William Webster, who was once Director of the FBI, provided some cloak-and-dagger assistance to a younger group of agents probing an international crime case. Webster, who also served as Director of the CIA, wasn’t just offering professional advice from an armchair. He and his wife Lynda were once the targets of a Jamaican lottery scam. In this type of fraud, the victims receive an unsolicited phone call saying they have won a lottery or sweepstakes but need to pay money to claim the jackpot. It’s a scam that frequently targets older Americans, according to law enforcement professionals. Webster said the scammers told his wife she would die from a sniper’s bullet if the couple didn’t cough up thousands of dollars to collect what was described as $72 million in prize money. What the scammers didn’t realize was that they were dealing with the former Director of the FBI and that his phone had been set up to tap any conversations the couple exchanged with the scammers. Needless to say, the FBI did its job and captured the perpetrator, 29-year-old Keniel Thomas of Montego Bay, Jamaica, when he arrived at New York’s Kennedy International Airport. Thomas pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6 years in prison. Today, Webster is 100, and he and his wife Lynda still live in Washington, DC. Even though the CIA took steps the make the couple’s home more secure, Lynda said they never feel completely safe because of the threats they received.
