I've been scammed

Whoopee, I just checked my bank account this morning. They put back the $3,000.00 into my credit card. Nice Christmas gift. So I at least got that much back.

I always check my credit cards & bank accounts every morning. Just to make sure nothing has been added to a credit card or removed from my bank account. My Accountant got me doing this 10 years ago when I had my I.D. stolen & people "tried" to buy stuff on a credit card they opened on my account. I had all my Credit reporting places already freeze my info so they could not get a new card without a credit check.

Man, that was a mess to cancel everything & start fresh. took me about 8 months to get this all straightened out.
 

Tom 86 said:
Well, this could get to be a long post but I'll try to just hit the high points. Last Wed. I got a messenger that & old friend I worked with for some 20+ years wanted to talk. So I got on & was talking to her & she knew all our old past workings together.

She then said she has a friend that can get me Federal grant money of 50,000.00 up to 100,000.00 Told me to click on this woman in the messenger chat with us. So I did. She set me up with $75,000.00 all I had to do was pay for the document rendering of $2,000.00 So I went to CVS & got 2,000.00 worth of gift cards & sent them to her through my C.P.

Well, a day later she was back saying that I now have to pay the 3,000.00 for IRS taxes on this grant. So again more gift cards. Finally yesterday she said the CIA was holding my FedEx package at the border. That's when I got worried. I called this woman I worked with & she said oh my God They got you too? She said I'm not on Messenger & that is not me.

So I called the sheriff & put in a scam report. Then DIL came over & she put in more scam reports to Facebook & other places. I called all my credit card phone numbers & they locked all accounts down. They are sending me new cards by FedEx today.

So if you are on F.B. or messenger with a friend & you get a request to talk with this other person. Call that friend first to make sure it's actually them your talking with on Messenger. I'm out possibility $5,000.00 My Bank card says they might get my $3,000.00 back from them as the woman had not cashed the gift cards yet & Kim locked that account so she can't get the money. Kim said you also have insurance on that card through our Regions bank here.

Just be very careful this time of year. Scammers go after older people. :mad::mad:
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This is an old story. Anyone who asks to send gift cards is a crook. I am not on any social media site, except here, and I certainly wouldn't send any cash or gift cards to anyone. Sorry to hear about your misery but learn from this. It's an old truth, "If the deal is too good to be true, it is too good to be true."
 
I'm sorry it happened but glad it worked out for you Tom. I reiterate what others have said... that payment requested up front is a red flag that it's a scam. Its a good that you are checking your accounts often.
 

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We‘ve all been scammed from time to Just don't be scammed as badly as this guy.

Then, out of nowhere, it seemed that a single investment would put Whitacre’s life back on track. Through a friend, he heard about a firm called Yield Wealth and the “guaranteed” 15.25% return it was offering to investors on some products.
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He put his entire IRA, (over $750,000) into a Guaranteed 15.25% return investment. This in a 4 to 5% world. Really?
 
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Yesterday I read the article linked below. My father-in-law's experience lends support to its point.

What FIL would have laughed off ten years earlier cost him over $10K before we learned what was happening. It would have been far more but for an astute care-giver. A couple of years later, FIL started showing demonstrable signs of Alzheimer's.

FIL went to AL willingly immediately after the scam came to light. He was embarrassed at his naiveté and terrified he'd again be victimized. He passed from an upper respiratory infection before the Alzheimer's progressed beyond Assisted Living level care and had no need for memory care. He was ill for just a few days before dying.

Having dealt with FIL's experience, I'd never disparage seniors who are taken in by scammers. Even slight cognitive declines can make any of us vulnerable. Slick predators quickly discern likely targets and know how to bleed them dry.

Vulnerability to financial scams in aging adults could be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, new research shows
 
StarSong said:
Having dealt with FIL's experience, I'd never disparage seniors who are taken in by scammers. Even slight cognitive declines can make any of us vulnerable. Slick predators quickly discern likely targets and know how to bleed them dry.

Vulnerability to financial scams in aging adults could be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease, new research shows
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I agree. Bernie Madoff took in a number of quite sophisticated people. Even the government watchdogs were taken in despite being shown by Mr. Markopolis that Madoff’s profit numbers could not be possible.

Number don’t lie, but liars sure figure.
 
Pepper said:
Scammers work off of our own Greed.
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"GREED". That is the watchword. I am not going to find an envelope with a milllion dollars in it nor is Brigitte Bardot going to turn 30 and come knocking on my door. I've got my pension, a roof over my head with central heating, and the fridge is never empty. God can take me whenever he wants and until then I'm doing alright.
 
FACEBOOK period, is bad news. There are so many scams on that site. Thanks, Tom, for sharing your experience. We can all learn from each other's mistakes. Praying for your healing, in Jesus name.
 

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