One guy did have her do a wire transfer, which he sent to her bank then she transferred it to someone else, but her bank caught it, stopped it and immediately froze her account. She then went in and showed her a$$. She went to another bank and opened an account because this guy said he loved her and would take care of her when he got out of the service. Then this guy tried to do a mobile deposit to that new bank. That bank didn’t catch it right away, let it go through. She then sent money immediately. The head of this office realized that check looked fake, then denied it and took her social security she got that month. So that account was closed by the bank due to a possibility of fraud. Then she went to another bank and opened another account that they then closed within a month. Then she tried online banking, but they wouldn’t accept her. Now she is at a bank at Walmart. She had a guy friend she has known for years send her $3,000.00 and then she sent $2,500.00 to a new guy she says she been talking to for a year. He said he needed the money to go on leave so he could come here to her. She believes she is in love and says this guy is everything. She told him she had early stage Alzheimer’s and he said he would take care of her. I am just at a loss as to what to do. She stopped paying her funeral plan insurance and she told me, "well, you girls just have to figure it out." Also she gets google cards and sends pics to the guy who says his name is Dean Kennedy.
I also wondered if you could cancel her internet?
only by having legal guardianship over her can you shut down her ability to use her $ however badly she sees fit to do. Right now if she flat wants to withdraw & wire $ to a scam, neither you or the banks cannot stop her. She is fortunate that someone caught a couple and stopped payments. But it’s not the banks responsibility if mom wants to wire $ or buy credit cards and give the #s out so they can be cashed in.
Dean Kennedy…. Lol. I don’t know what it is with “dean” but apparently that name is used a lot in romance scams. Maybe it’s a Dean Martin, James Dean, hell a Dino,Desi& Billy reference that makes “Dean” work. There is a 2019 article by Jim Kreisler “The latest on Romance Scams” on the federal consumer.ftc.gov site. A ton of sad comments from women all listing the info on their “boyfriends” and how often names / photos / details all overlap but with 1 or 2 details different. There’s “Dean George”, “George Dean”, “Andy Dean George”; couple wrote their “Kennedy” seemed wrong as had accent even though he said he was related to Hyannis Pt Kennedy’s. They often say they are working on an oil rig and need $ to get back to the US and to her; or on a construction project abroad and need a bit of $ to exit customs 🛃 & they are bringing her back gifts too. Really anyone reading this….. get a nice adult beverage and read the article and the comments… there but for the grace of God go I….
If she owns her home, I’d be real concerned that eventually someone is going to create an identity as mom and use her home as collateral for lending to buy a car or get a personal loan. It won’t be an obvious known by mom or you till either payments become way over due on loans with that has moms house as collateral or when she needs to sell the place and there are judgements placed against it.
couple of things you might want to do while you mull over filing for guardianship…..
- go online for your mom and get a current copy of her credit report from the big 3. Create a gmail account in her name to request this. They probably will not send you the report online but via snail mail to her so be on the lookout. Then you can review to see if she needs to do freezes or cancel cards that look totally sketchy.
- contact a title company and have them run a title search on moms property. If anyone has placed it as collateral, it should surface.
- review her banking and make a list of all the checks or withdrawals that do not make sense.
all of this you can give the atty so they can start to build a case that guardianship is needed for financials. If things are uncovered, police reports should be filed so that that $ will not be viewed as gifting should,she later on need to apply for Medicaid to pay for LTC in a facility
Good luck & yeah it’s hard as it seems just so beyond obvious that it’s a scam. At 73 mom could live another 20 years…… she’s going to need the $.
I now monitor my dad's FB, email, home phone and cell phone accounts because he got into a grant scam last fall.
Facebook -- I review his friend requests and report the fakes. If he posts anything "public" on FB, I change it to "friends only." It is a fact, the bulk of scammers reach folks because of their public posts on FB. I have a friend whose posts are always public and she always has men saying that they admire her posts and have sent her a friend request.
I investigate every phone number dad spends more than a few seconds on and if they are dubious and he can't explain them to me, I block them.
I'm going down today (he lives five hours away) and plan to visit his banks with him tomorrow and get myself set up on his accounts so that I can monitor them online.
These are the steps I've taken, hopefully some of them are useful to you.
She should no longer have access to her funds alone.
Sounds like she should have the computer set with "parental controls" to limit access.
If this does not work It sounds like placing her in Memory Care where she does not have access to computer, going to the bank or store unaccompanied is an idea.
If you or another family member is not POA for finances someone may have to become her Guardian.
I believe either the FBI or another federal service has a specific website for scam reporting, but I don't recall offhand. You can search online for "reporting scams" and provide all the details to the Feds. If I recall correctly, at one time, our state police had a special task force to deal with scammers. I don't know it if still does.
This is not a unique experience or attack against elders; many others have reported that their elders also were scammed. In fact, several years ago when John Kerry was still a Senator, a hearing was held at which victims and/or their adult children testified as to how they had been scammed. It was quite emotional; some of the elders recognized how they have been tricked and broke down in tears while testifying.
As already advised, you need to get control of your mother's finances and take over bill payment and control of her assets so she can't be tricked into providing more funds for these dirtbags.
You might check the AARP and FTC's websites as well. If I recall correctly, AARP does write periodically about people who are scammed, not just the "love ya" scammers, but those who scam people out of their homes, and who also scam the purchasers b/c the scammers don't clear title.
There is hope though; sometime ago I read of an FBI agent who was approached by a scammer. Knowing the government operations as he does, he along with other Feds set up their own operation, tricked the scammer, caught him and I think some of his accomplices. Payback is really great!
so far she has asked for airfare so she can come marry/take care of him.
All I hear is she is poor and needs money for food blah blah.
When i ask how she can afford internet but not food ,he responds the Kenyan government is passing out electronics and free internet.
He really wants to believe some 30 year old woman is attracted to an 87 year old man.
If He loses everything, so be it.