I am so ashamed at my age to have been scammed. Ashamed I was so stupid at my age. Now, I have to suffer my stupidity. I was scammed out of over $1,000. And I am on SS. I dont know how I'm going to recoup this money.

I haven't broken down yet. But I probably will at some point. Yesterday and today, I've been on the phone with my bank and creditors back and forth.

Please, pray for me.

I just needed to vent a little.

I'm terribly sorry, Lisadee. What happened, exactly? Please try not to feel bad. The scammers will do whatever it takes to part you from your money.

Yes, tell us as much as you feel comfortable sharing. There are experienced and wise (or just experienced in EOD's case) people here who may be able to help.

Incidentally, I thought the post might be referring to membership in the LDS church. After all, virtually everyone on this board has been scammed of far more than $1,000 in terms of money, time, relationships, love, and self-esteem!

I was scammed by the church and by my "husband." I was dead broke for a long time, just trying to feed my kids and keep the roof over our heads. I had a wonderful job before I got married and earned really good money. And my husband putting me through what he did took thousands upon thousands of dollars. I really don't know how I made it here. I couldn't sleep at night for years because of it.

My "husband" has been catfished by several guys pretending they are gay from Nigeria and from Russia. He has lost at least $10,000 if not more, but heaven forbid he had ever given his kids that money!

He is much better now about taking care of his kids and he has to pay things now or I'll divorce him and he'll have to give me half his pension.

I wish I knew how you could get your money back. The very wisesst and smartest men I've ever known were scammed by some of the schemes mormons perpetuated back in the 1970s. One of them lost $50,000.

Be kind to yourself. Keep us informed. I so hope they are able to help you out in some way.

Thank you all.
Your empathy is a boon.
I will recover somehow. My bank is kinda working with me. My creditors, so far, are understanding.

If I can just get over beating myself up.
I feel like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football. Charlie never did kick the ball.

And I've always said,"Mama didnt raise no fools."
Open mouth. Insert foot.

I hear ya. I was scammed basically out of my retirement by someone I gave birth to. And I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop beating myself up. The best advice I got was from my therapist who made me ask myself how I would have felt if I had done nothing to help him when he was in a dire situation (although not the dire one I was led to believe he was in) and he had lost his life through something like suicide (which is what I feared). I think I'm beating myself up now, that one would probably have done me in. I don't have to fear feeling that now, no matter what the future brings. Although the bad decisions I made for years, in who I married and why I bore children (all related to my religious upbringing, of course), will always haunt me. No matter what, they're bad decisions that I, and no one else, made.

I'd imagine whatever you did to let yourself be scammed, you did because you thought you were helping someone or you thought the best of the person who scammed you. Is wanting to see the best in people when you don't know there is no best in them, really a bad thing? Well, maybe, when it ends up like it did. But guess what? You survive it and you move on and trust me, you move on a lot smarter, although a lot less able to trust anyone. Do NOT feel ashamed. Feel smarter. Feel empowered by your experience.

https://www.wikihow.com/Recover-Money-from-a-Scammer

I'd emphasize to make sure that you are in fact working with your bank and creditors.

Sometimes, they can reverse the charges, lock down accounts, track fraudulent activity and help you recover your lost money.

I wish you the best of success in getting back your money.

Tyson

Yes, I lost 4K recently trying to order a bike from a "Wal-Mart" site. I have had to go to the police. My bank is investigating. I have no idea if I'll ever see my money again. I feel so stupid I fell for their tricks. It was a call center in India and they were SLICK.

So sorry for your loss.

Cheryl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So sorry for your loss.

And I am so sorry for your loss too.

So sorry you were the victim of a scam. Please share what happened to you so the rest of us know what to look out for.

A very educated and successful realtor where I live fell for one of those grandparent scams where the caller pretends to be a grandchild who has gotten into trouble and needs bail money. The woman who was scammed shared her story with the local paper as a warning to others.

Scammers are very savvy. They are experts at scamming people. To avoid scam in the future, don't answer calls unless you know the caller. If the call is important the caller will leave a message. Never give out your SS# to anyone who calls you. You may have to give it to your bank or the IRS if you call them, but not the other way round. If you're not sure, ask the caller to leave their number so you can call them back. If they claim to be your bank, call your bank and talk to them to see if the call is legit.

Yes a year ago but I caught it before too much damage was done

My dad was...by another Mormon...in a real estate deal. Put him and mom into bankruptcy in their early 70's. Tried to reason with him and warn him off...to no avail.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2021 06:27PM by Lethbridge Reprobate.

My mom was scammed into buying a 7 year supply of wheat the family never ate because the metal containers it was packed in rusted, making it easy for the rats to have a feast. Such a waste of money for my mom who was a single mother dependent on her ex-husband who didn't always pay child support.

FYI, there is a Reddit forum devoted to uncovering common (and not so common) scams.

https://old.reddit.com/r/Scams/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/2021 06:38PM by summer.

OK ~ so like there have been these two women running a scam in ziller's area ~


as you are driving up and down the beach ~

one woman will jump up out of the dunes ~

she is like totally nekkid, jumping up and down, waving to you and crying for "help" ~

when you get out of the truck to "help" ~

her accomplice comes up behind you and robs you of all your money ~


in b 4 ~


ziller has been caught in this scam several times a day for the past two weeks ~


brb ~ gots to go to the ATM cash machine again ~


brb ~



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Thanks for the advice. Yes, I'm in contact with my bank and creditors.

I dont want to share the details. That may sound selfish but I just cant. Too ashamed.

But I believe I will get thru this. May take some time but it's doable.

Again, thank you all.

I was in my late 30s when I got scammed--affinity scam in my church. (Groan....)

A guy we knew well (or so we thought) asked people to pray for a business deal he was putting together. He gave us periodic "reports" of his "progress." He finally reported that he needed something like $15K to complete his investment package. If he had that, his investors would come up with "X" dollars--he just had to establish his "assets." Once he had the investors' money, he could release a lot of his own and pay us back.

His assets, my *ss! I took a large sum out of my IRA, as I'd have 90 days to return it (rollover), and he needed to "show" it for only a month or two. Once the investor money came through, he would return the loan.

I never saw that returned, as you can guess. He packed his family and fled to Alaska, I think. Not only did I lose my $$, but I got socked with the interest, penalties, and taxable income increase. I should have been more aggressive in locating him and filing charges. Like many scam victims, I felt embarrassed, ashamed, powerless, guilty (stupid me!) and just "putting it behind me" was my simplest, most comforting response.

Pass the salt, Lisadee?

Ow, that would hurt. I'm sorry. Just know that scammers can come across as being so legitimate these days, that it could happen to anyone.

I almost fell for one. I started to fill out the information they wanted, when I caught sight of the web address and realized that it didn't come from the company they said they were representing. I got the heck out of there immediately. It was close.

I do definitely consider myself to be scammed by the Mormon Church. I don't like to think about how much money I gave to them. It makes me very angry, because they misrepresented themselves. I even worked for the organization, which is when I began to realize that something wasn't quite right.

I'll always be angry with myself for that, because even at 16, my first reaction to them was, "Uh-huh. Yeah, right. Tell me another one." But I didn't follow that first instinct and that will always bug me.

If you haven't already please consider reporting the scam to federal authorities.

Google how to report a financial scam.

This will help authorities shut the scammer down.

AARP is actually a good resource.

https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/?cmp=KNC-BRD-MC-REALPOSS-TODAY-GOOGLE-SEARCH-FRAUD&ds_rl=1295601&ds_rl=1290515&gclid=CjwKCAjwt8uGBhBAEiwAayu_9RkvVwiFbX2fFkLZhCJUhLSmajUphlqPFKQwUURwsSjlo4pxK3BhyBoCyyEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

That's a good suggestion, Susan. Many scams are oriented towards seniors. I hope as I grow older, that I can keep up with technology and other trends so that the scammers don't take advantage of me.

I am royally pissed at the level of scamming out there. It seems to be getting worse with phones and computer scammers. I'm confident greedy phone companies could do more to stop selling multiple phone numbers to scammers and spammers. All it would take is allowing regular customers to easily flag and report unwanted calls and the phone companies could shut down the sources. They obviously don't want to be bothered since they are happy making money along with the scammers.

I often have to answer my phone because I have people from schools, vendors, etc. who may need to call me from numbers I don't recognize. Invariably it is some sort of spam / scam.

Imagine if the resources used to chase around pot users were used to fight scammers instead. I know how I would prefer the resources to be used to stop crimes!

My landline has become pretty much unusable, it's so overtaken by scammers. Right now, it's unplugged. I hate to give it up, but it may come to that. I really think Verizon could do a lot more to block scammers. Surely the phone company can see large blocks of calls coming through, and cut them off unless they are from vetted sources.

At least my cell phone (also Verizon, but under its wireless division,) recognizes potential spam calls and will notify me of that. Also I can simply deny a call from an unknown number.

The Do Not Call List is a joke.
Most of the spammy/scammy calls come from "local" numbers and don't have "Potential Scam" in the ID. Once you answer once, somehow your phone number gets on zillions of lists as a viable number for even more calls.

Every once in a while, for calls that claim to be impersonating a federal agent repeatedly, I compile the information and initiate a report to the FTC. It does seem to help, but there are so many, it doesn't even make a dent in the volume of calls I get.

Yes, my landline is on the Do Not Call list. It seemed to help for a while, but now there is a flood of calls.

I just had our landline turned off. I would have done it years ago but we got it free in the bundle. We had the same number for over 20 years so a lot of people had it but the only ones that used it were scammers, political crap and bill collectors looking for DHs ex. They have been divorced for over 30 years and she never lived here people. She has been married three times since but they keep bugging US!

You're probably the only ones who are solvent.

For ten years after I first got my landline number, I kept getting bill collectors trying to get money out of "Rosa." They would call speaking in Spanish, and were somehow not deterred by my assertions in perfectly-accented English that Rosa was no longer at this number. Somehow I finally got through to them when I explained that Rosa had given up this number *ten years ago,* that it had been my number for ten years, and that no matter how many times they called, they would never, ever reach Rosa!

The crazy thing is that I would be MORE than happy to tell them where she is if they had a real person call not just a recording. Hell, I even looked on FB and figured out her current name/husband and where they live. And where she works. And you may be correct LW, we may be the only ones that are solvent.

I have to be so careful with my Mom. She's 93. Yesterday she came downstairs and said that she received an e-mail from McAfee and she owes them $369 to renew her subscription.

I said, "Mom, you don't have McAfee. It's a scam."

Then she gets all worried that I'm wrong and that she's going to lose something important on her computer.

I made the mistake of telling her that she needs to quit trusting these people and she got really mad at me because she took it to mean that I thought she was stupid.

A lot of computers come with McAfee installed and free for a year (mine did). Then, after the trial, they hit you up like you need to continue it. They are persistent. She should not pay and maybe uninstall it if this is the case. Usually there are other security measures built in but everyone has their opinions. Either way, she should not renew if someone calls or sends her an email. She should contact them instead if she really wants their product.

Even if you want McAfee, it's not going to cost $369. I've been using the native Windows program for years for free, and have zero issues as long as I update when suggested.

I used to use Norton, and I always found it to be a heavy program that slows down my computer for no good reason that I can determine. The native Windows program (Windows Defender/Microsoft Defender,) does a fine job with no hit to system resources.

95%+ of the calls to my land line are scams, i.e., my social security account has been shut down, same for medicare, credit card interest rates, etc. etc.

Number block doesn't work, the scammers are using a technic that sends phony information, local numbers, etc. I've gotten calls from myself.

Anyway I just ignore them, and almost all the calls I must take come into my cell.

If I mess up and answer a scam, I ask for a call back name and number and then hang up if they don't comply.

> I've gotten calls from myself.


Yeah, those are the ones I'm for sure going to trust!!!

I only answer so I can flirt with myself... You know, play hard to get, an' all...

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > I've gotten calls from myself.
>
>
> Yeah, those are the ones I'm for sure going to
> trust!!!
>
> I only answer so I can flirt with myself... You
> know, play hard to get, an' all...


I got a date lined up with myself, only I don't know who is driving or who is paying.

One of you bring protection!!

not even including TSCC scam

Scammers target the finest of humans.
They search out the benevolent and good -- those fine people believing (against all evidence) that human beings are fundamentally good, so essentially trustworthy -- and flip this trusting nature against the target.
Helps to remember where the evil is; shame not warranted here

Have found useful searching Better Business Bureau web before making any larger purchase or dealing with a company.
Look for:
- does the company actually exist
- if so, is it a member of BBB (really good sign)
- what is the BBB grade (A through F)
- peruse the complaints

Takes five minutes. Wish had done prior to two endeavors, but has saved this butt many times since

https://www.bbb.org/search

(This description distinct from political scams, where the exploiter-target is a completely different dynamic)

Just now did a search for a friend considering Ayurvedic medicine course

https://www.bbb.org/us/mn/minneapolis/profile/yoga-instructor/devanadi-yoga-0704-1000002326

-it exists
-11 years
-A plus
-no complaints
-not a member

Reasonable risk

Their McAfee e-mail didn't work, so now they've tried the same stunt saying it's Norton this time. Delete, delete, delete.

We were approached 4 or 5 times by different people to convince us to join up with Amway.
One of those times was by my husband's co worker. The guy told my husband that his stake prez made $10,000/month selling Amway. He even showed hubby a copy of one of the stake presidents' checks and the stake prez had instructed the co worker to tell my husband that he could make that much also.
Luckily enough, my husband had the common sense that God gave a goat to know that it was a huge scam.

I was asked several times to sell Mary Kay products. We had a friend who had bought $5,000 worth of products to sell and wasn't able to sell any of it and was stuck with that stuff and couldn't get her money back. The husband had told her not to get involved in that but nope; she did it anyway and they wound up getting divorced because of it.

Most MLMs are scams for the vast majority of people. Amway is one of the very worst. There is a free, online book called, "Merchants of Deception." It was written by a former Amway "Diamond," which is very high up in the company. He worked 100 hour workweeks, spent most nights and weekends working, and netted less than $30K per year doing Amway as a (more than) full time job. He came to the conclusion that it was impossible to make any meaningful income from either Amway sales or from his downline (people that he recruited.) The only real money to be made was by people very high up, who sold endless motivational tapes and pricy seminars.

The Finance Guy analyzes MLM businesses. He estimates that only .3% of the people who join Amway make a profit off of it. Most lose money, and often a *lot* of money.

https://www.finance-guy.net/streetonomic/money-with-amway

The MLMs often take on cult-like characteristics and can be very controlling. In many cases you would notice similarities with high-control religions.

summer, thank you for providing info about "Merchants of Deception".

I am reading it and it is so informative and interesting; it will help get anyone's bs meters finely tuned.

If you have some time, watch veteran actress Virginia Gregg shake her tambourine for the Dollar Wise Buying Club.

https://youtu.be/faZadaGV6AE?t=242

"We're all in this together". Hmmmm.... who would've thought that little phrase would become so popular? :D

You were offered an extended warranty several times.