Janet N. Cook, a church secretary in Virginia, had been a widow for a decade when she joined an Internet dating site and was quickly overcome by a rush of emails, phone calls and plans for a face-to-face visit. "I'm not stupid, but I was totally naïve," says Cook, now 76, who was swept off her feet by a man who called himself Kelvin Wells and described himself as a middle-aged German businessman looking for someone "confident" and "outspoken" to travel with him to places like Italy, his "dream destination." But very soon he began describing various troubles, including being hospitalized in Ghana, where he had gone on business, and asked Cook to bail him out. In all, she sent him nearly $300,000, as he apparently followed a well-honed script that online criminals use to bilk members of dating sites out of tens of millions of dollars a year.
The New York Times reports that internet scammers are targeting women in their 50s and 60s, often retired and living alone, who say that the email and phone wooing forms a bond that may not be physical but that is intense and enveloping. Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2014, nearly 6,000 people registered complaints of such confidence fraud with losses of $82.3 million, according to the federal Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Older people are ideal targets because they often have accumulated savings over a lifetime, own their homes and are susceptible to being deceived by someone intent on fraud. The digital version of the romance con is now sufficiently widespread that AARP's Fraud Watch Network has urged online dating sites to institute more safeguards to protect against such fraud. The AARP network recommends that dating site members use Google's "search by image" to see if the suitor's picture appears on other sites with different names. If an email from "a potential suitor seems suspicious, cut and paste it into Google and see if the words pop up on any romance scam sites," the network advised. The website romancescams.org lists red flags to look for to identify such predators, who urgently appeal to victims for money to cover financial setbacks like unexpected fines, money lost to robbery or unpaid wages.
Most victims say they are embarrassed to admit what happened and they fear that revealing it will bring derision from their family and friends, who will question their judgment and even their ability to handle their own financial affairs."It makes me sound so stupid, but he would be calling me in the evening and at night. It felt so real. We had plans to go to the Bahamas and to Bermuda together," says Louise Brown. "When I found out it was a scam, I felt so betrayed. I kept it secret from my family for two years, but it's an awful thing to carry around. But later I sent him a message and said I forgave him."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by davester666 on Monday July 20 2015, @04:25AM
Old people are easy to scam.
I'd like to welcome these scum with the rest of the scum who prey on vulnerable people.
The real question is...do they blend?
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday July 20 2015, @04:43AM
Not all "old" people are easy to scam. Only those who have never been exposed to scammers, or those who's minds are gone.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @04:44AM
Take the dumb people you encounter all the time, age them by 30-50 years, and give them degenerative neural illness, large nest eggs, and desperation.
It's the perfect crime.
(Score: 2) by Anne Nonymous on Monday July 20 2015, @12:42PM
> It's the perfect crime.
It's the neglected dime? What? Kids these days are so careless with money. Back in '22 if we had a dime, we'd damn sure take care of it, dag-nabbit!
(Score: 2) by crutchy on Monday July 20 2015, @01:44PM
'cos it was the style at the time
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Monday July 20 2015, @05:05AM
I've known about this. My grandmother lost half a million dollars and became broke because she was repeatedly scammed over and over with fake "you won the lottery" things. They'd just ask for a mere $10,000 for processing, and then, just keep the money. She had dementia and a gambling addiction, so she lost virtually everything to these monsters.
I'd string these pricks up by their nuts with a fishing hook at the nearest wal-mart flag pole.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday July 20 2015, @05:41AM
All I c an say to this is, you and your parents should have been closer to your grandmother to prevent this kind of thing. Of course that's easy for me to say even though I and my 13 cousins let someone scam us and our aunt out of 3.5 million US $. We wound up with around 30 K US$ each.
"It is easier to fool someone than it is to convince them that they have been fooled" Mark Twain
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @05:57AM
Ive dealt with two people in my life, one who had a gambling addiction, and the other, dementia. I cannot imagine the chaos, much less stress involved if you put those two afflictions into the same individual, and combined that with a large nest egg, which the family probably had no control over.
The gambler routinely stole from loved ones, and hawked family heirlooms. The demented one thought everyone was out to kill her (especially doctors), and eventually took to impatiently, and often loudly waiting on her front porch for Obama's election bus to swing around and pick her up at all hours of the day and night.
Sorry GP, that's a fucked up situation to be involved with. I'd want to string some scammers up as well.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @06:36AM
Ive dealt with two people in my life, one who had a gambling addiction, and the other, dementia.
You should get out more, meet some new people! Perhaps a dating service could be right for you! Call now, hookers and scammers are standing by.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Monday July 20 2015, @06:09AM
How exactly does one stay close to the cheque-book of an aging relative? There are three kinds of people that do that: controlling types (preventing elderly people from financial agency), family members out to scam, and of course, family members that care and are doing their best to help. The first two are examples of elder abuse and the second is healthy concern. Sadly it's hard to tell the difference - especially with diminishing mental faculties, or with the paranoia that is often part of the process.
I can honestly say I am not looking forward to this period in my life where I have to keep an eye on aging relatives without overstepping bounds (or being suspected of such in their eyes). Nor do I look forward to the day when I; in turn; have to trust others with things that are so simple for me today.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Hairyfeet on Monday July 20 2015, @09:01AM
You have to be willing to "be the bastard" in their eyes, like it or not. I recently lost my father and I'm paying to have my mother's will written up....does she like this? No she does not (she hates talk of such things) but I refuse to let it drop because she has property she wants to go to her grandkids so I'm willing to "be the bastard" and let her stay pissed at me so long as it gets done.
At the end of the day you simply have to face the facts which are 1.- they are old, 2.- the mind breaks down,causing even the most cynical to become more trusting (and thus easily ripped off) and 3.- Its your job as a member of their family to proptect them when they can no longer protect themselves. Sometimes to do that you have to let them hate you, just remember its for their own well being and be willing to be the bastard if you have to.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @09:10PM
Its your job as a member of their family to proptect them when they can no longer protect themselves.
So which GNU/Linux distro does your mom run?
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Tuesday July 21 2015, @03:21AM
iOS
(Score: 2) by Subsentient on Monday July 20 2015, @09:36AM
We were there for her at least twice a week. We talked every day. Mom didn't have the heart to take power of attorney, because she knew it'd break grammaw's heart. So we watched in horror how she never listened to any of us, and threw out $500,000.
"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -Jiddu Krishnamurti
(Score: 5, Interesting) by lentilla on Monday July 20 2015, @05:57AM
I wonder if we could automate some kind of scam-detection algorithm that reviews account history at banks?
Similar things are done for credit cards - I'm not the only one who's had a call "hello, did you just purchase an item for $23.45 from overseas?" I wonder if similar things could be done to monitor aberrant behaviour in "savings" accounts?
It would be more than a little creepy to have the bank call and start asking questions about your habits but handled appropriately it might be a needed wake-up call to those in the process of being scammed.
I expect the transactions will either be in cash withdrawals that exceed regular daily requirements, or in foreign transfers. I'd be very interested to see the actual transaction history of scammed individuals.
(Score: 2) by linuxrocks123 on Monday July 20 2015, @06:03AM
That's an excellent idea.
(Score: 5, Informative) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @07:43AM
A lot of the problem comes from third party services. Western Union are scumbags who will gladly move any amount of money anywhere without any question, and it's the complacent medium by which any competent scammer does his work. My grandparents got taken for a few thousand a couple years ago. Apparently they thought I went to Mexico and thought that the Mexican accent on the other end of the phone that couldn't have given even the vaguest of personal details about me because I don't exist online sounded like me. The scumbags actually had the gall to try to ask for more before the few brain cells in my dear relative's brains that haven't short circuited actually fired properly and they bothered to try to, you know, CALL MY CELL PHONE EVENTUALLY TO FIND OUT I WAS JUST HUNGOVER AT HOME.
I've solved the problem for now by assuring them that they would be knowing if I'd be going to Mexico in the near future (and I won't be because I'd pick some place less of a infernal shit hole) and that they shouldn't take things seriously until they hear from me for real, what with all my pleasant disposition and unwillingness to call them out on their lack of, well, you know. Time will tell if that actually holds up, because appeals to emotion are somehow stronger than I give them credit for or something.
On a personal note, I still don't get how they can act like it's my fault when I tell them that if I cause myself to be rotting in some fucking third world (by the modern definition) shithole of a prison, I probably deserved it to begin with and I'll deal with that on my own terms, but that's really beside the point. In the meanwhile, my personal goal is to make sure I die off before I get to that point. I'd prefer to make sure I enjoy further years of lucidity before that though, otherwise I'd just fucking off myself now. Any suggestions?
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday July 20 2015, @02:04PM
Well there is always the Hunter S. Thompson route...
But really I am worried about this too. I have money that can deal with physical handicap problems, even though I hate relying on others for anything. But if my mind starts to go... I fear most that I won't realize it until it is too late.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 1) by nitehawk214 on Monday July 20 2015, @03:58PM
Actually there is a much worse way to go than losing one's mind.
Having the body fail to the point of helplessness while being in constant terrible pain and the mind is entirely intact.
Going through a parent having this for a few weeks, I would not wish this on anyone ever.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 3, Interesting) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @07:02PM
Good point, and that does sound pretty sad. The state of assisted suicide (in the US) has really fallen to the point where the Christians (et al) have forced us to passively torture through inaction older and infirm people until they finally go.
It's perpetually baffling to me that 12 slack-jawed mouth breathers whose strongest desire is to just get the trial over with can decide to kill a person but the people who know you and have your best interests at heart, or even you yourself, cannot. I don't normally like Scott Adams' blog, but he did an interesting bit on that... I want to say a a couple years ago.
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @09:10PM
How dare they provide that useful and essential service! Every transfer of money should require all personal details of both parties and government approval!
(Score: 2) by dyingtolive on Monday July 20 2015, @09:29PM
And I felt that too even as I posted it. I get what you're saying. Paypal really pisses me off like that. What it came down to when I thought further about it was that the problem is that any sort of regulation or inspection of the transfer of those funds is only subject to the whims and best interests of those that don't necessarily have YOUR best interests at heart.
It's like the doublespeak wrt regulation. People scream "REGULATION IS BERD! REGULATION IS GRATE!" I mean, really, regulation isn't really bad when it's doing things like keeping asbestos out of schools and toxic waste out of your burger, but it's kind of shit when it props up dying business models because there is strictly financial gain to be had for people.
I don't want government approval on a wire transfer. You're going far beyond the scope of what I'm even bitching about to begin with. I don't really want any regulation necessarily. I want the people doing the wire transfer to look at what is going on, express a vague amount of competence (maybe prompted by a computer, I'm not picky) and stop and ask, "Wait, are you sure this is actually who you're sending this to? This doesn't add up. We have the awareness to be aware that this is a popular scam situation."
Instead, barely trained half-baked gas station attendants gladly nod their heads like well trained dogs, ask you for the routing numbers, and then it's just another bullet point on their list of things to do with as much significance as "declog the overflowing toilet in the fetid restroom they've neglected all day."
Don't blame me, I voted for moose wang!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @06:18AM
Some people just have too much money...
I think the scammers are sickening but somehow it at the same time feels hard to have compassion for the "victims".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @10:50AM
Some people just have too much money...
I think the scammers are sickening but somehow it at the same time feels hard to have compassion for the "victims".
Really harsh, but true? How can someone lose a half-million and not be flat broke? One of the best defenses against scams is to have no money.
(And, if someone could explain the troll mods, I would be interested. )
(Score: 3, Funny) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Monday July 20 2015, @06:41AM
However I know how to do image similarity search.
"She" promised me lots of what every man wants most just a few hours after we met.
A lot of men have fallen for this. Quite tragically what hurt them the mist was not that they sent "Cass" all their money but that "her" love was not genuine.
Report cyber crime at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx [ic3.gov]
I should have reported Cass while her trail of IP addresses was still fresh but I was looking forward to my mail order bride.
My first mail order bride was legit but in the end it didnt work out.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FakeBeldin on Monday July 20 2015, @08:20AM
The story is about folks nearing retirement or having retired, but as the summary explains, that's only because they are wealthy targets. Not because they are more easily tricked.
The clever strategy here is selecting the victims - not for their age, but for their interest. The people on dating sites want something, and they're actively looking for it. It is the job of the scammer to provide that.
I mean that literally: it is the scammer's work, 40 hrs/wk or whatever, to trick his(*) victims.
That is a lot of attention just to defraud people. Most people cannot withstand such an onslaught - especially when they announced that they are looking for something.
I see an analogy with malware: malware is found on computers not because people actively seek it out, but because malware makers make a living by making malware that actually infects computers.
Now your PC and mine might be malware-free (perhaps...), but that's more to do with the fact that there are victims out there for whom attack vectors are easier to identify than whether or not our PCs are so incredibly secure.
Similarly, plenty of us here would probably be willing to help a friend in need out financially. All the scammers do is target people where it is easier to become a friend, and easier to uphold the fiction of being in need financially.
TL;DR: it's not about being middle-aged, it's about being human and therefore social-engineerable.
(*) accurate in this specific case.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @08:39AM
Indeed, I sometimes think about all the packages I've installed from my distro's package repository, trusting that if it's in the repository, it should not be malicious. Who knows if someone didn't sneak some evil code into one of the many packages? After all, it could even be that one of those responsible for the repository is doing some underhanded job. If you really wanted to be sure, you'd have to compile everything yourself, and first inspect the source of every single package you install. But who has time for that?
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Monday July 20 2015, @11:03AM
Exactly. There's a lot of trust involved in social relations and also in getting software from the internet.
Lucky enough for me, for some reason delivering malware via driveby downloads is currently easier than corrupting the software repositories where I get my updates from.
And exactly the same is true for scammers: luckily for me, they're targetting other people. If they were targetting me, I'd probably weed out one or two, but I'm pretty sure eventually one would get through.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday July 20 2015, @07:36PM
Driveby downloads are a much more viable course of action and you don't have to share your source code that way. The minute malware makers start making their software open source, is the hour we get a lot better malware detection.
Scammers are always trying to get your information, so they can overcharge you for something, or commit outright fraud. I have had some experience with a certain persistent caller every few months trying to sell us overpriced ink / toner cartridges. They usually have some cookie cutter spiel that usually makes it past the front line and the call inevitably ends up being forwarded to me. The best line I have found that usually ends up with them hanging up immediately is this. "What company are you with?" They would also be committing fraud, if they claimed to be from a company they aren't. Most scammers don't want to be on the hook for fraud, though.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by schad on Monday July 20 2015, @10:08AM
Don't lend money to friends or family. It's a really great way to destroy your relationships. If you're going to give someone money, assume you won't ever get a single cent back. Assume that you can't ask for it or your friend will get mad at you. Assume you won't get any special treatment or favors or anything else. Assume your friend will spend your money differently than how you wish he would. If you're OK with all that, then go ahead and gift your friend money with no strings attached. If you're not OK with it, then not even a dollar.
If you want to retain control over your friend's spending, then you do the spending for them. Don't give them $1000 for rent; write a check for $1000 and deliver it to the landlord personally. Don't give them $200 for groceries; go to the store and buy them what they need. And so on. Your friends won't like that, and they may well turn down your offer. So be it; it shows that they don't really need your help, right?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @02:51PM
Always assume your friend will be Greece! :)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 20 2015, @06:51PM
I got news for you: these people you consider your friends, aren't. And they don't really think of you as a friend, either. They think of you as a sucker, an easy mark. Get some new, less shitty, friends. Don't wait. Do it now. Just sayin'.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by tathra on Monday July 20 2015, @09:15PM
exactly. any friend who won't pay their debts is just using you to suck you dry and then toss you away when you have nothing left for them to take. i've been fucked over many times by being nice and helping "friends", only to be told to fuck off when i was hurting and needed even the tiniest bit of help on anything.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Monday July 20 2015, @11:53AM
In the old days, everyone smoked like fiends from teens to death, so all my grandparents never got ripped off because they died of heart and cancer body issues before their minds went. If you're gonna die anyway I'm not entirely sure its "more fun" to have your mind and all your property go at 80 rather than your lungs get cancerous at 75. At least its an open question. I could see smoking coming back into style as being "cool" depending on societal attitudes toward being ripped off as a sucker vs having to spend decades wheezing around like a smoker.
Another interesting thing to consider is due to ageism I'm quite likely in my last working job despite only being an older gen-xer so someone ripping me off to take my millions when I'm 75 is a pipe dream if I'll inevitably be living under the freeway overpass in a decade or so. My wife has power of attorney for an uncle of hers with a net worth right around zero for vaguely similar reasons, so go ahead "internet" send him some (fake) nudes and ask him for money, like 95% of the population, he has none to steal. Soon the assisted living facility will have every penny he has (At $8K/month it doesn't take long...). Massive income and wealth inequality is an interesting solution to the crime problem and as inequality inevitably increases its going to be hard to motivate criminals to spend weeks of effort to steal a mere $50 and likewise going to be hard to inspire pity especially with the two growing cultural beliefs that only the richest should have ALL the money, and all the rich are crooks, so its just BAU. I'm just saying the pool of people you can steal $500K from is small and rapidly shrinking for large scale economic reasons so on the long term by the time I'm 75, following the trendlines, its just not going to be a practical problem. Then again this collides with the cultural opiate belief that we should love inequality because 100% of us are temporarily disadvantaged millionaires.