tonight on an all-new "20/20." confessions. your child has just been discovered in the mall. a model in the making. but wait until you discover what this talent agency could charge, and keep charging. our hidden cameras with a 12-year-old, with the hard sells. >> you can't make a child cry in front of their parents. plus, doggie cam confessions. is it a con to

free? can we pull it off with a hedgehog and rabbit? the fur is flying. plus, is "nurse jackie" for real? >> the painkiller abuse is a silent epidemic. here now, elizabeth vargas and david muir. >> good evening. we start right off with the first confession affecting so many parents out there. taking place at the mall. you may run into the so-called talent scouts discovering your children. >> offering your kids a shot at a career and money. only, you're going to have to spend money first. our hidden cameras caught the

sales pitch. here's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: they all started small as child models before cameron, brooke, and angelina hit the big time. and what parent hasn't gazed at their own child and thought, you ought to be in pictures. >> can i ask how old your son is? >> he's 3. >> 3? perfect. >> reporter: and if a talent scout swooped in like this, they'd be all ears. >> we're actually looking for kids his age for print, for modeling, for commercials. >> reporter: maybe this scene looks familiar. scouts at a suburban shopping mall approaching parents and their kids with a seductive pitch. >> there's always a good opportunity. >> reporter: at this new york area mall, these scouts work for a company called interface talent. now, all parents think their kids are special and are thrilled to hear that someone else thinks so, too. >> this is huge for them. they were chosen out of all these others. >> reporter: meet our first confessor.

tricia cariglia, who came from other talent agencies before getting work at the interface office near boston. the job there? >> to get the parents to trust you and the kids to love you and look at the kids and say "wouldn't you love to do this?" and get the kids to be begging the parents. >> reporter: our next confessor is lara lasala. based near boston, lara tried the music business and interior designing before working up to the executive ranks at interface. what were they looking for? >> anyone. >> reporter: anyone, that is, with a child and a checkbook. >> they would just go right after them. "ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, hi," they would, you know, follow them if they had to. >> reporter: one of their starry-eyed clients? 12 year-old isabella. isabella's danced competitively since she was 5 and has big dreams. what do you want to do? >> i'd like to be an actress. >> reporter: you're about to see the sales pitch isabella and her

mom, letitzia, heard from interface. but there's something the scouts at this mall don't know. isabella and her mom already have a gig -- with us. we recruited them to go undercover with hidden cameras. >> let's put it right here. >> reporter: posing as a family friend, one of our producers enters the mall with them where, sure enough, just minutes after walking in -- >> we're looking for girls around her age for modeling. >> reporter: they hear about a parade of successful interface clients. >> she ended up on levi's commercials, so she's done commercials. >> we have people on tv shows too. >> is this something where she could make money? >> yeah. >> reporter: and the scout soon utters the f-word -- "free". >> there's no cost, no obligation, you're just going to come into the office and talk to one of our development directors and he or she will tell you about our program and everything. >> reporter: still skeptical? well, they know just what to say. >> we have an 80% success rate. >> 80%. >> yeah. >> meaning what? >> meaning they got at least one call back. >> really? >> reporter: even though

isabella is working undercover for us, she's flattered. >> it's like, not every day someone asks you if you would like to be a model. >> reporter: so we sign up. our entry to the next stop on the hard sell tour, the interface office. with locations in six states, scouts fanned out to attract parents in shopping malls up and down the east coast for that free evaluation. was the free evaluation anything more than a sales pitch? >> no, it was all sales pitch. >> reporter: tricia cariglia says curious parents often asked the same question. >> did they just choose my daughter out of hundreds of people? and i'm supposed to say, "yeah, of course, look at her." >> reporter: interface says that they never claimed to be selective. still tricia says employees were intensely pressured to get money from every family -- talented or not. >> i had kids hanging from the ceilings, throwing things in my office, i just wanted to get them out of there, but still i had to try to sign them. >> reporter: today, one of the development directors starts with a seemingly innocent request.

>> before i get started, i need some forms of i.d. >> sure. >> reporter: but hold on. our insiders told us there may be an ulterior motive here. by getting parents to open their wallets now, they'll know there's a credit card in there, if parents later on claim they can't pay. the next step -- buttering up isabella. >> you have a beautiful smile. did you wear braces? >> reporter: pouring on the compliments. >> so you had to pick out something about the child and compliment them. >> reporter: and if you couldn't? >> oh, there's always something. it doesn't mean that they're the most gorgeous thing in the world, but you're trying to make them feel like it. >> reporter: then our development director starts, well, directing. he's even got a prop. i'm going to count to three and i'm gonna say, "action." i want you to look at your mom and say, "mom, i'm starving. can you please buy me some pizza?" >> thank god, because i am starving. >> oh good. so this'll be pretty easy.

1, 2, 3, action. >> mom, i'm starving. can you please buy me some pizza? >> she gave you the puppy eyes. good job. >> the point was to have them impress you first. >> reporter: so first you are, "wow, what an impressive singing voice." i bet you heard some really bad singing voices. >> i sure did. >> reporter: and you just grinned. >> yeah. >> reporter: next thing we know, they're tempting our tween with a turn on television. >> would you like to see yourself on tv? >> reporter: and just like at the mall, out comes the binder with a bevy of beautiful kids who have booked professional gigs thanks to interface. >> dominic. with the mohawk look. they love his style. he ends up in "ugly betty" as the brother. >> reporter: he does occasionally pop in a disclaimer. >> sounds very promising. >> well, no, i never promised anything. i say, "i tell you that there is no fortune and fame." so you know from the very beginning you have to have realistic expectations. >> reporter: but then jumps-starts isabella's dreams with a familiar refrain. >> do i have a high success rate? yes. i have an 80% success rate in placing you with an agent or a manager.

>> but it sounds like you think isabella has got a lot of potential. >> do i feel like isabella has a lot of opportunity? absolutely, i do. >> reporter: isabella's sure hooked, and this development director knows it's time to hit them up for big money. >> i would love to invite isabella to come back so i can do her first professional photo shoot with us. >> reporter: they'll send those pictures out to agents and casting directors, but there's a whopping pricetag. photo shoot packages run from $600 up to over $7,000. >> that's not cheap. >> well, neither is, you know, ten years of ballet, tap, jazz, flamenco, all that. >> true. >> reporter: then they tug hard on the parents' heartstrings. >> you know, nothing's cheap in life for kids, but how much you believe, how much you really think she wants it. >> reporter: so the goal was really to keep them in the room until they sign. >> there could be no zeroes. if there was a zero, it was going to be hell to pay from the owner.

>> reporter: the former owner denied pressuring employees, and told us staff was instructed to deal with clients honestly and ethically. still, we witnessed a healthy serving of parental guilt. >> when you look back at this you want to say, "did i gyp myself" by starting low because of few hundred dollars? or did i do it the best way possible? >> reporter: and what parent doesn't want the best for their kid? so, we lay down $1,600 for the photo shoot. the development director later told us he didn't feel like he did anything wrong, and believed in his pitch since his own daughter found modeling jobs through interface. but mom -- not so happy. >> when he put down the price list, it was completely out of the ballpark that i had even thought of. >> reporter: but isabella has stars in her eyes. >> you just have a feeling in your gut that it's gonna turn out okay. >> reporter: our insider, tricia, says she had moments of guilt but felt she had to stick to the script since supervisors usually watched on surveillance

cameras. >> they taught us, "either your kid eats or their kid eats." >> reporter: the owner of interface denied that anyone would say that. still tricia says she snuck outside, away from the cameras, to warn parents off. >> i would take a mother aside and say, "just cancel. just believe me, just cancel." my paycheck didn't actually matter anymore. it was just more these kids' dreams. >> reporter: coming up next, the photo shoot. the pressure. and an unexpected twist as isabella chases her dream. parents were in for a big surprise. >> yes. >> reporter: will isabella get a gig? stay with us.

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"20/20" continues. more talent agency confessions with rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: 12-year-old isabella hopes she's an actress in the making. she and her mom have gone undercover with "20/20" to find out if the interface talent agency can back up its big talk. >> we're actually looking for girls her age for modeling.

>> reporter: they've paid $1,600 for professional photos and today is the shoot. parents and kids are everywhere. >> are you excited? >> yes. >> reporter: isabella gets her makeup done. and her hair. and then goes through five different outfits. seven long hours later. >> i'm very tired, hungry and grumpy. >> well, you look gorgeous. >> thank you. >> reporter: many parents will shell out big bucks on photos to make their kid a star. according to former employees, some interface offices were at one point raking in $100,000 a week. isabella and her mom later return to see the photos, ready for the glamourous auditions ahead. but not so fast. they first have to meet with one of the bubbly marketing

directors. >> now, did you guys love the pictures? >> yes. >> you had fun, didn't you? >> reporter: she's beaming about isabella, as she reviews the photos. >> i felt like this was a very natural smile, she has like that actress type of look. >> reporter: and then it's game on for one final sales pitch. >> we're not here to make her famous. what we're going to do is make sure that she is getting in front of these companies, and we're getting her the opportunities, kind of like job interviews. >> reporter: big surprise -- that'll cost us. a minor photo printing fee was briefly mentioned earlier, but what she's urging today is -- at least 400 photos turns into major bucks. >> so, you're talking like, $800, like over $1,000. >> for this option, and then we also have an online option. >> reporter: she pushes a two year online option with unlimited print photos for $1,400. >> so this would give her 24 hour exposure, 7 days a week.

this is absolutely the better investment. >> reporter: hearing about the big bucks they need to shell out yet again, lasala says that parents' jaws often hit the floor. they felt like chumps. >> yes, they were completely blindsided. >> they're stuck. >> reporter: she says some parents cursed and threw things. >> they're upset, they have no choice, they have to pay for it. >> reporter: this marketing director doesn't let up on that pricey two-year deal. >> wow, i wish we would've known what we were getting ourselves into. >> i think just a year. >> yeah. >> a year for now. >> reporter: but just paying for a year, she makes clear, is a waste of time. >> i really don't recommend a year for her. i really, really don't. but just a year is not really going to get her anywhere, look, i'm being honest with you. >> reporter: but at $1,400, we're wavering, so she brings up that 80% success rate we heard earlier. >> and we do have over 80% success with all of these, but i will say the clients that, you know, have more time of exposure just do a lot better. because they get more opportunities.

>> reporter: but interface defined "opportunity" not as a job, but any exposure to an industry professional. which could mean an audition, or simply a meeting with a talent agency that may charge even more advance fees. back in the office, letitzia is still holding out on the high price, but lara says that's expected. >> the directors were trained on rebuttals. they knew what to say and when to say it. >> reporter: sure enough, the marketing director calls upon a classic deal-closing tactic. cutting the price to make them think they're getting a bargain. >> i will help you with $200 if it is about the money, as long as she wants to do this long term. >> exhausted, we give in and pay through the nose. $1,200 for two years of marketing isabella's photos. that's on top of the $1,600 already paid for the photo shoot. a grand total of $2,800.

>> these prices did scare me a bit. >> if it's something that you want then it's just money, you know? >> reporter: granted, isabella's mom is going along because "20/20" is footing the bill. >> do you want to pay with a credit card? >> reporter: eventually, our insiders say they soured on the company they once believed in. >> i hated it. you can't make a child cry in front of their parents saying,"you don't love me." that's terrible. i would never do that. >> reporter: but people were doing that. >> they were doing that. >> reporter: but are the sales tactics at interface the same everywhere in the industry? here at the world renowned central casting, they warn being asked to pay anything up front is a red flag. >> you shouldn't have to pay any money in order to get work. >> reporter: jennifer bender is an executive here and they've been supplying extras for 80 years. new recruits all get the same speech. >> we do not charge you guys to sign up with us. it's free. >> reporter: they'll sign up

anyone who walks in the door. even the basic photos they are free. back at interface, where people have paid thousands of dollars, what's up with that 80% success rate they boast about? well, "20/20" tracked down over 50 former clients of the massachusetts office. most were unhappy and less than half said they'd received any auditions. just five told us they got real work. still, former interface owner roman vintfeld stands behind success stories like these. >> interface has been really helpful. >> reporter: and says the clients we talked to came from an office in a tough market, insisting most other customers were happy. but how did isabella do after a year? how many auditions did you get? >> zero. >> reporter: zero. >> if they told me i was such a model and i was, and i wasn't like an average kid, then why

didn't i get the call? >> reporter: as for our insiders, they told us they'd strongly believed in the company, until seeing through the hype they said they'd also been fed. do you feel guilty? >> yeah. >> reporter: what do you think you did? >> misled people. but i'm here because i want to shed some light on it. but also you really didn't think that way. >> reporter: former interface owner, roman vintfeld, dismisses lasala as a very disgruntled ex-employee, but the florida attorney general also felt his company was misleading parents and filed a lawsuit. but after bad publicity in several cities last fall -- >> the company is now facing serious complaints from the state. >> reporter: interface shut down, saying that it was insolvent. still, vintfeld tells us he was proud of providing opportunities to countless people. tricia, not so much. >> i felt bad for these people. being a mother myself and really wanting to do this for your child, and ultimately crushing

your child's dream, didn't sit well with me. >> so, could you say no if your children were begging you for a chance? let us know. use #abc2020. when we come back, some other faces we couldn't resist. how did a dog and a bunny get on a plane? >> are some using phony support claims to take dogs for a free ride? see how easy it is to book a free ride for a hedgehog and a bunny. frequent flier miles for fakers, when we return.

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get this one done. ask your healthcare professional about prevnar 13® today. you've heard the expression, when pigs fly. well, one almost did recently. the one woman taking it on the plane as an emotional support animal, but got booted for bad

behavior. tom llamas got on board to find out about these free rides. >> reporter: so this is kali? >> this is kali, and kali, this is tom. >> reporter: kali is a 9-year-old lab terrier. genevieve is her owner. what was kali like when you got her? >> rotten. but very, very cute. >> reporter: but you can't blame kali for what they got involved with a few years ago. a mile-high travel scam. >> i heard from a friend that you could get your dog certified as something called an emotional support animal, an esa. >> reporter: emotional support animals assist people with emotional disorders, not to be confused with service dogs like these being trained in santa rosa, california, who help people with physical or mental disabilities. >> emotional support animals provide a valuable service. >> reporter: our confessor genevieve admits she had no need for emotional support. she simply wanted to fly with kali by her side. not in a carrier, or in cargo, which would have cost a fee.

so she found a way to do it for only a few white lies and a red doggie vest. she found a website that, for a fee, provided a psychological questionnaire. >> it was a website where i was able to answer questions about possible emotional symptoms that i had. and if i answered them in a certain way, i could get a diagnosis. >> reporter: what was your diagnosis? >> it was panic attack disorder. >> reporter: you seem like a very level-headed, calm person not someone who would get panic attacks. >> yes, i lied. >> reporter: she lied. and the website made it easy. >> i was able to get a letter with this diagnosis on it. and that meant that i could begin taking her on airplanes with me. >> reporter: by law, airlines must allow emotional support animals to fly, for free, in the cabin, with anyone who has a letter from their doctor or mental health professional. the problem is pet owners like genevieve find it easy to take advantage of the law and the airlines.

>> i think they looked at my letter twice in six times that i flew. >> reporter: my pal archie goes undercover. they mention the need for a mental health letter, and for $254, they sell us the deluxe kit. it looks very official, but it means nothing. because it's not a letter from a mental health provider. just a certificate from a website. so, is my best friend clear for takeoff? we're about to find out. off we go to kennedy airport in new york. we called ahead to tell them i was coming with an emotional support dog. and at the jet blue counter, archie and i don't even get a

chance to flash our shiny new certificate or that dog tag. they just send us on our way. normally, archie would have to travel in a pet carrier under a seat so he won't bother or slobber or scare other passengers. now he's cruising the aisle and sitting right on my lap. let's point out here, the airline is doing nothing wrong. they are allowed to ask for documentation, but they're not required to. >> they don't want to embarrass meone or put them on the spot. if in doubt, accept someone's presence with their animal at face value as an emotional support animal. >> reporter: we decide to expand our noah's ark of phony emotional support animals. will one of these websites help us fly with a rented bunny named leo? this time, we click on a website called esa registration of america. and their encouraging video. >> simply fill out the registration form here on this page and you'll be well on your way to living a happy, hassle free life with your emotional support animal. >> reporter: the site also mentions the doctor's letter but again doesn't ask to see it, and

for $99 they sell us the e.s.a. v.i.p. kit, including a snazzy certificate with leo's name on it. we call ahead. delta tells us, bring documentation, but at the ticket counter, no one asks to see it. leo the rabbit charms everyone at the gate. >> oh, my goodness! hi. i don't think i've ever seen a bunny onboard, what's his or her name? >> leo. >> oh, hi leo. >> reporter: the agent snaps a picture. and just like that, leo is taking the short hop from boston to new york. as we find our seat, we get some funny looks. leo is a lionhead rabbit so he's bigger than your average bunny. and just like archie, he's allowed to be right on my lap for the entire flight. pretty good flying companion. he delights even battle-hardened flight attendants. and they've seen it all. airlines are not required to accept reptiles but they still see some unusual animals like

pigs, even miniature horses. but now we raise the stakes. how about, oh, i don't know, an albino african pygmy hedgehog named snickers? hey, no problem! the e.s.a. website sells us that same meaningless certificate. it's got her name on it right there. we're at laguardia airport and we have our albino hedgehog named snickers. he's about to go on the flight with us. so we're gonna check in see if they'll let us fly. but this time it's not so fast. the delta agent makes clear that piece of paper might be good for lining snickers' carrier, but that's about it. without a doctor's letter, o hedgehog is going nowhere. if snickers wants to get to boston on this night, she's walking, or waddling. another day, another airline. we book snickers newark to nashville on southwest. the agent again wants documentation, but this time our cockamamie certificate is accepted. once again, snickers and i catch on airline worker in the act

of showing kindness and compassion. and nobody stops us as i carry my prickly buddy through the terminal, in the boarding lane, even right into the cabin. we asked the airlines about the problem of fake emotional support animals. their trade group, airlines for america says, "we trust our passengers are honest in communicating their need for service assistant animal support." united states dog registry declined to comment, but e.s.a. told us that its certificate is a valuable supplement to a doctor's letter. at first, genevieve didn't see anything wrong with faking an emotional disorder so she could fly with her dog. >> i didn't think this would be harming anyone. i thought this was -- was harmless. >> reporter: but this is not a victimless hoax. advocates say they fear that poorly behaved pets on planes give people who really need emotional support animals a bad name. that's what sonja lishchynski is afraid of. >> it's like faking needing a wheelchair. you see someone faking it and their dog is barking through the whole flight, you know one of

these days someone will say that's it, no animals in the cabin at all. >> reporter: as for kali, her days as a frequent flyer are over. genevieve grounded her and hopes other fakers will do the same. >> when i did it, it was just too easy. >> reporter: if i told you it's still that easy, what would you say? >> then i'd say that i hope we can make some changes. >> reporter: just so you know, no animals or humans were harmed in the making of this story. >> so, if you were squeezed in next to a rabbit, hedgehog or do dog, would you stay in your seat? let us know with #abc2020. next, confessions from the hospital floor. nurses helping patients, and helping themselves to their unused drugs. why july is bad for surgery. and when is a patient a pita?

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you know that curtain they pull around your bed in the hospital? we're about to pull it open, as nurses tell all. why shouldn't you go to the hospital in july? and are the nurses taking your pain medication themselves? debra roberts checked in to check it out. >> reporter: nurses can get a bad rap. from cranky nurse ratched to woozy nurse jackie. it's hollywood's take on one of the most noble professions. the first line of defense when your health is in jeopardy. nursing is a world of life and death, and sometimes violence. check out this hospital security camera video. a pipe-wielding patient sending nurses scrambling, and even decking one of them. >> the e.r. is brutal. >> i've been spit on in my eyes.

i've been hit, bit, kicked. >> reporter: these three devoted nurses are bravely pulling back the hospital curtain, confessing some of the secrets in their profession. for instance, you've heard of code red and code blue. well, ro, a seven-year veteran who's worked in three different e.r.s, says some nurses have their own private ones. is there a code name for a rude patient? >> i've heard pita thrown around. >> reporter: pita? >> pain in the "a." >> reporter: patient care can be challenging. but if you're on the receiving end, these nurses are offering a few tips on how to, well, survive a hospital visit. for starters, stay healthy during the month of july, when patient death rates spike between 8% and 34%. >> if you're at a teaching hospital and you show up on july 1st, you are going to get a brand new resident who yesterday was a medical student and today is a real doctor. >> reporter: and as for your nurse, if you're truly unhappy, demand a different one. just ask lauren, a travel nurse

who's worked at six hospitals in six years. >> i actually had that happen to me as a new nurse. i don't know if she saw my hand shaking or she saw me sweating. i don't know what she saw. but she was like, "oh, you must be new." and i was like, "yeah, it's my first week." and she was like, "that's awesome. can i have a different nurse?" >> reporter: still, there's a benefit to having a fresh, energetic newbie like christi who's only been at it for 11 months. >> because i'm new, i have that passion. i want to go and i want to save the world. some of the people that i have worked with in the past, they are burned out. >> reporter: those grueling long hours can clearly take a toll. but who'd ever imagined that stressed-out nurses might turn on each other with even hazing incidents reported. >> i had been bullied for being a new nurse. >> reporter: bullied? >> yeah, absolutely. have you ever heard the term, "nurses eat their own?" >> or eat their young? >> yeah, "nurses eat their young."

>> i went through it a lot. i think for six months i cried in my car on the way home. >> reporter: what kinds of things did they do to you? >> you would get overloaded with patients and they would not help. and if you're not drowning fast enough, they're more than happy to throw you another anchor. >> when nurse bullying comes in the way of patient care, it can be really dangerous. >> reporter: the american nurses' association says bullying is real and they're working to create safer conditions. but told us in a statement that "for the past 13 years, nurses have held the top spot as the public's most honest and ethical profession in america." >> it's a high-pressure, high-stakes world for nurses. they have to work sometimes up to 12 to 14-hour shifts without breaks. >> reporter: alexandra robbins interviewed hundreds of nurses for her book, "the nurses," and found that most are compassionate and selfless. yet she was stunned to discover how many are addicts, even stealing their patients' meds. >> the painkiller abuse among nurses is really a silent epidemic. since they're involved in medicine, they believe that they

will be able to handle the narcotics more than they actually can. and so, it's a surprise to them as much as to everybody else when they become addicted. >> reporter: with easy access to drugs, some estimates say 8% to 20% of health care professionals use and abuse substances. and get this, there's no universal drug testing in the industry, which can leave patients at risk. >> she's accused of stealing patients' pain medication. >> reporter: take the case of 16-year-old ryan slater, rushed to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. >> as soon as i got out of surgery, all i could feel was the most horrible pain that i've ever felt in my entire life. >> reporter: he's prescribed a powerful painkiller. but hours, and multiple doses later, he's still in agony. >> i was constantly telling them that this is not helping. this wasn't working. i wasn't understanding why nothing was getting any better. >> reporter: that's because ryan wasn't getting his meds at all. a nurse had brazenly swapped out the vials with simple saline solution.

>> i do not know how she was stealing the medication. all i know is that i had just gotten a complete organ removed from my body and received nothing to numb the pain. >> reporter: the hospital, calling it an isolated incident, says it's taken steps to avoid a future occurrence. that nurse had her license revoked. >> it's incredibly easy to take medications if you truly wanted to. >> reporter: how could nurses get away with it, given that you have this system where you're supposed to have it documented? >> there's a way around every system. >> reporter: in fact, nurses are supposed to discard leftover medication in the presence of another nurse. but in the heat of a hectic day, it doesn't always happen. >> i've accidentally taken home medications. i mean, it's a crazy day in the e.r. i meant to waste it, and then by the time you think about it, you're emptying your pockets at home. i always bring it back the next day. however, addiction is a common problem among hospital staff, not just nurses. >> reporter: ro recalls catching a nurse red-handed at one of her previous hospitals.

>> she was putting the waste in her soda can and going and medicating the patient. i ended up going to the charge nurse and going, she may be impaired. that's a risk to patients right there. >> there are ways that nurses can get help without losing their license and without putting patients at risk. it's really too quiet of an issue. and people need to talk about it more. >> reporter: shedding light on a job loaded with adrenalin and intensity. still, nurses consider their work a calling. you know the saying, "nurses are angels in comfortable shoes." >> nurses are the unsung heroes of the hospital. it's the nurse who's with you from when you get in to when you leave. >> reporter: which brings us to, perhaps the most important tip of all. >> be nice to us and we will go above and beyond the regular nursing care that you're going to get. >> have patience and care about us just as much as we care about you. next -- car confessions.

that was then, this is the new repo man. so high-tech, he can take your car in seconds. repo ninja, when we come back. i was downloading a movie. i was trying to download a movie. i have verizon. i don't. i get that little spinning wheel. download didn't finish. i finished the download. headphones on. and i'm safe. i didn't finish in time. so. many. stories. vo: join us and save without settling. verizon. did you use the loo paperi did.ere? how was it? it was good! why do you think that the ripples work? because it gets it all clean. are you so clean that you would go commando? ok! how do you feel? i feel awesome! only cottonelle has cleanripple texture,

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confessions continues on "20/20." now, paula faris. >> reporter: this is the image most of us have of the unloved repo man. low-lifes using slim jims on cars in the movies. or acting like crazed cowboys on reality tv. and who are always -- well, let's call them misunderstood. >> we're just above or below the garbage man. >> reporter: the garbage men are

taking something we don't want. you're taking something we do want. >> taking something they do want. >> reporter: this video shows a repo man surrounded and assaulted by an angry group of men. this repo man says he's found a better way to take people's cars the prized vehicles. meet matt pitman of utah, part of the new high-tech breed of repo man who's taking his profession to new heights, literally. americans owe almost $1 trillion in auto loans. so business is booming for repo men like pitman. and he's not at all reticent about revealing the tricks of his trade. he might as well write a tow truck tell-all. >> this is the repo ninja. >> reporter: the repo ninja. >> i named it that because it's so dang quiet. i will creep up right next to

somebody's house, their window, their master bedroom will be right there and they will just not hear it. >> reporter: and the repo ninja can almost operate itself. towing a car without pitman even having to step outside. >> back in the day when we had to get out and actually hook chains, get up underneath the vehicles and there was a lot more accidents and injuries. >> reporter: pitman is brash and unabashed. even mounting cameras on his head and the back of his rig to film missions for his youtube channel called "repo nut." a name he's even put on his own line of clothing. >> i just started learning the tricks of the trade and grew into it and loved it. >> reporter: what are the tricks of the trade? >> knowing how to basically steal vehicles, legally. >> reporter: legal, yes, but certainly unnerving. for instance, pitman uses software that makes him a kind of digital bloodhound. tracking people through their cell phones. i'm going to put you to the test. you say you can track me just by my phone. >> absolutely. >> reporter: and you can do it quickly, right? >> yep. >> reporter: okay, try to find me.

>> all right. >> reporter: i drive to a remote location when i suddenly receive a mysterious text on my cell phone. i received this weird text message. by clicking on it, i've stepped into his trap, sending a signal back to pitman, who can now track my phone by gps. >> yeah, looks like i got her location. that was a little too easy. >> reporter: i was a sitting duck. meantime, back in the repo ninja, matt's cab is like a clandestine command center. complete with a laptop loaded with special surveillance software in easy reach. >> the computer allows us to be tied into the internet mainly. >> reporter: if he can't get at a vehicle with his tow truck pitman will simply sneak up and slap a gps tracker on it. now he can track at his leisure and if they don't pay, he can pounce. it sounds so sneaky. >> it is very sneaky and a lot of what we do is very sneaky and that pisses a lot of people off. >> reporter: for pitman all of

this cutting-edge technology is to stay one step ahead of delinquent car owners. whether it's by land or air. he even travels with his own drone. there she goes. why all the high-tech gizmos? pitman says they help him do repo work safely, at a distance. if you get too close, watch could happen. if an owner is present when pitman tries to take a vehicle it can get ugly. >> move your [ bleep ] truck. >> reporter: this owner actually jumps on pitman's truck as his suv is being towed away. >> he jumped back on. there's the cops. >> reporter: and the police have to intervene.

>> i got know trouble. >> reporter: here, after pitman is confronted by an angry crowd he suddenly takes off with the vehicle. the men chase him down the road and pitman is lucky to be able to pull up next to a cop. >> private repossession. >> reporter: he says his new high-tech tools keep him safer by helping him do repos by remote. perhaps his most controversial tool -- engine shutoff devices that are installed in cars when the owner has dodgy credit. from the comfort of his cab, pitman uses his laptop to prevent a car from even being able to start. >> he turns the car off, the next time he tries to start it, it won't start. >> reporter: that car is now a useless hunk of metal, which pitman can go pick up later at his leisure. >> finally got this one hooked. >> reporter: if you still think pitman is some kind of "robo-repo" man with only ice water in his veins you should know a couple of things.

first, he'll alert a driver if they still have personal items in the car. >> you want this? >> reporter: and he's been known to occasionally give them a different kind of lift. >> you want a ride back >> reporter: you 'r cu...favorite book is nice.. but i think women would rather curl up with their favorite man. but here's the thing: about half of men over 40 have some degree of erectile dysfunction. well, viagra helps guys with ed get and keep an erection. and remember, you only take it when you need it. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take

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i want this time to be my last time. that's why i choose nicoderm cq. its effects on society really came about because, not because i was selfish and wanted one for myself, which i did. its because i had, had a passion. my whole life i wanted to teach myself to build computers. i wanted to build these things for free. i just wanted to do it for the world and you know, when you want something, that's what you do the best. ♪ ♪ that's our program for tonight. thank you for watching. i'm elizabeth vargas. >> and i'm david muir. >> and i'm david muir.

all he wanted to do was visit his wife and child. >> but a local man's visit to yemen takes a tragic