Exclusive: Scam victim launches clever plan to gather evidence and help authorities catch a con man

CHICAGO (CBS) – Adam Albin lost tens of thousands of dollars to a man he thought was a good friend. 

Then, he did something most victims would never do. He set up a clever project involving months of investigative and undercover work. 

Ultimately, it helped law enforcement nab the scammer and gave some of the con artist's victims closure.

THE SCAM

Albin first met Rick Dugo at a gym in 2018. That's when Dugo pitched Albin an electronics deal too good to pass up. The deal was to buy 95 iPhones at a deep discount and then resell them for a profit. 

"Bada bing. Bada boom. Easy peasy. No big deal," Albin said.

But after giving more than $18,000 in cash to Dugo for the phones, Albin never got any phones to resell. 

"I'm not a guy that gets conned," Albin said. "I think I'm pretty smart, intelligent just like every other victim."

That's when Albin did something many other people would never do – on his own, he gathered evidence and handed it over to authorities. It was the beginning of his four-and-a-half-year journey to justice.

THE PLAN

The plan began with a simple, yet ingenious move. 

"I created the spoof page," Albin said.

The social media page featured Dugo's face, name, and a message. 

"My name is Rick Dugo. I'm a con artist," the message read. "If I promised anybody any money, please reach out to this email."

It worked. Emails began flooding Albin's inbox. 

"I had a list of 17 victims in one week," he said.

Albin called each one of them, gathering their information and tracking it all in a list. The list featured their names, what happened to them, and when. 

"I would talk to one victim and they would lead me to another victim. It was call after call after call," Albin said. "I've personally spoken to over 100."

He heard stories of bad deals involving Rolex watches, cars, car washes and property. All told, Albin calculated the losses to be close to a million dollars.  

"So I recognized this was a much bigger deal," he said.

Albin also gathered court records, mostly civil cases, going back decades across multiple states. Some were won by the victims, others won by Dugo.

Albin also saved screenshots of texts exchanged between himself and Dugo.

He kept it all in a simple red folder he calls 'The Dugo File.' He took that to Lake County, Illinois Sheriff's office, State's Attorney's office, and task force investigators. 

"From what I've heard, they've interviewed about 178 victims," Dugo said. "That speaks volumes that they took it so seriously."

CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller is a former Cook County prosecutor. He knows the value of what Albin handed over. 

"This is a prosecutor's dream," said Miller. "The fact that you have the victim do all the investigation, presents you with a package and you say, 'Wow, this guy really did a great job.'"

Miller praises Albin for his creativity and thoroughness in gathering the evidence. 

"So when you have text messages, emails, multiple witnesses, multiple victims, and put it all together… it's not one person. It's not one piece of evidence," Miller said. "It's a chunk of stuff that we can prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt."

In August 2018, prosecutors asked Albin to wear a wire to catch Dugo basically admitting his part in a crime. This was an important piece of the puzzle, according to Miller. 

"That's the best piece of evidence you can get -- words out of a defendant's mouth at the time that the crime is occurring," Miller said. "Kind of hard to defend against that."

Wearing a wire and catching the suspect red-handed is something you see done during television crime shows, but it's an unusual step for local law enforcement. 

"The FBI, ATF, DEA -- they take the time to build cases to present to a federal jury and they do use wires," Miller said. "Most cases in federal court are won because people are wearing wires."

The Dugo File, the wire recording, and Lake County investigators' own cross-country travels to chase down leads eventually resulted in the arrest of Rick Dugo in March 2021.

THE RESULT

Over the course of 2021 and 2022, Dugo would face 12 counts of theft, theft by deception, wire fraud, and conspiracy involving four victims.

In January 2023, after a three-day bench trial, Dugo was found guilty of one count of theft by deception for scamming Albin. Dugo was not guilty on another count related to Albin's case.  The judge immediately remanded Dugo to jail.

"It was four and half years from the time that I was conned to the time that he was found guilty," said Albin. "That's a long time,"

A month later, Dugo agreed to a plea deal.

As part of the plea agreement, nine charges were dropped. Dugo pleaded guilty to a second count of theft by deception and agreed to pay back all four victims a total of $145,000. The judge sentenced him to eight years in prison, which means about four years with good time credit.

Albin's plot twist on the man who scammed him and others finally paid off. 

"I have my result. I have my guilty verdict," he said. "Nobody can take that away from me."

Along the way over the course of two years, Albin shared his information exclusively with the CBS 2 Investigators. We have reported multiple stories on Rick Dugo and his victims.