Financial Advice Columnist falls for $50K scam

[RobLJ]

I kind of admire the columnist for sharing her story, despite the obvious humiliation since it could be helpful to her readers.

My AgedP got a call about 12 years ago that her grandson (at Carnegie Mellon) was in jail and needed bond. Luckily, she called me. Dad had died about a year or so earlier, so she was pretty vulnerable. I told her anytime something remotely similar came up, to call me, and she promised to do so.

I've given 20 bucks or so to probably scammers at gas stations, particularly if they have kids. What if they aren't scammers? 20 bucks means absolutely nothing to me. 50k, now, is another matter as you all will point out, correctly. I don't even care a lot if I have been scammed. "As you have done to the least, so you have done to me."
Growing up, my father was a Church of Christ pastor in rural Missouri and Western Oklahoma and would get phone calls at night from travelers, asking for gas money or food or, etc. Many, not all, had kids. I asked him "How can you tell who is really in need or who is a con?" And he said it doesn't matter. At most, the church is out the gas money--40 or 60 bucks (they had an account that he, the elders and deacons could access when this sort of thing came up). If they take food and clothes, they could get rid of them in the nearest trash can out of town, but more times than not, they will need it. And what kind of Christian am I if they are in need and I don't help them?

 

[No900SS]

I would tell any caller that I am going hang up, and will wait patiently for their knock at my door. My mom was scammed out of her savings, retirement and two homes.

 

[ERD50]

Originally Posted by Nash View Post
I don't get it. How can anyone fall for that? She must be the most naive person ever. WOW!

If you read it, you'll conclude anything but.

I read it. If naive isn't the right descriptor, what is?

She blew it at the first step - Amazon (or any MegaCorp) calling you warning you of xyz? That's a red flag - any unsolicited call, email, text, means you stop there, and contact the company through a known source (their website, the number on your credit card, bank statement, etc).

If she would have responded with skepticism right there and then, nothing more would have transpired. That would have been the end of it. And no 'story' to tell, for those who think this might have all been a ruse to get attention.

But she goes on, and that gave the scammers a chance to get deeper into her psyche. It's all downhill from there. Nip it in the bud, and it never would have grown to these proportions.

There are a lot of holes in her story. I questioned, as did some commentators, her claim that they "had her SS#", but as you read, they had the last 4 digits. Well, that's not your SS#, is it? Starting to smell even more fishy.

And her 'credentials', and her claim that "I never thought I was the kind of person to fall for a scam." Well, that's exactly the kind of person that might fall for a scam - she's too self confident. A real skeptic, a person protecting themselves, is skeptical of their own abilities as well.

I understand the best of the scammers are clever and know how to play on emotions. Which is why you don't let them in in the first place.

She failed. If not 'naive', then "too full of herself".

$50,000 in a shoe box to have funds to pay bills to "protect yourself"? And then turn it over to a stranger in a car with tinted windows? Right, she was not the kind of person to fall for a scam. Gimme a break.

-ERD50

 

[ERD50]

And from that article:

https://www.thecut.com/article/amazon-scam-call-ftc-arrest-warrants.html

He told me to go to the FTC home page and look up the main phone number. “Now hang up the phone, and I will call you from that number right now.”

Sounds naive to me. The idea is that YOU call the number, not them telling you they called from that number (with a spoofed Caller ID).

-ERD50

 

[mak99]

Wow - what an effen fool she must be to have fallen for that. And she even had a golden opportunity to help fight crime. She could have claimed to be confined to a wheelchair or was immobile due to leg/knee/back surgery and ask the scammer to please (oh, please!!) come into the house and grab the shoebox off the entry table just inside the door. And be waiting for them, locked and loaded...


My two cents, since the world has ZERO need for people like this. I'm mostly a reader here and don't post here (I think this is my second), but scammers like this are just wasting good people's oxygen. If you can't be a good contributor to society, there is no use for you.


^^ Just my two cents...earned from an honorable career, BTW.

 

[CaptTom]

...A real skeptic, a person protecting themselves, is skeptical of their own abilities as well...

Good one! I'm going to try to remember that.

 

[Aerides]

And her 'credentials', and her claim that "I never thought I was the kind of person to fall for a scam." Well, that's exactly the kind of person that might fall for a scam - she's too self confident. A real skeptic, a person protecting themselves, is skeptical of their own abilities as well.

Well you are describing about 80% of the replies in this thread "Stupid Her, I Would Never!..."

But I think the part that many of us don't have the same connection to is the personal parts. And even she rationally looks at those in the light of day and realizes it was all info easily acquired and manipulated.

When someone tells a mother they know her 2 year old's name and he's playing in their house right now, yeah I can see that being an emotional trigger that probably set her on this path:

Several friends felt strongly that if the scammers hadn’t mentioned my son, I would never have fallen for this. They’re right that I’d be willing to do — or pay — anything to protect him.

I'm not saying I'd fall for it, or that she didn't do many things wrong, but I am saying I have enough empathy not to dismiss her as a complete twit, and to be glad she has the guts today to share the story.

 

[marko]

Happened to my mom. They needed $25k to bail me out of jail. Someone claiming to be me even came on the phone. Mom was so panicked it never occurred to her that I'd call DW instead but...when she said it didn't sound like me they said " I can't believe my own mother doesn't recognize my voice! "

She told them that she had no way to get to the bank and they offered to drive her there! Right about then, I called her myself as part of our morning ritual and I got her back on even keel.

A special kind of evil .

 

[ERD50]

... But I think the part that many of us don't have the same connection to is the personal parts. And even she rationally looks at those in the light of day and realizes it was all info easily acquired and manipulated.

When someone tells a mother they know her 2 year old's name and he's playing in their house right now, yeah I can see that being an emotional trigger that probably set her on this path:

I'm not saying I'd fall for it, or that she didn't do many things wrong, but I am saying I have enough empathy not to dismiss her as a complete twit, and to be glad she has the guts today to share the story.

But I re-read the story, and that comment about them knowing "that my 2-year-old son was playing in our living room" came right at the intro. There is no reference to it later, so we don't really know when this came out in the time-line of events, but it seems to be pretty late in the 'game', as she first is just talking about the financial stuff, nothing about anyone 'watching her' until much later. And it was right there that she said (incorrectly) that "they had my SS#" (no, they had the last 4 digits).

So I stand by what I said, if she wasn't so naive, she would have ended the call right at the start, checked with Amazon herself, found there was no problem and that is was an obvious scam, and she never would have let herself get exposed to the emotional manipulation.

And then this exchange from the scammer:

“You cannot talk to him about this.” I quickly deleted the text messages I had sent my husband a few minutes earlier. ...

What does she think deleting texts does? They were already sent.

I'm starting to join the camp that thinks none of this happened, it's click bait. She's probably justifying it (and holding herself up to be a hero) by thinking her fake story will alert others and maybe save someone from being scammed. Maybe, but all this should already be known.

-ERD50

 

[aja8888]

If this story is actually true , she is a Class A Twit. No question about that.

 

[ERD50]

If this story is actually true , she is a Class A Twit. No question about that.

And if it's not true, she's also a Class A Twit! But of a slightly different type.

-ERD50

 

[jazz4cash]

I'm starting to join the camp that thinks none of this happened, it's click bait. She's probably justifying it (and holding herself up to be a hero) by thinking her fake story will alert others and maybe save someone from being scammed. Maybe, but all this should already be known.

-ERD50

It’s not the 1st time she’s reported bring scammed. Her story is amazingly similar to the retired teacher in MT which occurred 6 months earlier. She’s a public figure so knowing her child’s name is mot as significant as it’s being made out to be.

I guess even a fake story could get some folks to be more careful.

 

[GenXguy]

It’s not the 1st time she’s reported bring scammed.

Do you have a link to the article where she last reported being scammed? Was it another $50,000 shoe box?

 

[jazz4cash]

Do you have a link to the article where she last reported being scammed? Was it another $50,000 shoe box?

It’s behind the paywall. It seems like everything besides this 50k scam story is protected. They have a free trial but I’m not interested. It was from 2012 I think.

Edit: Just saw she has a new article on how to not get scammed, but I think the Washington Post article already staked that piece of high ground.

 

[jazz4cash]

Here is a link to the paywalled article from 2012. It’s about identity theft. Seems like she would’ve mention this trauma in her past in the current articles. It could have affected her judgement. Maybe someone will subscribe and report to the group.

https://www.thecut.com/2012/09/i-identify-with-my-identity-thief.html

 

[GenXguy]

Here is a link to the paywalled article from 2012. It’s about identity theft. Seems like she would’ve mention this trauma in her past in the current articles. It could have affected her judgement. Maybe someone will subscribe and report to the group.

https://www.thecut.com/2012/09/i-identify-with-my-identity-thief.html

I was able to view the page link above. Someone was using her debit card number to make purchases, and her account was overdrawn by $3000, so she couldn't use her debit card. The bank is refunding the false charges.

I racked my brain and scanned my transactions, feeling terrible about the three new sweaters I’d recently bought at the J.Crew sale. Then I saw the $2,687.04 charge to Intermix in Greenwich. Followed by the $789.34 charge at Saks. Yes, someone else was spending my money. I experienced a mixture of relief, annoyance, and jealousy: Whoever had hijacked my bank account was spending it just how I would if I had unlimited funds for a limited time.

 

[jazz4cash]

Thanks, GenXguy. That was insightful, considering the title was something like ‘I identify with my identity thief’. Debit cards are bad.

 

[sengsational]

So we're saying this same reporter had an earlier "I've been scammed" article?

If so, then maybe she played them up to the point of actually passing the box through the car window, and making the story more interesting by saying she fell for it.

I wonder if there's a police report.

 

[jazz4cash]

I wonder if there's a police report.

It says she called 911(!) after telling her husband and brother. Three police officers came to take her statement at 10:30 pm.

 

[sengsational]

^ I read that. I haven't seen the police report number or heard the 911 tape. I should have been from Missouri.

 

[Fermion]

This article about another financial advisor who was scammed on his Cancun timeshare. He paid $47,000 for it in 2005 and first was scammed in 2011 for $3,900, then proceeded to get re-scammed over and over to the tune of $1.8 million!

If these stories are true, it does not reflect well on the intelligence of financial advisors.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/addiction-thousands-americans-fall-prey-110449963.html

 

[rayvt]

She is, and probably most of these writers are, a dilettante. Look at her bio. She writes about dozens of things, she could not possibly have deep knowledge about any of them.

If she truly fell for a previous scam and this scam, the she is just gullible.

I am leaning toward what erd50 said, this probably never happened, she is just making it up for clicks.

 

[CaptTom]

...If these stories are true, it does not reflect well on the intelligence of financial advisors...

I never thought too highly of them to begin with.

Another angle could be this: It's a true story, but the author changed it to make herself the victim. A perfectly valid "names have been changed to protect the innocent" approach. And a good way to make the story more relatable.

 

[ERD50]

... If these stories are true, it does not reflect well on the intelligence of financial advisors. ...

Or 'journalists'.

I never thought too highly of them to begin with. ...

See above comment.

-ERD50

 

[JohnDoe]

Happened to my mom. They needed $25k to bail me out of jail. Someone claiming to be me even came on the phone. Mom was so panicked it never occurred to her that I'd call DW instead but...when she said it didn't sound like me they said " I can't believe my own mother doesn't recognize my voice! "

She told them that she had no way to get to the bank and they offered to drive her there! Right about then, I called her myself as part of our morning ritual and I got her back on even keel.

A special kind of evil .

That's why is good to have a code word or phrase to verify identity of family member(s).