81-year-old mom was scammed for $600 - did I do enough?
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Anonymous
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You may want to let her contacts know she has been hacked. They should not respond to electronic communications from her accounts or referencing her name.
You may have mentioned, but does she have an Ipod or such with accounts on the computer? Those devices would also be vulnerable so check apps on those. Also, warn her she may start getting more spam postal mail. Fake charities and such. |
Anonymous
| OP here. Thanks for the additional posts. I’ll be sure to let her contacts know about potential hacking. She doesn’t have any other computers. |
Anonymous
+1 I'm impressed, OP! |
Anonymous
| Does your mom get Social Security and Medicare? You may want to notify them, too. |
Anonymous
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To 09:49, yes, I changed her passwords at socialsecurity.gov and Medicare.gov. I will also call to notify them.
The real computer professional today said that it will cost $188 to wipe my mom’s computer and reinstall what can be saved (mainly photos - there was nothing else of import). Thankful that she skated by (so far) with less than $200 out of pocket; also, I’m glad a diagnostic & clean is being done, because who knows what other viruses might have been lurking! |
Anonymous
| OP again to update in case anyone is interested in how it happened. My mom said she was searching recipes online, and the flashing warning about a virus popped up when she was at a recipe website. My brother reiterated to her that she should only go to sites she trusts. |
Anonymous
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Here's where to report to the FBI, they have an internet crimes division called IC3:
https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx |
Anonymous
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Report to your local police. Then it's on file so if she her identity is used, she has documented proof it was stolen.
It's a lot easier to deal with local police, and who knows, maybe the scammer called other peopel in her building/neighborhood and they were able to track them down based on a pattern. After all, she transferred that $600 to a bank account somewhere -- that can be traced. |
Anonymous
Agree. When I read all those long posts saying you can't count on children when you're old because they work and are too busy to take care of you - this is what it's about (not 24/hr nursing care!) - the oversight part. If your mom didn't have you, then what? Scammer would have everything? |
Anonymous
| OP, well done! My mom had something similar happen a few weeks ago. Her Alexa stopped working so she googled Alexa tech support and called a scam site. They convinced her to let them port onto her desktop and started to show her all these supposed viruses in an attempt to convince her to pay for virus protection. Thankfully she caught on and called me, and I duly freaked out. She got her computer reformatted and changed everything - even started new bank accounts on the advice of the bank. I felt so badly for her, as I don’t live close so couldn’t really help. Glad your mom has you and your brother to look out for her! |
Anonymous
| You did great! Your mom is blessed to have you nearby. |
Anonymous
| OP here. To 20:10, I’m glad you were able to intervene before things went too far south! I’m one of four siblings, and thankfully we all contribute in our own ways to helping ensure my mom is safe. |
Anonymous
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You did great.
Maybe switch her over to ipad instead of desktop or laptop and take over her finances with most bills on autopsy. Setup her phone to drop random phone calls to voice mail, similar to do not disturb mode. |
Anonymous
| Wow. I would never have thought of doing half of that. Thanks for posting, OP, great job. |
Anonymous
OP here. It’s definitely been a learning curve for her since my dad passed away last year. They were married for nearly 60 years, and he always handled all the finances. She’s slowly figuring it out, but it’s been challenging for her to adapt. I’ve got everything on autopay, including the credit card, and I help her file everything. She has an iPad, but she prefers the desktop. Still, I believe she’s “scared straight” so to speak, and I believe she’ll extremely cautious. About the phone, I’m concerned she’ll get too much spam. She has an Android—how would I set up her phone to drop the random calls to voicemail? |