Mom fell for an identity theft scam

[disneysteve]

If you have older loved ones - parents, grandparents, etc. - be super vigilant. As often as you possibly can, warn them not to talk to strangers on the phone, not to click on links in emails, not to click on ads on Facebook, not to trust ANYBODY they don't know personally.

We tell my mother that stuff constantly and she still allowed herself to fall victim to a scam this week. And the worst part is she admits it didn't sound legit and she knew she shouldn't do it but she did it anyway.

In her case, she got a call from "Xfinity" saying they wanted to offer her a better package and upgrade her cable box. Of course it wasn't really Xfinity calling. She hates her cable package and how much it costs so I can understand that sucking her in. All they needed from her was a payment of $5 to ship the new box, so she gave them her credit card number. Then she got an email from Xfinity, which turned out to actually be legit even though it was fraudulent activity that prompted it. The email said they needed to verify her identity for the new order and instructed her to send a picture of her license or passport. My mom has no ability (or know how) to do that but her aide was there and used her phone to send it (and yes, we'll be having a conversation with the home care company supervisor about getting their staff trained to spot scams because this was clearly a scam).

Thankfully, her bank caught the fraudulent transaction and called her, as did her credit card company, but the damage is already done to some extent. I changed all of her passwords, contacted her other credit card company (not the one involved) to get a new card, and contacted the credit bureaus. I'll also probably sign her up for a credit monitoring service and at least check her report regularly.

It's tough raising parents these days.

[ua_guy]

It's tough raising parents these days.

Yes it is.

The last one I had to clean up for my folks was when my dad got sucked into engaging with a fake Amazon email saying his account was locked. Not long after, one of my sister's in-laws fell for the same thing, and actually lost some money because the funds were stolen through ACH.

It's not just older folks. The security team at my office runs phishing campaigns over company email and they always get some sucker to click on something they shouldn't. Gahhhh, seriously?

[disneysteve]

I just keep reminding myself that it really isn't her fault. She's 92. She has perfectly normal age-related decline in her cognitive functions. She doesn't have dementia but as we age, our brains slowly fail. Our brains actually physically shrink/atrophy. There's nothing that can be done about it.

Little by little, I've gotten more involved with her finances. Just last month, actually at her request, I took over balancing her checkbook because she had struggled with it for a few months and I kept having to go over and fix it, which is really hard after someone has has messed it all up. It's way easier if I just do it from the beginning, which she finally realized.

When we called her credit card company today, I had them add me as an authorized user so that going forward I can call and handle any issues on my own without her being there.

The next step, which I was actually already thinking of doing, will be to get more involved in handling her bills. As far as I know, she hasn't done anything wrong in that department, but it's just a matter of time until she does, whether it's writing a check for the wrong amount or forgetting to pay something entirely. I may talk to her about putting some recurring bills on autopay to minimize the number of bills that actually have to be manually paid. The last step would be to switch to having the bills sent to me instead of her and just let me handle paying them from her account but we're not there yet.

[disneysteve]

It's not just older folks. The security team at my office runs phishing campaigns over company email and they always get some sucker to click on something they shouldn't. Gahhhh, seriously?

It's definitely not just seniors, but scammers very much target seniors because as a whole, they tend to be less cognitively functional, less tech savvy, and much more trusting of strangers so they're perfect marks.

But yes, the number of otherwise intelligent accomplished individuals who fall for blatant scams is incredible.

[rennigade]

I've told this story here before but my grandparents also got scammed years ago. Scammers called and said "hey grandpa, this is your favorite grandson.". They replied with "bill," they of course said yes. Hook, line, sinker. They thought they were talking to Bill. Scammer said they were in jail and needed bail money. They were so embarrassed so don't tell anyone. Simple as that. They sent like $2k or $3k, received another call for more money. They went to bank to get even more but bank refused and told them to call their grandson who was in "jail.". They found out it was all bs. They would have emptied their account if the bank didn't intervene. Apparently the Walmart person pushed back but they insisted they wire the money.

Even after all this happened they thought it was Bills voice. They were in their upper 80s at the time and weren't firing on all cylinders. Not the end of the world since it was only $3k or so but it could have gotten ugly. Thankfully we live in a smaller area and the bank clerks recognized what they were doing was way out of the ordinary and something was off.

They had a landline at the time. They since dropped that and only have cell phone. Not sure if it's more difficult to get a cell number vs landline.

[disneysteve]

I've told this story here before but my grandparents also got scammed years ago. Scammers called and said "hey grandpa, this is your favorite grandson.". They replied with "bill," they of course said yes. Hook, line, sinker. They thought they were talking to Bill. Scammer said they were in jail and needed bail money. They were so embarrassed so don't tell anyone. Simple as that. They sent like $2k or $3k, received another call for more money. They went to bank to get even more but bank refused and told them to call their grandson who was in "jail.". They found out it was all bs. They would have emptied their account if the bank didn't intervene. Apparently the Walmart person pushed back but they insisted they wire the money.

Even after all this happened they thought it was Bills voice. They were in their upper 80s at the time and weren't firing on all cylinders. Not the end of the world since it was only $3k or so but it could have gotten ugly. Thankfully we live in a smaller area and the bank clerks recognized what they were doing was way out of the ordinary and something was off.

They had a landline at the time. They since dropped that and only have cell phone. Not sure if it's more difficult to get a cell number vs landline.

My mom got the grandchild call once except the guy said it was her grandson. Well he had a 50/50 shot and blew it. She only has one grandchild, our daughter.

The problem, as we keep hounding her about, is that she needs to stop answering the phone. Screen the calls with the answering machine. Don't pick up unless you know the caller. She does that most of the time, except when she doesn't, but as this week's episode proved, it only takes one call to get scammed.

I would love to get rid of her land line and have her use her cell phone exclusively but we haven't gotten her to that point yet. We spent about 2 hours at her apartment today working on everything. During that time, I'd estimate her phone rang no less than a dozen times. Only one was a legitimate call from my cousin. I know it's particularly bad right now because of open enrollment for health insurance. Once that ends, the calls die down considerably.

[ua_guy]

I’ve also told my folks to stop answering the phone (and the door, for that matter) for anyone who isn’t a known contact. Everyone else can leave a voicemail or a flyer.

But to their point, they are often waiting for a call from a doctor or other provider, or managing home care for my great aunt, so they feel obligated to pick up the phone when it rings through from any number. I’ve finally got my dad to simply hang up if it’s not a call he was expecting.

The last phone scam my dad fell for was some computer support thing. I had to help him roll all his passwords and I uninstalled the third-party app they convinced him to install which basically gives administrative access to the machine.

[Thrif-t]

Steve see if you can get nomorobo on your moms landline. Its free and zaps the spam calls after 2 rings.

I'm sorry you are dealing with this. Before my mom died she was complaining about the price of stamps(ha she died in '07 how much were they?lol), so I said I'd set her up on bill pay through her bank. She'd call me when she got a bill and tell me the amount and due date and I'd go in and pay for her. She was so happy that it was free and she wasn't paying for stamps. Would that angle appeal to your mom? Then you could kinda be involved but maybe she could still write stuff in her checkbook so she still felt in control.

Oh, and can you not freeze your mom's credit? I think everyone should have their credit frozen. What a hassle all this is!!

[disneysteve]

Steve see if you can get nomorobo on your moms landline. Its free and zaps the spam calls after 2 rings.

They don't do land lines. They only do cell and VoIP service.

[QuarterMillionMan]

100 forever stamps for $29.99, scam or real. This is the actual website (I would not trust it).
100 Forever Stamps 2017 U.S. Flag USPS First Class Postage Stamps Coil of 100 PCS/Roll – Teraw | Shop Freshwater & Saltwater Fishing Gear

[disneysteve]

100 forever stamps for $29.99, scam or real. This is the actual website (I would not trust it).
100 Forever Stamps 2017 U.S. Flag USPS First Class Postage Stamps Coil of 100 PCS/Roll – Teraw | Shop Freshwater & Saltwater Fishing Gear

Not sure why you put this in this thread, but regardless, apparently counterfeit stamps are a thing. It is always the flag forever stamps. So when you see a too good to be true offer, they're likely fake.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Didn't want to create a new thread and make more clutter and this thread was the first one when I typed scam in the search. The website showed up as an ad on eBay so I clicked it when I saw 100 forever stamps for $29 which is half the price of legit stamps but my better senses kicked in and figured this had to be a scam.