, you both should be working. Do you really wanna get involved with somebody who has all these problems?
Jonathan Castillo:
Natalie, what would you say to anyone listening right now? Who thinks they might be the victim of this type of scam?
Natalie Reda:
I would say talk to somebody about it. Even if it's scary. It doesn't have to be a family member 'cause you're embarrassed. Go to a social worker, go call law enforcement. They're gonna at least take that information down. I encourage anybody who has lost money to report it to law enforcement. That could be through, you know, the Inspection Services online website. You can call the Inspection Service. You can contact the Federal Trade commission at ftc.gov. You can report scams to the FBI. I sometimes it's difficult when you go to local law enforcement and try to report a crime like this. They don't have the time to investigate every crime. But know, a lot of that gets compiled to law enforcement and then law enforcement can follow the complaints to initiate an investigation. So I strongly suggest just filing any type of report. And maybe a church member, a family member, a friend, will actually be more compassionate than you think about your predicament.
Karla Kirby:
Well, thank you, Natalie. We also wanna point out, like you mentioned, you can report these crimes to the Postal Inspection Service atuspis.gov, or you can call our toll free number (877) 876-2455. We catch a lot of tips and complaints through our website, so it is a good resource. You can also use the website to learn more about how to protect yourself and your loved ones from these types of scams. Also, as Natalie mentioned, you can reach out to the Federal Trade commission at ftc.gov or the FBI's IC3online. And if you're not tech savvy, you can always call these government entities. They're all set up to take phone calls and online complaints.
Jonathan Castillo:
Natalie, thank you so much for joining us today. It was great speaking with you.
Natalie Reda:
Thanks for having me. It's such an important topic and I hope people actually learned something from this.
Karla Kirby:
Next up is one of my favorite parts of the podcast: the Did You Know, segment where Jonathan and I each share a little known fact about the US Postal Service. I'll get us started. Jonathan, how much do you know about the original zip code campaign?
Jonathan Castillo:
Well, I know it was a fairly large campaign to promote the zip code after the idea was first introduced at a postmasters convention in 1962. At that time, the Post Office Department was trying to avoid the same problem that at and t had when it introduced area codes to phone numbers.
Karla Kirby:
Right. Initially, the Post Office Department was worried the general public would be unwilling to use the special codes on their mail. So the department decided to add personality to the campaign by introducing Mr. Zip.
Jonathan Castillo:
Mr. Zip?
Karla Kirby:
Yep. Originally created by Chase Manhattan Bank for its bank by mail campaign. Mr. Zip is a cartoon mail carrier who emphasized that in rain or shine every piece of mail would make it to its destination so long as it had the proper code on it.
Jonathan Castillo:
Did Mr. Zip work? I mean, did the public like him?
Karla Kirby:
The general public sure did. Unfortunately though he wasn't a huge favorite among mail carriers, many of whom felt insulted by the cartoon. Some were also worried zip codes in general would dumb down the profession since they previously had to memorize complicated schemes representing towns, neighborhoods, and streets. One mail carrier from Fort Worth, Texas even said, no letter carrier I have ever seen looked as absurd as Mr. Zip
Jonathan Castillo:
Based on how important zip codes have become. It seems like the campaign was a success, even if Mr. Zip got mixed reviews. For my, did you know, I'll be sharing something I hope is much less polarizing than Mr. Zip. Karla did you know that our friends at the Smithsonian's National Post Museum sponsor prizes for US scholarship focused on the history of the Postal system?
Karla Kirby:
I absolutely did not.
Jonathan Castillo:
This year's professional prize went to Dr. Justin Gage for his book “We Do Not Want the Gates Closed Between Us - Native Networks and the Spread of the Ghost Dance.” If that name sounds familiar, it's because Justin came on our podcast in August, 2023. His research focuses on how native individuals and groups came to take advantage of the Postal Service as a way to meet their needs and defend their cultures.
Karla Kirby:
I do recall that Justin was a great guest.
Jonathan Castillo:
In addition to the professional prize, the National Postal Museum awards a graduate student prize. This year's went to Dr. Steven P. Hay for his PhD dissertation entitled “Distance and Difference - Seamen and the Maritime Communications in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the Atlantic World, 1730 to 1800.” Dr. Hay wrote about the ways sailors on the high seas communicated, which sometimes involved the Postal system.
Karla Kirby:
Well that's great. I'm glad Postal history is getting the recognition it deserves. So, Jonathan, how about that? A scam that led to suicide?
Jonathan Castillo:
Yeah, you know, it, it was just so fascinating to hear Natalie retell this story of you know, these, these romance scams, these inheritance scams and, just, you know, that darker side to it. You know, sometimes you think, oh, it's just about, you know, the, the money and yeah, they're, you know, then it ends with the death of the, you know, of the victim. I mean, that's just, that's just terrible. It's heartbreaking.
Karla Kirby:
Yeah, I definitely agree, and not only with the romance scams, but inheritance scams also, we definitely have to be in tuned with our loved ones, especially older populations where they may be alone and they're looking for companionship. And online and via the mail may not necessarily be the best place to look for that companionship, or at least be vigilant about the relationships that you're starting online or via the mail. And that's all for this episode of Mailin’ It. Don't forget to subscribe to Mailin’ It wherever you get your podcast to make sure you don't miss the next episode and follow along on Instagram @US Postal Service, X @usps, and on Facebook.