After reading @DRD topic about the phone and malicious software scam, made me think and share this. I just hope it may at least help one other person who may be in a similar situation.
Last year we sadly found out due to the events that happened that my mother in law has Vascular Dementia. A very active woman, only in her 78th year who was scammed out of approximately £16K. She had somehow hidden the dementia well, but has significantly deteriorated in a very short space of time.
Her cousin noticed about the money at first as my mother in law had left a Western Union money transfer statement for £1000, to India, open on the dining table and then it all came to light.
Some scumbag had been calling her and convinced her to do the transfer. To this day we have no idea what they said to her.
We then found a couple more WU transfers and also discovered that some W****R had called by the house and said that she’d subscribed to Readers Digest but had not been paying. Off to the bank she went and withdrew £4500 and handed it over. People of that age don’t want to be in any trouble
A second visit by someone else convincing her she needed a new boiler and actually drove her to another of the branches and again £4500 in cash.
And then £300 in Xbox / Apple voucher cards at the local newsagents to someone else. Why would a 78 year old want Xbox / Apple vouchers FFS – dodgy newsagents???
Apparently the banks only flag at £5K????? Banks could not help and neither could the police.
This all happened in a very short space of time (weeks)!!!
Fortunately we had taken her iPad from her some time ago as she said she kept getting the calls like @DRD had said and she was ringing us to find out how to download the software. Just wished we had seen it coming sooner
She agreed that she needed some help. Cheque book was destroyed, and arrangements with the bank that her account was flagged at £100. Anything over needed to be checked by SWMBO.
We also purchased a Trucall unit (https://www.truecall.co.uk/ no association with them) Filters 95% of nuisance calls – web based – brilliant piece of kit
A EZVIZ indoor camera (https://www.ezvizlife.com/uk/category/wi-fi-indoor-cameras/16 again no association) monitoring the front door with motion detection and instant email alerts to whoever.
Fortunately, we have not found anything more only that after then moving from her home into and independent retirement village that her condition has worsened and has had to move again into a full time dementia care home.
Power of attorney has been granted, but my mother in laws condition will only get worse.
Again, I hope this helps anyone who may be in a similar situation to ours.
Act now, put things in place. They don’t need to have dementia / Alzheimer’s, these scumbags will target any vulnerable person and I hope whoever they are have a very, very slow and painful death!
Last year we sadly found out due to the events that happened that my mother in law has Vascular Dementia. A very active woman, only in her 78th year who was scammed out of approximately £16K. She had somehow hidden the dementia well, but has significantly deteriorated in a very short space of time.
Her cousin noticed about the money at first as my mother in law had left a Western Union money transfer statement for £1000, to India, open on the dining table and then it all came to light.
Some scumbag had been calling her and convinced her to do the transfer. To this day we have no idea what they said to her.
We then found a couple more WU transfers and also discovered that some W****R had called by the house and said that she’d subscribed to Readers Digest but had not been paying. Off to the bank she went and withdrew £4500 and handed it over. People of that age don’t want to be in any trouble
A second visit by someone else convincing her she needed a new boiler and actually drove her to another of the branches and again £4500 in cash.
And then £300 in Xbox / Apple voucher cards at the local newsagents to someone else. Why would a 78 year old want Xbox / Apple vouchers FFS – dodgy newsagents???
Apparently the banks only flag at £5K????? Banks could not help and neither could the police.
This all happened in a very short space of time (weeks)!!!
Fortunately we had taken her iPad from her some time ago as she said she kept getting the calls like @DRD had said and she was ringing us to find out how to download the software. Just wished we had seen it coming sooner
She agreed that she needed some help. Cheque book was destroyed, and arrangements with the bank that her account was flagged at £100. Anything over needed to be checked by SWMBO.
We also purchased a Trucall unit (https://www.truecall.co.uk/ no association with them) Filters 95% of nuisance calls – web based – brilliant piece of kit
A EZVIZ indoor camera (https://www.ezvizlife.com/uk/category/wi-fi-indoor-cameras/16 again no association) monitoring the front door with motion detection and instant email alerts to whoever.
Fortunately, we have not found anything more only that after then moving from her home into and independent retirement village that her condition has worsened and has had to move again into a full time dementia care home.
Power of attorney has been granted, but my mother in laws condition will only get worse.
Again, I hope this helps anyone who may be in a similar situation to ours.
Act now, put things in place. They don’t need to have dementia / Alzheimer’s, these scumbags will target any vulnerable person and I hope whoever they are have a very, very slow and painful death!