- Joined
- Jul 24, 2003
- Messages
- 2,709
My late MIL’s boyfriend, “Al,” is very much a part of our lives because he’s part of my late MIL’s trust, which my husband administers.
He recently got scammed out of almost all of his savings, including a not small bequest my mother-in-law had left him, and the proceeds from the sale of one of their cars.It was a telephone scam in which the callers convinced him he had won the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, but had to pay the taxes up front to claim his winnings. He was apparently skeptical and reluctant to participate, but they kept after him until they wore down his resistance. They promised him a monthly payments that would erase his financial worries, and allow him to leave an inheritance for his kids. They sent him photographs of Steve Harvey holding “his” check, and had both “Steve Harvey” and the “CEO of Publishers Clearinghouse” talk to him on the phone (both fake, I’m sure.). They convinced him to lie to the bank about the reasons for his big withdrawal, and they timed everything just right to prevent the bank from reversing anything once the scheme was uncovered.
The worst part of the whole thing is how the scam left “Al” feeling about himself. It took about a week before he was able to call and tell us about what happened - and I think we were the first family members he confided in. (All this happened while we were traveling on the other side of the country, though I doubt that it would have made any difference if we’d been nearer.) The bright side is that “Al” had been languishing since my MIL’s death about two years ago - and he’s now more serious about selling his artwork. Plus my late MIL owned the house they lived in outright, and her trust provides for him to continue living there - and left him another car that he could sell.
Still this whole scam business makes me so mad - especially the way they seem to prey on seniors. (My late father got caught in a scam in the years before his death, but it was much, much smaller and his bank was eventually willing to restore most of what he lost.) And it’s frightening.
VR,
So sorry, someone in China just hacked my husband's Facebook, Instagram and our Netflix, it's been a mess resetting all passwords and ordering new cards.
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