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Walrus
·If you think about it, the fact that there are bitcoin machines popping up in convenience stores is a sign the Apocalypse is upon us.
Crypto Scams - Yesterday my mother lost her life’s savings.
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wrist time
·
Once the scammers succeed the are known to try again or sell the persons info to other scammers. One way is they pose as investigators and get the person to hand over more personal and financial details.
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stevec14
·Sorry to hear this, and I hope your mum isn’t being too hard on herself - I’m sure it’s happened to many others. Money is replaceable, people aren’t so that’s the main thing. 👍
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Ron_W
·Awfull news and very sad for your mother and you, i hope she will feel better soon.
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Archer
··Omega Qualified WatchmakerI've followed this guy for a while now on YT - he had a parcel stolen off his porch a few years ago, and made a "glitter bomb" to get some payback. He's gone on to revise the design a few times, and in one case the package was stolen and he came upon a bunch of scammers through all that. He followed up to get a little payback on some scammers in India:
Good entertainment value alone, but as he says at the end, awareness is the key, and people need to report these scams no matter how embarrassing they might be - it's the only hope of making more people aware and help prevent others from taking similar losses.
Terrible that these people get away with it so much.
Good entertainment value alone, but as he says at the end, awareness is the key, and people need to report these scams no matter how embarrassing they might be - it's the only hope of making more people aware and help prevent others from taking similar losses.
Terrible that these people get away with it so much.
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NGO1
·I’m sorry to hear..
Similar situation happened to us not long ago, different payment method, loss minimized.
Mom received a text asking her to confirm her spent $655.98 at Target. Coincidentally, she has just ran to Target for a $5 jug of milk, minutes ago. She responded to the “automated” text and immediately, someone at “bank of America” called her back to “confirm” her account.
Her account is swiped clean.
These scams are constantly evolving and more personalized. I had monthly talks with her about them and she’s fully aware how they work. BUT, once in a blue moon, the gate of hell opened + a bit of luck in timing, these basic scams snuck passed our guards.
The most difficult obstacle to overcome for my Mom is the emotional drainage. I do what I can to minimize the self blame. Moms get back up, it’s in her dna.
Lunches and flowers get her back to beast-mode quickest, but if those failed, we are aware you have a certain SkyDweller in your possession. Hey.
We are confident you’ll restore her finance and put those shit machines out of business.
to Moms
Similar situation happened to us not long ago, different payment method, loss minimized.
Mom received a text asking her to confirm her spent $655.98 at Target. Coincidentally, she has just ran to Target for a $5 jug of milk, minutes ago. She responded to the “automated” text and immediately, someone at “bank of America” called her back to “confirm” her account.
Her account is swiped clean.
These scams are constantly evolving and more personalized. I had monthly talks with her about them and she’s fully aware how they work. BUT, once in a blue moon, the gate of hell opened + a bit of luck in timing, these basic scams snuck passed our guards.
The most difficult obstacle to overcome for my Mom is the emotional drainage. I do what I can to minimize the self blame. Moms get back up, it’s in her dna.
Lunches and flowers get her back to beast-mode quickest, but if those failed, we are aware you have a certain SkyDweller in your possession. Hey.
We are confident you’ll restore her finance and put those shit machines out of business.
to Moms
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cvalue13
·We are confident you’ll restore her finance and put those shit machines out of business.
one of the oddities of this whole situation is learning that mom felt her savings caused her to be at all financially dependent.
let’s just say that any rational glimpse at the situation wouldn’t suggest that, and mom will be fine
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keepsonticking
·Terrible to hear of such a thing. Retirees generally can least afford to lose their money, and they are the most often preyed upon. Let this be a solemn response to a thread I was reading recently in which someone with a dinosaur name and maybe others were remarking how "stupid" one must be to get scammed in this day and age, as if scammers aren't smarter and better than ever. Any of us can make a mistake that could put us in a similar situation. Best to your mother. (Not to be confused with word to your mother, which is what I'd have typed had your name been Vanilla Ice). 😉
I find it interesting that someone from your mom's generation is dealing in bitcoin. My mom is just now trying out the VHS.
I find it interesting that someone from your mom's generation is dealing in bitcoin. My mom is just now trying out the VHS.
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Deafboy
··His Holiness Puer SurdusVery sorry to hear this.
I can relate to some extent. My mon is 90 years old and lives in the family home by herself. To my knowledge she hasn't been scammed but I regularly remind her to be careful of these shenanigans (phone calls, emails, online scrabble games, etc.).
I can relate to some extent. My mon is 90 years old and lives in the family home by herself. To my knowledge she hasn't been scammed but I regularly remind her to be careful of these shenanigans (phone calls, emails, online scrabble games, etc.).
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TimeODanaos
·I just couldn't think of anything proper to say to you on an occasion like this. It's really thoughtful of you to put out a PSA at a time when you must be just boiling, but still keeping it together for your mother's sake. You're right there can be a long tail to these things, so when it's calmed down some, I hope you (both) get some opportunities to put a smile back and forget the scumbags we have to share a planet with.
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Canuck
·Thanks for this sad reminder. I never experienced anything closely similar with my (now deceased) parents, but did once fall for a lower-level scam myself, and it cost my father a few grand. I received an email (purportedly) from a friend of his, whom I also knew, requesting help because he was supposedly stranded while traveling. Although the texts of the emails were fairly convincing, all of the warning signs were there, and I was too busy and stupid to notice them.
The key to these scams is to knock the victim off-balance emotionally, and I would say that the key to avoiding victimization is to take a deep breath, and ask yourself and others whether the call to alarm is real, before acting.
My wife was visiting her 75 year old cousin, recently. While she was there, his “grandson” called, and told his “grandfather” (my wife’s cousin) about needing $9,000.00, cash, immediately to get himself out on bail. He was to go to the bank, refrain from telling them the story, and meet the caller at such and such, and he would deal with it. Long story short, my wife talked him into taking a number of steps to judge the situation. He went to his bank and talked to someone there who told him this was their fourth similar customer situation that day. He avoided the embarrassment. Later, he phoned his grandson at his employment, and he was assured it was a scam.
I have had three phone calls today, two from the security department of my bank that attempts had been made to make purchases on my Visa account. And one phone call from “Amazon” telling me of spurious charges have been made to my account (I don’t have an Amazon account), and to accept the charges, press “1}, etc. They are out there, for sure!
Edited:
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Walrus
·Terrible to hear of such a thing. Retirees generally can least afford to lose their money, and they are the most often preyed upon. Let this be a solemn response to a thread I was reading recently in which someone with a dinosaur name and maybe others were remarking how "stupid" one must be to get scammed in this day and age, as if scammers aren't smarter and better than ever. Any of us can make a mistake that could put us in a similar situation. Best to your mother. (Not to be confused with word to your mother, which is what I'd have typed had your name been Vanilla Ice). 😉
I find it interesting that someone from your mom's generation is dealing in bitcoin. My mom is just now trying out the VHS.
I’ve been the target of a few crypto scams which usually involve synching your wallet or the scammer trying to get your seed phrase, if I have the time I usually mess up with them or keep putting them on hold telling them “my cat has the zoomies hold on” via phishing or some other method but it makes sense scammers would want to utilize btc atm’s now that they are becoming common place. Either way it’s just a horrible thing for anyone to get scammed.
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stonestone
·So sorry to read about this, and I feel for you and your mother. Unfortunately the elderly are hugely vulnerable to scams of all kinds. A good friend's grandmother -- an incredibly smart, capable woman -- was scammed by a charming young "boyfriend" who managed to arrange for her to transfer the bulk of her life savings to his account. Even when her daughter and her family knew something was probably going on, they couldn't bring themselves to do anything about it for fear of shattering the grandmother's sense of independence and self-respect. The result was that everything was lost and even though they sued and won a judgment against the guy, they were unable to recoup any of the losses.
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timoss
·One more real life example: when my father in law died, in his belongings we found an envelope with a CD and a receipt for the $5000 he paid for it. It was a cheap “instructional” video on how to “get rid of your credit card debt” by doing things like paying off a little bit of it every month. He was a respected doctor who ran a hospital in his day.
It’s hard knowing your parents are getting more and more vulnerable every day. But at least your mother still has you in her life. Not to be too grim, but savor it while you can!
It’s hard knowing your parents are getting more and more vulnerable every day. But at least your mother still has you in her life. Not to be too grim, but savor it while you can!
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galaxytime
·This is my first post on this amazing forum and it is with great sadness I read your post about your mother. As said by many others, these lowlife crooks (scum) are completely shameless and I can only hope that karma comes back at them hard. My sincerest condolences to your mother and a thank you to Archer for the Mark Rober video.
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cvalue13
·I find it interesting that someone from your mom's generation is dealing in bitcoin. My mom is just now trying out the VHS.
this is part of the astonishment - my mom is much like yours. when my wife called to inform me (I’m out of town on business), when she first uttered the word ‘bitcoin’ my eyes popped. And I had no idea of these bitcoin machines at gas stations, despite that I own several cryptocurrencies and NFTs
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horseman
·I'd would say no one is above mistake. We all learn from each others unfortunate and fortunate events. Thanks for sharing your mother's experience, it's a strong thing to do. I hope she finds comfort in her heart. Cheers mate.
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Modest_Proposal
·It can happen to the old and the young.
As a 19 year old UCLA student, I was walking to my Westwood apartment. The sun set on a grey van pulling beside me (never a good sign). A guy popped his head out, asking if I would be interested in an expensive surround sound system. I shook my head, confused. He told me that he and his buddy had a few systems left after a "job" and hated their boss. They'd just flip them before they arrived back at the warehouse.
They said they'd give one to me for $500. I countered with $100 after seeing the box and opening it. We agreed on $200 - so I walked over to the bank and pulled the money and we made the deal. Only after coming home did I realize the speakers were filled with sand.
Now - the financial loss here was minimal. But I was a scrappy college kid living in a moldy one bedroom apartment with three other roommates across two bunk beds. At the time, it still hit me.
I understand exactly what the OP means when he says the psychological trauma can be worse than the financial trauma. That incident lead to shame and self-doubt and I didn't speak of it for years. Here I was, a young kid who learned amongst some of the brightest minds, getting hustled by two guys in a grey van. I read about them later. Someone braver than me was also scammed and reported them to the police and it was blasted in the newspaper. And that made me feel a bit better.
I still think of it today. And I'd like to think it has helped me learn something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
As a 19 year old UCLA student, I was walking to my Westwood apartment. The sun set on a grey van pulling beside me (never a good sign). A guy popped his head out, asking if I would be interested in an expensive surround sound system. I shook my head, confused. He told me that he and his buddy had a few systems left after a "job" and hated their boss. They'd just flip them before they arrived back at the warehouse.
They said they'd give one to me for $500. I countered with $100 after seeing the box and opening it. We agreed on $200 - so I walked over to the bank and pulled the money and we made the deal. Only after coming home did I realize the speakers were filled with sand.
Now - the financial loss here was minimal. But I was a scrappy college kid living in a moldy one bedroom apartment with three other roommates across two bunk beds. At the time, it still hit me.
I understand exactly what the OP means when he says the psychological trauma can be worse than the financial trauma. That incident lead to shame and self-doubt and I didn't speak of it for years. Here I was, a young kid who learned amongst some of the brightest minds, getting hustled by two guys in a grey van. I read about them later. Someone braver than me was also scammed and reported them to the police and it was blasted in the newspaper. And that made me feel a bit better.
I still think of it today. And I'd like to think it has helped me learn something.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
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steversaurus
·So sorry to read this. I'm sure many of us have been scammed in one way or another over the years.
If you haven't already, consider getting counselling for your mother. I know of people who were haunted for years from bad business dealings / unfortunate events.
If you haven't already, consider getting counselling for your mother. I know of people who were haunted for years from bad business dealings / unfortunate events.
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bardamu
·Thanks for sharing, so sad to read this.
A big hug to you and your mum.
A big hug to you and your mum.