F'ing Scammers!

Eddyde

Eddyde

H-M Supporter - Diamond Member
Staff member
H-M Lifetime Diamond Member
Joined
Oct 13, 2014
Messages
7,286
About 6 weeks ago, my wife got a call from her 91 yo, fathers, bank, saying her dad was in there trying to get a cashiers check for $5,000, to pay the "transfer fee" on $8M he supposedly won. They informed him it was a scam, immediately froze his account and told him to go to the police. He did so and the police reiterated the banks warnings that it was absolutely a scam. Subsequent discussions with everyone he knows, all telling him it's a scam.
He seems to agree when people are explaining it to him and says he's done with them. But the next day he's back at it, talking to the scammers on the phone, going to different banks and now they have him buying gift cards that will supposedly will be traded for the "$8M check". What is most worrisome, there might be an in-person encounter with these thugs when they try to retrieve the cards. We are in NY and dad's in California so it's difficult to stay on top of this. We visited him a few weeks ago to try to end this and convince him of this scam, he agreed at the time but they keep calling him and he keeps going back to the belief this is somehow real...
We called the Police, The FBI, and the FTC, all to no avail. It is apparent there are no resources to stop this kind of fraud while it is in progress, they can only act after the crime has been committed! And I'll bet even then, it wouldn't amount to much.
It's frustrating and sad that there is no means to protect him. He is somewhat of an American Hero, Ph. D. chemist, having lead the team that helped develop the radar absorbing skin of the Stealth Bomber. He deserves better.
This whole experience is like watching a freight-train derail in slow motion, nothing to do but watch...

Has anyone has similar experiences, are there any resources we overlooked?

Thanks for listening to my rant...

Eddy
 
Here in Canada my in laws were hit with a similar scam. What happened to my wife's mother was similar but I think the start may have been different. At first it was a mix up and they were getting a refund for some online transaction. Then they were sent a cheque, it was a mistake but they could keep the cheque. Then they could get 10000 or even more dollars if they helped cash the cheque and get gift cards. How my wife found out what was going on was when my mother in law at supper said that they were expecting some money to come in and help everyone. The wife asks what money. My in laws are on a full fixed income in a care home. There is no money to come in from anywhere. We then found out that some young gentleman online and even over the phone had talked them in to all this. After going over it several times that it was a scam, that there was never going to be any money no matter what, my mother in law still sent them the gift cards. Not understanding that is the hook, also we believed that the cheque was likely part of money laundering or stolen out right, likely from another victim of the scam. In the end it cost my mother in law just over 1k by the time we sorted it all out. I am not even sure my mother in law saw it as a scam, I think she still somehow believed it was possible to get the money. Absolutely nothing the authorities can do, because the victims of these scams are in essence willful it in to some capacity. Its how confidence scams work. That they prey on the elderly should have them hung from a post.

We somehow got involved with the las vegas lottory scam the guy called our house several times. For a couple hundred in walmart gift cards to pay the processing fee's we would get millions. Each time we told him off. He called my wife honey, so I got to at least watch the wife unload on the guy on the phone.
 
Small consolation, at least it isn't $800,000. Don't know what to say. My mom effectively got swindled/bamboozled for a lot of money, by a "trusted friend" of my father. This swindling occurred when my mom was in her late eighties. She died at 90, leaving an extremely messy legal trail behind. All I can say is that it is a million times easier to take action when the parent is alive than dead.

Think you have to consult an attorney to see what your best next steps are. Memory loss is a form of dementia. My advice is to take some action before there's real harm.
 
markba633csi said:
He's probably suffering from short-term memory loss. My mom had it too. There must be a way to block him from doing this- not sure how- POA?
Click to expand...
Yes his memory and judgment are declining, though physically he's in good shape, he even plays tennis 1-2 x week. My wife already has some power of attorney over his finances but not total, he's very stubborn and sure of himself, so it's very difficult to get anything done. He keeps insisting it couldn't be a scam because "Why would anyone go through so much trouble for only a few grand"...
 
I’m so sorry this is happening to your dad. I had bumbled onto a Mark Rober vid on YouTube that started off stopping porch pirates with fart spray and glitter bombs then morphed into video and audio recordings the perps. He then got involved with another YouTube channel trying bust scams involving fake Amazon accounts involving hund of thousands of $$’s. All targeting senior citizens. At one point law enforcement got involved.

A couple of months later my friend down the street in his 80’s was supposed to come down and his wife said he was stuck on the phone and would be down when he got away. When he finally showed up and was telling me how he got involved with this I about had a stroke! My wife and I told him it was a scam and at first he wouldn’t believe me but when I described how it had all unfolded and what the next steps would be involving taking out $15,000 of his account the next day it finally started to dawn on him. But it took almost and hour. We got hold of his daughter and she met us at the bank the next morning and made sure everything was secure. I think she’s taken over his main accounts and he only has control of a small account now. They also changed the phone number
 
Last edited:
This stuff sucks. There isn't really a good answer, sadly. I think the best I came up with was to change their phone setup so I can restrict calls to known good numbers. My parents aren't that far, so it's not an issue yet. There are days I think making it legal to hunt them for sport would be interesting, but I guess that has too many bad side effects. :)
 
Sadly swindling, and con jobs on the elderly are not uncommon.

Seriously, @Eddyde , you should seek a lawyer to see if there are things that can be done that both preserve your FIL's dignity and protect him. It's made more difficult by being in different states, but something can be done that would help. You are lucky that his bank was paying attention and this was a "garden variety" con.

The real bad guys become "friends", then acquire legal powers like POA or things like that. That's when bad stuff happens.

It's a wake up call. Please don't ignore it. Wishing your family the best.
 
You and your wife will need to take over his finances and change his phone number. My mom has nothing and they've tried to get her as well.

It may take an intervention with other relatives, or even a court order but don't let up. Where in California is he?

John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top