81-year-old mom was scammed for $600 - did I do enough?

[Anonymous]

You might contact the AARP Fraud Hotline to see if they'd recommend doing anything else:

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/helpline/?intcmp=AE-SCM-FRD-HLPLN

877-908-3360

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My brother is an accountant, and he helps my mom with her taxes. I changed the Intuit online access info & will ask my brother to contact the IRS. And I will file the police report & anywhere else I can find.

My heart is breaking for my mom, who feels unsafe and scared. My dad passed away last year, and she’s especially lonely since we can’t spend as much time with her as we’d like because of the pandemic. I hate this for her.

In case your mom is feeling embarrassed or ashamed - please reassure her that this is so, so common. It happens to people who are extremely intelligent, independent and competent; studies show that nobody is invulnerable to these scams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My brother is an accountant, and he helps my mom with her taxes. I changed the Intuit online access info & will ask my brother to contact the IRS. And I will file the police report & anywhere else I can find.

My heart is breaking for my mom, who feels unsafe and scared. My dad passed away last year, and she’s especially lonely since we can’t spend as much time with her as we’d like because of the pandemic. I hate this for her.

In case your mom is feeling embarrassed or ashamed - please reassure her that this is so, so common. It happens to people who are extremely intelligent, independent and competent; studies show that nobody is invulnerable to these scams.

It happens to younger people too.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thank you to everyone who weighed in. My mom feels much better today. I did reassure her that it’s common to fall for these scams.

[Anonymous]

You are a rock star, OP! Wow. I’m going to bookmark YOUR list. Your mom is blessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am cutting and pasting your list in case I ever need it. You are the greatest OP, your mom is in good hands.

I agree. It is quite impressive!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t think I’ve ever susssed out an online recipe to see if it was from a trusted site.