I am honestly beside myself... I will try to keep this as short as possible.
My mom is in her 60's and is very lonely due to isolation (pandemic). She's been chatting with guys on Tinder for about 6 months. She has a "type" - "bad boy" military men. They are always on "assignment" somewhere, in the special forces, and love bomb her. I've told her countless times they are scammers. I don't know a lick about the military, but I can clearly tell the are scams. After awhile they would ask for money - she laughs cause she has none and blocks them...
Recently, she's been talking to one guy in the "special forces" who "lives" on a base in DFW area. Supposedly she cannot call him directly, she needs to call "base" and then he calls her. I've told her it's most likely a scam. Last week she told me he's coming to her city (Houston), but the military will need to verify her identity (why?). I told her DO NOT GIVE OUT ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION.
She just called me and told me he's coming, and that money for his trip will be deposited into her account. RED FLAGS are flying in front of me. Why tf would military personnel not have a bank? I ask her what info did she give them. She told me she gave her social and bank info - like her login details. Her credit dropped because they made a hard inquiry!!!!! How can she not realize by now it's a scam?! I admit, I was livid and screamed at her to freeze her credit and call her bank ASAP. I just can't believe my mom could fall for something like this - even after I was right with the other scammers...
Anyway... I need help on finding resources to protect her. She doesn't have much money (only SSDI). I told her to call her bank and tell them EVERYTHING and to freeze her credit via the 3 reporting agencies. What happens if they opened a card or loan under her name? What else can she do? What else can they access with her social and bank info?
Submitted January 31, 2021 at 06:48PM by drivingalexis https://ift.tt/3j5XWon
