F'ing Scammers!

[Reddinr]

These are some of the things that you might try for future. Drastic but maybe needed.
[Added some stuff as it came to me. We did all of these with my MIL. It took weeks.]

Work with him to:
Change his phone number. Inform all his good contacts.
Change his email. Clean up his inbox of any scammy stuff. Inform all his good contacts of the change.
Change his passwords. Especially banks, brokers, etc. (Don't forget Social Security/Medicare/Health providers/Pensions)
Freeze his credit at the credit bureaus.
If he doesn't have it already, consider signing up for IRS, Soc Sec online accounts so some scammer doesn't beat him to it.
If he has a debit card, see if you can convince him not to use it except for in-person at ATM. NO PURCHASES with debit card.
If there is any doubt about if accounts have been breached or account info given, close the accounts and open new ones. (Major pain...)

 

[Just for fun]

Good luck @Eddyde I don't have anything else to say that hasn't been said.

What a bummer that we have to put up with this kind of stuff!

 

[Reddinr]

Kitboga - I listen to these videos done by a dedicated scam-baiter in the shop sometimes. It is a little justice for the f'ing scammers.
Here's a fun one:

 

[Harry Knutz]

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

The same scammer has been on craigslist for years, No agency will stop him, It's sad and I personally know people who have been scammed by him.

One person I know actually got scammed by him twice! He conned him into sending him $600.00 and once he sent it to him he knew had a a gullible person that he could hit for another $600.00 and he sent it to him again before he wised up.

 

[Reddinr]

The "official" estimate is >$10 Billion USD from the US in 2023 per the FTC. The scammers often aren't just some guy. It is networks of hundreds or thousands of people that work for other people. There are call centers world-wide. India and parts of Africa seem to be popular. Quite often you can hear others in the background din of a call center call trying to scam others.

The trouble with these organizations is that they are typically off-shore and tracking them down is tough. Even when it happens, it is wack-a-mole as other call centers pop up as quickly as they are taken down. The business is low cost of entry, low expense. But, it is limited by the nature of knowledge spread about the various scams. Constant adult education about scam avoidance might help, maybe organized by communities, churches or other groups. The issues with memory-related or dementia-related vulnerability is tougher though. That's really only mitigated at the family level I think.

I'm troubled by AI of the future. Already it is pretty good. Your 99% believable AI-faked niece's voice calling up for money is just around the corner. Your AI-faked niece's video call is a little ways down the road but not science fiction. Maybe we will all have to use code phrases of something...

 

[matthewsx]

Then the next stage is where my mom is, nursing home/assisted living.

Nobody thinks they’re going there but many of us will. Even the best places leave a lot to be desired.

I pay a private caregiver to make sure things are as they should be even though we are there almost every day.

Often wonder how our daughter will deal with it when we are there….

John

 

[EricB]

We recently stopped answering our phones if we don't recognize the number, turned off the ringers, and shut down the voicemails.

Eric

 

[RandyM]

Update: My wife is flying back out there in a couple of days and will stay until we get it resolved, at least to the point where the scammers can't completely wipe out dads finances. His best friend is a lawyer, he's going to try to set up a conservatorship/trust. It's not going to be easy but it must be done.
Thanks for everyones responses, support so far, it really means a lot and is very much appreciated.

Unfortunately taking control of his finances is the only way you will be able to protect him. The scumbags are relentless. Good luck. Hope it all works out.

 

[PNW_Guy]

With so many victims, how more isn't being done to stop this is baffling.

The vast majority are overseas in sketchy countries. There's frequently (not always) no US presence at ll. The government of Derpistan does not care.

 

[matthewsx]

The vast majority are overseas in sketchy countries. There's frequently (not always) no US presence at ll. The government of Derpistan does not care.

Many years ago I played along with a scammer because I was bored. They eventually sent a fake cashiers check and I was contacted by the postmaster before it got to me. Turned out they were in Chicago and had been arrested.

No idea how it turned out but they’re not always where they say they are. My correspondence with them indicated they were overseas.

John