Posted on 11/15/2014 10:45:26 AM PST by PROCON
SEATTLE -- The letter promised millions, claiming a Publishers Clearing House winner, and was sealed with Attorney General Bob Ferguson's misspelled name.
"In the value of $9,222,350.00," Marjorie Flatum read.
The 90-year-old widow had to do one simple thing to claim her prize: send money.
"First I gave them $70,000," she remembered. "That was my retirement savings."
It was "federal deposit insurance" the scam artists promised to return, but then they asked for more.
This time, Flatum took out a reverse mortgage on her home for $300,000 - the home her husband built with his own hands.
(Excerpt) Read more at nwcn.com ...
I half think she put herself in this position.
Then again, conmen prey on the weak.
They should be tied to a post, beat within an inch of their lives, left in the desert for a three days and summarily shot.
I wonder how/if she votes. Maybe she’s trying to prove the Gruber idiot correct.
Greed is rewarded often with failure.
Naive & trusting is not the same as "Stupid".
Possible borderline senility is not "Stupid".
Many, many people "intelligent" people are susceptible to scams.
With the ‘greying of America’ elder abuse seems to have become widespread. Very sad.
One headline in my small town paper:
Caregiver faces felony charges for missing jewelry
Police Deptments in New York State seem to be joining the party with the confiscation of firearms from homes of the recently deceased after their funeral.
What is a 90 year doing with $70,000 in savings. It should be in a trust of some kind. Think ahead.
You're right, my poor choice of words..Thanks.
Hey at least they filed charges. We had a family caregiver steal, yes outright steal, half a million dollars from Hubby’s dad.
We provided proof to the DA’s office via bank statements and statements from where she put the money in her name. Crickets. Nothing.
Some people are just innately stupid all their lives, but there have also been some studies in the past few years showing that changes in people’s brains as they age beyond about 75-years-old leads to a certain tendency towards gullability. Makes them very vulnerable to salesmen and scammers.
I frankly saw this with my own father, when he reached that age. He used to be about as sharp and as wary as they come. A very deliberative man. Extremely cautious and conservative about money and expenses, and very suspicious towards solicitors. But some guy came to his door soliciting money for veterans, without any credentials or anything, and my father wrote him a big $500 check, which was way, way out of his budget. Shortly afterward, my father sort of came to his senses, and he himself just couldn’t believe what he had done.
What does the fact that she was a vets wife have to do with her being stupid and greedy?
As the caregiver for my mom, it would be legal and easy to wipe her out. But one does not do that to their parents.
Legal and moral are often two different things.
I agree but Hubby’s sister did do it. We spent 3 years in court trying to get part of it back.
Put the dogs on ‘em.
There are ways of correcting a situation like that.Just sayin’.
‘Oh my God. Could I have won?’”...Ummmm..., no sweetie. I truly feel sorry for you...but...At 90 what the hell did you think you’d do with that kind of money?
The elderly are easy prey because they are so trusting. Plus many at a certain age just don’t have the mental faculties they once did.
I couldn’t read the article properly on this device, but I didn’t see anything about children or other family. We youngsters really have to look out for our older family and friends, take an active interest in their finances, in order to protect them from these vultures.
How would you feel if this were your Grandmother/Mother? You sound a little like someone who still knows everything.
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