Yes, I got scammed

Ed1937

My son with mental illness wants to move to his own apartment. He can live alone, but just needs support. When he gets his mind set about something like this, he is relentless about finding something, to the point of driving me crazy.

He found a place that was going to give him a discount because of his illness. He needed to fill out an application online, which had a charge of $60.00. So I fell for it. Then they told him he needed to pay $350.00 to hold it until July 1. They would meet him, with a contract, at the place 20 minutes after being accepted. I refused to send money without seeing them in person because of so many scams today. She told me she was the owner, not a scam artist, so I told her to meet us, and I would have the money for her. It never happened. So I lost $60.00, although it was my own fault. Stupid! Stupid!

Then today I received a bill from (maybe) Northwestern University lab in Chicago for testing for me (third party). I don't think I owed anything, so I called the number for billing. The guy I spoke with had slightly broken English, and he asked for the account number. I gave it to him, then he wanted my first and last name and my date of birth. I gave him enough information that he should have been able to find my bill, but refused to give him more information. He told me he couldn't assist me if I didn't give him more information. I simply told him they would not get paid if they couldn't give me the information I needed to pay a bill if I actually owed it. Please be careful. This is getting to be an epidemic. And most people won't admit to being taken.

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Jo C.

Not stupid at all, Ed. It sounded valid, but your senses were right on spot and you caught it, and it was also probably hurtful for your son; I am sorry.

It is so easy to think one is talking to their insurance or other credible entity as the rip off artists are getting so sophisticated. So much processing and managing accounts have gone out to other countries; so much cheaper for the U.S. businesses, but I always ask what country they person is in and if not in the U.S. ask to be transferred to the states. I also have tried to remember to hang up and call the phone number for the actual entity when asked for identification, etc. and sometimes ask to speak to the supervisor.

Have you got all your accounts with the three Credit Bureaus frozen? You may have; for those who have not, that is the very best thing to do to help safeguard oneself.

You have done well; thank you for warning the rest of us. May your son find a good living situation soon.

J.

PookieBlue

Ed, It seems like you have been targeted by scammers far too often. Wasn’t you grand son’s voice faked during an attempted scam not too long ago?

Ed1937

Yes. It's so hard to know what's real anymore, anyone can fall prey. Now they're even making videos that show officials saying things they would never say. I guess if you see a video or audio cast, you'll believe it if that's what you want to believe. And with a divided country, that's a lot of people.

Denise1847

I truly fear for the future with AI and so many scammers. I am glad I am older but our poor children will have to deal with this.

Iris L.

Thanks for sharing and warning, Ed!

Iris

Jo C.

Ed, have been thinking of you and your son. Has there been any positive regarding him finding a good place as yet? So hope one comes into being and that he is reasonably content in being there. You have been trying your best to be of support, it is time for something positive to happen.

J.

Ed1937

Jo, unfortunately nothing has been found for him. He is at the point he is driving me crazy. This morning he asked me to drop him off in Gary at a homeless shelter. The area itself is not good, and it would be a terrible decision for him to go there. I told him I would not have anything to do with something like that. Post dementia is supposed to be better, but it's only different. We all still have problems.

Buggsroo

I can imagine how you feel about scams. I get all kinds of emails from FebEx yes you read that right. I had no idea that FedEx was operating a subsidiary. I have been scammed a few times, sigh. I wish you luck with your son, sometimes you have to be the tough love provider.

Beachfan

Ed, I am so sorry this keeps happening to you- - you seem to be on someone’s radar. As I get older, I am becoming increasingly paranoid. Several weeks ago, I went to the local Social Security office to file for death benefits following DH’s passing. I was told I needed my marriage certificate, which I retrieved and had copied at the SS office. Then I was given a date and time for a telephone interview and a letter followed, confirming the date and time. So far, so good. Several days before the scheduled telephone interview, I received a call from SS, requesting a date and time change to the following day, Saturday at 8AM. I agreed, but after some thought, in my mind, I questioned why SS staff would be working on a Saturday morning at 8 AM. As scheduled, I got a call at 8AM sharp from a woman identifying herself as a SS employee. She said she needed to verify some information so that SS could begin to process my claim. She needed my full name, maiden name, date of birth, place of birth, parents’ names, mother’s maiden name, my SS number and more. My hackles raised, I said, bordering on rudeness, “If you are from SS, you should have all this information. Tell me what you have and I’ll verify it.” She said it doesn’t work that way; yes, she had the information in front of her, but she needed to make sure I was legit in filing the claim. As the interview proceeded, she told me that the information she had was from DH and my original filing and just needed verification and updating. Long story short, we ended with an amiable chat and my claim was processed and money owed was deposited to my account within days. Still, you can’t be too careful and I hate technology. Ed, I hope you can sort it all out for your son. He is lucky to have you to look out for him.

Ed1937

Just to clarify, the $60.00 loss was from something my son did. It did not come to me, although I paid for it. And it's possible that the medical bill was legit, but they wanted too much information from me if they want to be paid. It's all they had to do was let me know what the test was for, where it was done, and when. But since they don't want to give me that info, they won't be paid.

But the one about my grandson being in an accident and arrested was a call that came to my phone. They didn't get my money, but I can understand why people would pay with that one. It's too sophisticated now. You have to question everything.

cavenson

There are some skillful scammers out there, and all of us are susceptible; but people with an impaired memory are particularly at risk. A couple of months ago, I came home to hear my DH with ES telling someone on the phone, "I have dementia and my wife handles most of the financial stuff. I just heard her come home; let me let you talk with her." Thank goodness I came home when I did. I saw all of our bank information and accounts on his computer screen. I asked what was going on, and DH said he was speaking to someone from Verizon that was going to put $600 in a bank account because we hadn't been making full use of the internet. I immediately told him it was a scam and to hang up the phone and turn off the computer (if the computer is shut down, the scammer can't access anything). The scammer had told him to push control R on the computer and input a code; and after asking my DH where he banked, the scammer was able to get into our accounts.

We contacted the bank and took the computer to the computer repair store to be cleaned. We now have 3 new checking accounts. We also have signs on all the phones in the house stating not to answer if the caller ID says "name unavailable" or the name of the caller isn't very familiar. So far, that's working.

New checking accounts are a hassle because of all the automatic deposits and withdrawals. Some were in my DH's name, and they would only talk with him. I was very concerned about getting his military retirement switched to the new account. They had specific questions about his military service that he alone was required to answer with no help from me. Fortunately, he was able to come up with the answers--but down the road--I don't know. I do have power of attorney if two licensed physicians attest that he can't handle his affairs, but I haven't seen the need to get that yet.

Iris L.

Regarding SS and other official organizations: some organization names do not show up on caller ID.

Years ago, I knew a woman who never answered her telephone, she always let the answering machine take a message, then she called back. At the time I was annoyed because I thought she was paranoid, but now I can see the benefit.

Iris

Beachfan

Iris,

I think the lady from SS was working/calling from home. At one point I mentioned living on __________ St., not far from the office. She said she didn’t know the area; she only went into the office occasionally. Just yesterday, I received a call marked “potential spam” which I typically NEVER answer. I picked up the phone, but didn’t say hello, anticipating a robo call. Surprise, surprise! It was the dermatologist’s office calling to schedule skin cancer surgeries. It’s annoying trying to figure out who’s who and what’s what with all the craziness going on. Like your friend, I don’t answer unknown numbers, instead I call them back. 95% are “no longer in service” or ring on incessantly with no one answering.

White Crane

Ed, I was recently scammed out of $116. It was one of those try it for three months free for a penny a day . I didn’t realize they were going to automatically take $120 out of my account after the 30 days. I’ve called them several times and they keep saying they can’t do anything until their bank clears the refund. Last time I talked to them they said it would be 2 to 10 days and my refund would be there. That was over two weeks ago.