My friend, aged 68, told me today that she'd been chatting with a celebrity (irrelevant who really, but she said it was Russell Brand; she's a big fan) online and that he was really fun to talk to. She said he was trying to give her some money.
I was worried as it seemed unlikely that he would spend 3 hrs talking to her.
I went to see her immediately and looked at the messages on her phone.
She has been talking to this person for 6 days. They of course, are not Russell Brand but it was a blue-ticked 'business' account on FB.
She has given them her home address, her date of birth, her bank card number and expiry date, sent them several photos of herself and told them she lives alone.
The conversation consisted of them asking her to register for priority tickets via a dodgy looking link. When she couldn't manage that, they asked her to buy a Steam gift card for $200 and send a picture of it. She said she couldn't afford that and then they said to just get one for $50 (we are in the UK but even the dollar thing didn't rouse her suspicion). When she said she would have to see in the morning if the Coop sold them, the person asked for her bank details and she just handed them over. I'm stupefied.
I got her to speak to her bank to cancel her debit card and she's had a stern talking to by me. The person has been blocked now but she can't delete the messages she has sent them. I am very worried as she has given them everything they need for identity theft, let alone the risk of being burgled or worse.
What other steps can I get her to take? I have made her promise not to do anything like this again but unfortunately she has a lot of memory issues and she's very prone to going down online rabbit holes and believing what she reads/hears.
She is embarrassed but I know her well; she will brush it all under the carpet now and try not to think of it again. I'm worried about the consequences.