. >> more than 5,000 people have lost $30 million so far and abc's neal karlinksky has the story, including a father rushing to protect his son. >> reporter: with tax day looming, shameless phony irs agents are burning up the phone lines. on your name is $3,680. did you do this intentionally or was it by mistake? >> i am not aware of this at all. >> reporter: that is the sound of a call scott alexander recorded after his son fell for a scam to the tune of $500. the fake agent threatening his son with arrest if he didn't pay up. >> go to the walgreens right now, just bring a debit card with you. >> reporter: enraged, scott called back to record the scam and got a similar threat. >> i'm sending the cops to your doorstep right now. >> when they said, hey, we're going to come get you, that's when it just changed in his mind and he had to comply. >> it seemed like it was in a movie. just very unrealistic, but my fear got ahold of me. >> reporter: so we called the fake irs agents for ourselves to give them an audit of our own, but only 24 hours later -- >> please check the number and dial again.

here's abc's neal karlinksky. >> reporter: more than 100,000 people seeking spiritual help flocked to christian prayer center desperate for the power of prayer and the help of pastors like jon karl son. problems are going to be solved. >> reporter: the online church came with a fee of between $9 and $35 for prayers. washington state's attorney general says it was all a scam. pastor carlson is outraged too saying his name was used without his permission. in fact, investigators say all kinds of fake religious leaders and testimonials were used to entice people to the tune of $7 million worth of paid prayers between 2011 and 2015. all of it, they say, the brainchild of this man, benjamin ragovie. >> he was asking people to give money under deceptive circumstances. >> he couldn't be reaped for comment. the website says it's closed adding we thank you for all the prayers. >> reporter: the attorney general isn't interested in his prayers and they want cash. he's now agreed to pay back $7.5 >> there's actually a customer protection act that prevent these charitable organizations churches fro

neal karlinksky, abc news, las vegas. >>> mm. >> is this when the pizza gets delivered? >> we always forget to get the pizza delivered. jacko, that was your part. >> the pizza must have gotten lost with the waffles and the chocolate. >> i take it those are on the world news tonight set. >> always remember to tip your pizza man. always. no matter who he is, especially if he's kendis gibson. >> look at that. >> i look kind of -- attention parents: before school this september all kids entering 7th and 12th grades must get the meningococcal vaccine. it protects against serious and sometimes deadly diseases like meningitis. call your health care provider today. >>> making news in america this morning, fight night in florida. another contentious debate between bernie sanders and hillary clinton. >> excuse me, excuse me. after all -- >> the deadlines battling out, their final pitch before the next big primary day. >>> plus, donald trump looking more confident than ever dancing into a rally. >>> breaking overnight an all-out search for two gunmen after opening fire on a group o

abc's neal karlinksky now on deepening mystery. >> reporter: as mysteries go, there aren't many that can match this one for being just as annoying as it is unexplained. [ screeching ] that high pitched sound, wreaking havoc on forest grove, oregon, for weeks, mainly at night, even waking people up. >> it sounds like brakes to me. the cyclical, you know, screeching of, you need to change your brakes. >> reporter: local officials have ruled out a water valve, gas leak or wildlife. and the nearest train track is rarely used. >> want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? [ screeching ] >> guys, guys, guys! >> reporter: unlike "dumb and dumber," this sound isn't so funny to people who live here. the fire department doesn't know >> welcome "the x-files" back on tv again, so, here we are. >> reporter: the truth is out there, and whatever it is, it sure is loud. and baffling. [ screeching ] neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. >> you know, yesterday our crew sort of figured it out. and our belief, i mean our crew water system. >> that that's that loud out there in the winter. >> collec

here's abc's neal karlinksky. >> hit the jump. hit it. >> reporter: a father and son back country ski outing turning seconds as 5-year-old ethan goss disappears amidst the trees. he's fallen out of sight in that tree well. >> ethan? winston gaus digs his son out. the boy fighting sef indication. >> here we go. here we go. i got you. >> i need to breath. >> reporter: the video now viewed more than a million tiles online as this father us his close call 0 warn others causing it the most frightening experience he's had as a parent. >> i remember sitting there watching the video with him and my leg was shaking just a bit. it was pretty emotional afterwards. it was a true moment, know, for me to pull him out. >> i had a near death experience. >> you never expect something like that to happen to you. but once it does it's kind of shocking. >> reporter: it's hard to see till you're up close. these branches block so much snow. another six feet at least. a safety video put out by the northwest avalanche institute shows just how paralyzing

neal karlinksky, abc news, burns, oregoning. > incredible video. >> coming up in our next half hour, a major development in the case of the so-called affluenza teen ethan couch back in the u.s. this morning after weeks on the run in mexico. what kind punishment will he face now? >> first, putting those virtual siri versus core tan nab versus google. the one that came out on top. periscope with a new live streaming feature allowing users to broadcast video in realtime directly to friends via their social network account. as of now, it is only available for iphone users in the u.s. proving to be invaluable to law enforcement. it's called ocular based lie detection technology that uses infrared tracking to monitor eye behavior and the creator says it works more quickly and accurately than traditional methods to determine whether a person is lying during questioning. >> can you use it on your kids. >> you can use it on your hubby. >> okay. now we're talking, huh. >> it's been five years since sci-fi became science reality for most consumers when apple first bundled siri on its i phones.

neal karlinksky is there with the latest for us. >> reporter: el nino's fury ripping apart a chunk of the coastline. a drone video catches a huge police have yellow tagged an entire apartment building telling residents to get out while they still can. did you sleep with one eye open? >> yeah, alert. time to go. >> reporter: take a look at this. this bluff in the city of pacifica battered by rough surf and pounding rains, leaving homes and businesses in danger of falling. just imagine if this was your balcony. underneath here, and the entire coastline continues to fall away with no end in sight. this home's patio is poking out with little support. pictures from before show the dramatic difference. despite the threat, some residents refusing to leave. >> you guys will have to physically drag me out. >> reporter: despite efforts to shore up the bluff, the people here know the danger is far from over. neal karlinsky, abc, pacifica, california. >> god, it's so scary. also the home values for these now to see your house falling into the ocean. >> those are million dollar condos and apartmen

abc's neal karlinksky has the latest. >> reporter: el nino's fury putting lives at risk. a drone capturing that dramatic outside of san francisco shears off, putting apartment buildings >> people's houses are now on the edge of the cliff. >> reporter: weeks of heavy storms and high surf pounding the new worry as officials ask roughly 100 homeowners to move out, fearing their apartment building could now be at risk, too. >> we've been losing four or five feet a week in the past couple of weeks here. >> reporter: one of the things they're trying to do to help these people is put boulders in place to gok block some of the waves and erosion but it's just not enough. many people who live in the apartments teetering on the edge are not at all happy about being asked to leave. neal karlinksky, abc news. >> pictures near san francisco. >>> when we come back, the bachelor takes a detour inside a las vegas wedding chapel. our senior bachelor analyst will have a full rundown. skinny, so skinny >>> topping our headlines this morning, week four of the bachelor takes a detour to las ve

neal karlinksky, abc news, bend, oregon. >>> to india where the damage is being cleared after a powerful earthquake. the 6.7 quake struck before dawn in a remote part of the northwest near the border we're told with myanmar and bangladesh. so far at least five people are reported to have died most buried under collapsed buildings. more than 100 others have been injured. >>> residents of kentucky, tennessee and other states further south are bracing for miss river flooding. the crest has moved beyond southern missouri and illinois leaving behind this destruction, disruption and death. a 25th fatality confirmed yesterday when the body of a teen was recovered. he and a friend tried to drive through a flooded area last week. >> let's move to the campaign trail now and donald trump is speaking out after he appeared in a terrorist recruiting video. trump says it comes with the territory when the you're the front-runner, and he has to say what he has to say. instead, he's blaming hillary clinton. claiming she created isis when she was secretary of state. trump also blasted bill clinton who camp