Moemg
Gone but not forgotten
My Mom had all her marbles but she was very religious so any request for donations linked to some Catholic organization ( fake or real ) was her weakness.
My Mom had all her marbles but she was very religious so any request for donations linked to some Catholic organization ( fake or real ) was her weakness.
I agree with this. She needs a new number. You might want to look into setting alerts on all her accounts that will contact you every time a transaction is in process and there is still time to stop it.
Would any of the services in this Kiplinger article from January help? Block that Pitch by Kaitlin Pitsker Block Unwanted Sales Calls and Texts-Kiplinger
Contact your states Dept of Aging. One thing that helped my mother in law was speaking with someone their own generation. Don't ask me why, I make a suggestion, nothing. Someone from her senior center says the same darn thing and a light bulb goes on. Also they have resources to get those phone calls stopped or at least tracked. Good luck
Before I retired I did fraud investigations and it sounds like you have done everything possible. Except change the phone number, and if you can talk her into it, have it unlisted so it won't show in the phone book or online directories, at least for a while. While I know it it a huge pita to let friends/relatives know of the change, in this case it is about the only way to get these calls to stop.
Some call blocking devices allow the user to specify a list of permitted incoming callers; all others are blocked. I haven't tried one (I just unplug the phone during nap time ), but this might be a better approach than changing her phone number. The key is that there needs to be someone local able/willing to setup the initial list of permitted callers, and then maintain it.
I'm not familiar with that movie. I'll google it.Just make it a point to watch the movie Nebraska with your mom every year.
Loneliness drives many elders to talk on the phone and chat with these "engaging and nice people". The filters then come off. A voice. Any voice. Especially that nice mans voice is hard to resist. Routine human interaction is necessary for life and many elder folks do not get enough of that as they age and live in rest homes nursing homes assisted living and when they live alone . Ever watch tv during the day targeting old people - same thing - They get the geriatric to feel comfortable playing the ad over and over -- shame on colonial Penn life insurance, And the button - I've fallen and I can't get up, try proprostate if you have enlarged prostrate, get your free Medicare electric wheel chair, Diabetes test equipment free to your door....just call now. Operators are standing by. 1-800-..... It's simple human nature. These scammers all know it. My mom lost decades of digital photos and family tree programs due to some scammers from "Microsoft in India ". once... Sadly most not backed up or saved in the cloud. That was years ago. Fortunately she did nothing else online other than email so no financials were compromised . Don't blame mom ..go visit mom.
Maybe she enjoys talking to them?
My MIL plays a game where she tries to keep the hustlers on the phone as long as possible...
Back a few years ago, one of our clients who was a lonely widow got tangled up in these. I helped her son, who lived on the other side of the country, with keeping tabs on her account. One thing we were able to spot is small debits, like around $10-20, that indicated she'd been hooked by a new scammer. He closed her local bank account, automated her bills so he could pay online, and changed her phone number a couple of times.
She was bored and lonely, though, so soon enough she'd get hooked again.
He also changed her mailing address to some kind of mail forwarding service that would go through it and toss the solicitations before sending the real mail to her at home.
It was frustrating and she would get mad at me for monitoring her accounts and notifying the son when the small charges showed up. No win situation for all. You have my sympathy on this, for sure.
There should be a short list for this stuff;
1) The IRS never calls you.
2) You haven't won anything.
3) If your home needs fixing, call someone don't let them call you.
4) Your grandson is not in jail.
5) Real charities do not call you.
6. Rachel is not from YOUR Cardholder Services department
7. If they called you, they must know your name and address. Make them say it.
The list could be a bit longer.
It doesn't have to be absurd. The American Legion has tried to scam a LOT of money from my Dad. It's really pretty damn sad that they try and take advantage of a WWII vet.+1
Another weakness was any kind of veteran's organization, no matter how absurd its name.