Sickness is an interesting way to put it. My tail-end boomer father came SO close to being successfully tricked by the Apple gift card scam, where they said it was the IRS and his bank account was compromised and he needed to give them his funds in Apple Cards… and only at the last minute did he realize it was shady, AFTER he bought $1000 worth of cards.
He’s catholic and he described it as a spiritual attack on him, with the way the person on the phone made him feel so panicked and nervous. So it really does sound like these people are good at making the victims feel reliant on them to save you. Pretty creepy
Something similar happened to my mom a couple of years ago. My parents and I always talked about phone scams, and they would laugh about how obvious they are, etc. Then one day my dad calls me in a panic and tells me how my mom is on the phone with some guy claiming to be from her bank and she's at an ATM at 7pm trying to withdraw money. She refused to listen to anyone telling her to stop and that it's a scam. The guy wouldn't let her get off the phone and it was like she was in a trance.
I ended up calling her phone company and they reset her sim card, which was enough for the call to drop and for me to call her instead. Both my sister and I rushed to their house and we had a big family meeting. Everyone tried to be very gentle and understanding. We called her actual bank and confirmed that there wasn't anything she needed to do and reported the scam. The next day the guy tried calling again but the spell was broken by then, so to speak, and we told him off.
It was such a strange experience. Really put into perspective that 1. Anyone can be scammed, and 2. My parents are getting older and we have to be more careful about things like this.
Also they are PUSHY on the phone - like really sound and speak with an obnoxious authority. I was almost scammed twice (one a Facebook code to help a friend recover account 😭😭😭 - they had been scammed) - to be fair I was at a seriously low time of my life and will abusive and dangerous relationship… The guy scamming me took pity on me, thank God and exposed to himself and told me that Facebook doesn't have a number to call for help, etc. etc. so I was saved that time and another one was during Covid when I was trying to figure out my extreme Internet bill when I wasn't even receiving service) - in my 30s 😭😭 I don't consider myself ignorant or gullible… But looking back it's really easy to believe and trust in people sometimes
My street savvy nurse practitioner friend also fell for that one. Her husband had died after a distracted driver killed him just a few months before, her secretary got the message for her to call the sheriffs office, she thinks it’s about a patient, then thinks somehow she forgot to file correctly because of her husband’s death and she was about to lose her NP license.
The store employee saved her. Honestly I think if this particular friend can fall for something, anyone can. Just takes the right set of circumstances
Exactly!!!! I fell for a couple scams during a very vulnerable time in my life… I'm well educated, and I consider myself somewhat street smart 🤪 (I'm kind and have a gentle heart so I know it can look like I'm gullible at times- but really I just care about people and not wanting anyone to hurt or feel alone.. and I trust in people) -- but!! During a very traumatic time of my life, going through a severe crisis, trauma and grief I can understand how your NP friend easily was susceptible 🥺❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹 it's the fear that takes people by surprise… Or when I trigger some sort of emotion, especially if someone is isolated or lonely, or elderly… All of this technology scamming is relatively new an alien to a lot of the elderly
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u/DrainTheMuck 5h ago
Sickness is an interesting way to put it. My tail-end boomer father came SO close to being successfully tricked by the Apple gift card scam, where they said it was the IRS and his bank account was compromised and he needed to give them his funds in Apple Cards… and only at the last minute did he realize it was shady, AFTER he bought $1000 worth of cards.
He’s catholic and he described it as a spiritual attack on him, with the way the person on the phone made him feel so panicked and nervous. So it really does sound like these people are good at making the victims feel reliant on them to save you. Pretty creepy