…to take my DM’s credit cards?

[kanyewestbrom]

She’s 67. Very gullible. Twice in the last 3 years she’s been caught out by scammers - once they contacted her on Facebook using cloned accounts from her friends telling her to buy Tesco vouchers then scratch off the codes and send back to them to help on an emergency. She lost £200. Second time they phoned her and told her scary stories about her computer warranty and being at risk and told to buy Amazon vouchers in cash and send the codes. She was at the bank about to withdraw £800 when the bank staff (who know her - she’s lived in the same place for 35 years) asked her casually why she needed such a large amount and she told them the story and they told her it was probably a scam. She phoned me today saying she had a customer service operative on the phone who needed her personal info and a photo of her driving license for security reasons. This is the first time she’s phoned me before the fact.

She lives 200 miles from me and I’m the closest sibling. She’s separated from my dad. I don’t know how to help her. Any ideas? All I can think of is somehow convincing her to not have a bank card and working out a way of getting her a cash allowance. Does anyone have any ideas or experience? She’ll not agree to anything I say.

She’s the perfect mark for scammers. She’s just computer literate enough to have a Facebook account but not enough to be safe.

Sorry pressed send too soon. Can you share with me some points for the flowchart I mightn’t have thought of?

A scam that's common here in the USA....someone calls pretending to be the person's grandchild and needing help. In my case, someone called my DM claiming to be my DD and explaining the funny voice by saying that she had a cold. The fake "granddaughter" said that she had been arrested for drunk driving and needed her grandmother (who lives nearby) to bring money to a lawyer for bail. Luckily my mother texted me to check on whether my DD was ok. She was, of course in class and NOT in jail. I pointed out to my DM that DD was (at the time) only 17 and a minor and if she had been arrested they would have called me, her legal guardian, and not let her make a call by herself to organize a lawyer. My DM kept saying that they person calling knew DD's name. I delved a little further into what had been said and it turned out that they had called saying "grandma I need help" and of course my DM responded "xxxx is that you" and gave them DD's name. I also pointed out to my DM that DD calls her Nonna (she's Italian) NOT grandma so that should have been a red flag....
Anyway, I happened to be volunteering with lots of older grandparents when I got the text and they all said that they had gotten dozens of these exact types of calls. So please warn your elderly parents or grandparents about this particular scam.

And everyone please remind your parents (and kids) that even smart business people get scammed. Some years ago I stopped my brilliant professor DF and his CEO of a billion dollar pharmaceutical friend from wiring money to a scientist friend of theirs in some African country because he had "lost his wallet." The scientist friend probably was in the far off country, (which the scammers would have known from hacking his email), but he had not lost his wallet and did not need money urgently.

@kanyewestbrom I'd start with thinking about the different start points - phone call, text, FB message, someone at the door. Then what would someone be trying - there's a problem with someone, she owes money to someone, theres a problem with her stuff, trying to sell her something, they need something, they need information.
Then what should she do: ask for it in writing, say she will go into the bank branch/doctors, call you, say she never buys at the door, no 'her daughter deals with everything'
And a clear reminder at the top - always use the door chain, never give out information on the phone (name, address, bank, birthday...), all her bills are paid and up to date so she'll never need to pay anything on the phone, never do anything from a fb message or text

She’s only 67, unless she lacks capacity she should have access to her own money, it’s unreasonable to take away her cards like she’s a child. She needs to take some level of personal responsibility by not giving out details over the phone to people who call her/online or sending money. Genuine companies will understand and be happy to send a letter and/or for her to call them back. Some scammers are very convincing but the ones she’s fallen for are obvious. Nobody who’s not a scammer is ever going to ask her to buy vouchers like that!

But do get a POA in place so that you can gradually do more for her and can take over in the event she does lose capacity (POA must be arranged while she still has capacity).

We’ve tried a bit to discuss POA with her. She sort of doesn’t see the point as she’s still got all her marbles. Will keep chipping away.

Aren't these scammers utter bastards? They don't just take money, they take peoples independence.

Agree with a note of the bank account.