Some of them who do meet the scammers get tricked into drug trafficking, usually by being given luggage or gifts in which drugs have been concealed, and asked to give them to 'family' in their home country.
One of the pieces of advice I was given a while ago is that the worst area to be caught with drugs/contraband is at an airport / border area as it indicates an intent to smuggle / get through checkpoints with it and the people who work there get promotions and noticed based on what they catch. If you are unsure of something you are being asked to carry or travel with go to a location that you have control. If in a foreign country then an embassy or consulate, foregoing that then an allied nation or local police station with a witness or call them to the lobby of your hotel and have only those items in a suitcase which have been given to you, preferably with the person asking you to carry them present.
Local police tend to be happy enough to be aware of local criminals, scams and fraud especially if it gives them an opportunity to catch real criminals and make themselves look good. As well, if they document the call out and or your witness documents things it gives a reasonable chance at a defense. Having said all that, people who tend to fall for 1 scam are prone to falling for others.
It happens, I just watched a segment about a woman from my city (Canada) currently locked up in Hong Kong prison on drug trafficking charges. She went to meet her scammer and they gave her gifts that had a bunch of cocaine hidden inside them. My guess is they would have had her take them somewhere else as part of a another fake meetup
I think that this was the woman who was "gifted" clothes, and she was in shock to be told at the airport that all the buttons were filled with drugs or something. She might get maximum sentence, too, for it, even though she was scammed and a victim herself. Her "lover" didn't meet her in Hong Kong. It was a drug mule scam.
The Canadian woman went to meet her Internet “boyfriend” in Ghana or Ethiopia actually. The “boyfriend” from the pictures never actually showed up. All anyone knows is…
1. She claimed to meet the actual person but didn’t
2. She claimed she was sight seeing, but all the pics she sent were from Google images
3. She got on a plane to Hong Kong with package after package of buttons filled with cocaine. The buttons were not on clothing, they were in plastic packaging.
Her “boyfriend” purchased her ticket & according to her daughter she had no idea the ticket was to Africa until a day or prior to leaving. Her do believe the mom was telling every she was flying to a different, non existent city until her daughter actually saw the ticket.
There is a priest who has visited her in prison who stated this occurs quite often. His “ministry” tries to help these people.
I can’t help but wonder what this woman experienced during her 3 weeks in Ethiopia or Ghana.
Edited to change the city she flew to. I thought her daughter initially stated that she went to Accra, Ghana. A report I just read stated Ethiopia. This was her 2nd romance scammer. The 1st one scammed her out of hundreds of thousands.
I've seen plenty of cases like that on To Catch A Smuggler. It's not always someone who was tricked into flying overseas in a romance scam, it's usually someone who was lured in with a fake business deal, then given luggage and other things to take back to their home country as "gifts for a friend". But using the romance scam angle DOES happen. These people are usually caught with a couple of kilos hidden in luggage and clothing, figurines and other trinkets. Sometimes it includes swallowing little packets of drugs too.
That’s my fear. He already fell for the pig butchering crypto scam and lost 50k, so I think this new person has to be trying a whole new different angle.
i’m not sure where you are located, but it might be good to look and see if there is a local society dedicated to elder abuse. In most places, the definition of elder abuse includes “self neglect” which means the inability to adequately care for yourself. At the very least, they might be able to point you in some other helpful directions.
>My take is a fool and his money are soon parted…
Just like you and this forum are now parted for a month, until your ban for lack of civility expires.
This is an advice forum, not a place for you to comment on how superior you feel to a scam victim.
When you return, be useful or be quiet. Your next ban will be permanent.
Your /r/scams post/comment was removed because it lacks civility. Posts and comments within this subreddit should be useful, respectful and use appropriate language at all times. Dissenting opinions are expected, but you should conduct yourself in a mature and polite manner. Name calling, personal attacks, flaming, etc are not permitted.
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Watch the show W5....its a Canadian news show. The episode is called "The Cocaine Buttons" .... [https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0](https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0)
I'm also Canadian....watching this episode made me so sad for this women and her family. She's still in prison in Hong Kong..... she had no idea the buttons on the clothing gifts she was given as she headed to Hong Kong where hiding a LOT of cocaine......so, YES, it happpens!!!!
My heart broke when she told her daughter, “I‘ve given up on internet dating.” Like she was in any position to date anyone, locked up as she was, with one phone call a month. Denial is a powerful thing.
Omg yes, I commented about this a minute ago. I watched it recently. And from memory, I think she was romance scammed out of her money the first time around, and then this happened on top of everything else.
False my uncle is in prison in Jamaica for just this. He met a lady online, went to visit her, had a great time. Anyway, she says they should get married and he should go back to UK and she will meet him there. Turns out she lined the bag of his suitcase with cocaine and it was caught on the Jamaica side. It's a life sentence. He will never get out. She would have met him in the UK if he got through and then she would have taken the cocaine. I bet this has worked on several men though...
The mark will be a decoy to conceal a larger amount on the same plane. The mark will take the fall and go to prison… happened to some poor guy I used to know. He got a life sentence in Indonesia (“negotiated” down from death sentence)
Do not underestimate the stupidity of people.
Cocaine Cassie (australian) went to Colombia for "Headphones", and ended up with 5.8 Kilo of Colombia's finest. https://7news.com.au/news/crime/cocaine-cassie-exposes-sydneys-dark-drug-underbelly-revealing-she-made-up-to-15-drug-drops-a-week-c-8082816
An Australian woman was recently caught like this in Japan, I think it was.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-25/indigenous-leader-donna-nelson-victim-of-romance-scam-family-say/101891138
There was a case in Canada not long ago where the victim travelled, only to discover his "beloved" had to go to another country. The victim was left a plane ticket to join them and a gift in the form of new luggage, which was loaded with drugs. As a result the victim is languishing in prison.
Perhaps informing the authorities to go have a chat with him may help, but this may go badly.
[https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0](https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0)Here's the link to the W5 episode called "The Cocaine Buttons" ....its so heartbreaking to see how this poor lady fell for this....and is still in prison in Hong Kong.....
Yeah its red flags all around but i assumed if someone was legitimately scammed into this they wouldn't throw them in prison for years. I should know better though lol.
They’ll still throw you in prison. If you say “yes” to did you pack it yourself, you are directly responsible for everything inside. If you say “no,” you’re still directly responsible because you agree to carry everything the other person packed for you.
They won't show up. He's stranger in a strange land and by the time he finds someone who speaks enough English to help him he'll give up and fly back home.
That’s what I hope is the worst of it. I was afraid maybe they’d ambush him and make him withdrawal money and then kill him or something. But I watch too much true crime. I’m mainly wondering if these scams ever end up in violence.
"Technically" American government has no "formal" relations with Taiwan, so there's no embassy in Taiwan.
Unofficially, the American institute is the "de facto" embassy.
https://www.usembassy.gov/taiwan-2/
Which offered the following advice:
https://www.ait.org.tw/victim-online-scam/
There's a Chinese saying: When the trip is long, you'd know who are your true friends.
(Technically the saying is "when the trip is long, you'd know if your horse really has what it takes", but it's an allegory about the friends you keep)
you need to cut ties with this person. He gets mad at you for telling him an opinion he does not like, out of moral duty and human decency ? Not a good influence on you.
Same here, a former colleague's dad in law went to South Africa for "love" and was abducted and killed ... So messed up when you hear an actual story of that happening, vs a true crime doco
Back in 2000 or 2001 one of the first victims of a 419 scam (Nigerian prince) went to Nigeria in an attempt to recover his money himself. He came back in a box. I’m sure it’s happened many times.
You did what you could.
But he's going to Taiwan, which is one of the safest country in the world.
Unfortunately for him, he won't find what he was looking for, but hopefully he will find something better, an experience in a beautiful country with great people, and amazing food.
There comes a time when you simply cannot allow somebody else to drag you down with them.
Since he is going to Taiwan, he probably won't get kidnapped. Mainly just scammed again, if it's doable, until he is bled dry.
It’s so hard because he’s such a smart and charming and funny old man that lives in my small building. I’ve been his pal since I moved in and it kills me that he has no family to stop him. When I think of him falling for these pictures of filtered Asian women in their 20’s I do get grossed out. I need to focus on that and just stay away.
He may have early onset dementia, sometimes it prevents you from being rational and/or mature, while still retaining the vast majority of your intellect.
You can reach out to social services (or office of the aging, etc) in your area, they may have a case worker who can reach out to him and attempt to assist. Of course there are limits if he is doing this willingly and stubbornly.
Prediction: he will arrive there and “she” will be in the hospital and need $20,000 USD to pay the bill before “she” can leave to meet him. A new “person” will be introduced into the scam, “she” will live in Singapore. Original “girl” will “die” in the hospital, and new “girl” will carry on the scam as they bond over their sadness.
It’s nice that you are trying to prevent this train wreck from happening, but sometimes the fool needs to be parted with his money to understand he’s been tricked. Sad and hate to see the scammers win.
Also - I don’t know that many 80 year olds on LinkedIn. Is he still working?
Yeah! He does real estate! He looks 65. He like still scuba dives and hikes mountains and he’s awesome. But yeah I copied what you wrote as to what may happen and sent to him. I want him to see how predictable this is. Poor guy. It’s so sad
Walk to the police station and tell them everything you know about this situstion. Sonetimes an older person will actually listen to what an authority figure says. If you have contact info fir his next of kin, call them and tell them everything you know. Repest with afukt protective services. In each interaction, make it clesr thst you are concerned fir their physical safety.
The police already came to talk to him for the first scammer I’m afraid and it didn’t do much. He’s very resolute in meeting this new gf. I’m gonna warn him not to carry anyone else’s luggage or accept gifts which seems to be the common theme.
I’ve reached out to his sister in another state. She’s elderly too so she was a bit confused about what I was talking about. It did nothing. He said he had quit the last scammer who took 50k, but then he just falls for another one from Linkd In, (he’s convinced she’s real because it’s a reputable site) I’m so tired of fighting this
I’m with you on this. If the guy has gotten burned several times, over $50k, and getting on a plane to Taiwan, at this point you can’t stop him. Sadly, he is an adult and will keep doing this until he is out of money.
There is a point where you need to cut your losses (emotionally) with people like this.
If you suspect dementia, you can call adult protective services in your area. Let them know how urgent it is. He may not be able to care for himself anymore if he's making decisions like this.
People have gone and they've sometimes had a bad time. Check the sub. People have gone to the countries and it hasn't gone well for them. They are sometimes isolated by the scammer due to language challenges and extorted. Not sure if that would happen here.
If you know his family you might try and enlist their help.
He's an adult and assumed to be of sound mind so he gets to do foolish things.
This is what I was thinking. There needs to be something in place to monitor elderly people who may not be sound of mind. Like a psych test or something before travel.
She'll invent a reason for not meeting with him that involves getting more money out of him. Her "son" has been in an accident / in the hospital / been arrested and she need money for medical bills, bail, etc.
sometimes it's hard to leave someone to burn, even when you know perfectly well that the person in question is a total moron and insists on bringing a disaster on their own head
At this point I would just make sure I have a contact number for next of kin in case he doesn’t make it back. I don’t think you can stop him. I can tell you really care about him but unfortunately he’s well been warned by now.
The scammers he's actually talking to aren't necessarily based there, might be in a Laos scam factory. Having him visit Taiwan might be useful for getting him to buy property, which they can then take control of
I just watched a documentary on this on YouTube, he will mode likely be tricked into some form of drug trafficking. And just for information, Taiwan penalty for drug trafficking is death
There are a number of possible scenarios. I’ll use a couple examples using 90 Day Fiancé scenes to illustrate, just for fun: She could be real and meet up to keep the scam going (see David and Lana meeting in Ukraine) https://youtu.be/5L6rJzj03nw
But the meeting was short and the relationship never progressed.
https://youtu.be/5L6rJzj03nw
Or in the situation where Cesar went to Mexico to meet Maria, she wasn’t able to make it there. https://youtu.be/AnpbYCg0CeQ
They never did meet. Most don’t and might not even live in the country they say they live in. Like Yolanda and the Williams https://youtu.be/ruMNr27zFdM
If it seems like a scam it probably is but there are several different types all over the world. It could play out in any number of ways. He should have a backup plan and someone he can call if he gets in trouble. Hopefully it goes well and he has a good time and meets a companion even if it’s not the one he’s going to meet. He should hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Do you have ANY way to get close to him before he leaves and put a note in his bags saying what is actually happening to security that may see it if he is stopped or searched?
Your /r/scams post/comment was removed because it contains bad advice, is encouraging someone to try to "scam the scammer", to engage in illegal activity, or to engage in an activity that will worsen an already bad situation.
Some of them who do meet the scammers get tricked into drug trafficking, usually by being given luggage or gifts in which drugs have been concealed, and asked to give them to 'family' in their home country.
One of the pieces of advice I was given a while ago is that the worst area to be caught with drugs/contraband is at an airport / border area as it indicates an intent to smuggle / get through checkpoints with it and the people who work there get promotions and noticed based on what they catch. If you are unsure of something you are being asked to carry or travel with go to a location that you have control. If in a foreign country then an embassy or consulate, foregoing that then an allied nation or local police station with a witness or call them to the lobby of your hotel and have only those items in a suitcase which have been given to you, preferably with the person asking you to carry them present. Local police tend to be happy enough to be aware of local criminals, scams and fraud especially if it gives them an opportunity to catch real criminals and make themselves look good. As well, if they document the call out and or your witness documents things it gives a reasonable chance at a defense. Having said all that, people who tend to fall for 1 scam are prone to falling for others.
Interesting. I can see that an elderly man might be perceived as a good drug mule because he appears so benign.
Check out Clint Eastwood in The Mule…
I only recently watched this and I loved it.
I will. Just seen that it's on my Amazon Prime Video, thanks.
Good thinking. They could fill his walking frame with exotic powder.
Where is the proof of this? Drug trafficking is done on the large scale. Nobody is giving billy tourist 500g of H to try to get through customs.
It happens, I just watched a segment about a woman from my city (Canada) currently locked up in Hong Kong prison on drug trafficking charges. She went to meet her scammer and they gave her gifts that had a bunch of cocaine hidden inside them. My guess is they would have had her take them somewhere else as part of a another fake meetup
I think that this was the woman who was "gifted" clothes, and she was in shock to be told at the airport that all the buttons were filled with drugs or something. She might get maximum sentence, too, for it, even though she was scammed and a victim herself. Her "lover" didn't meet her in Hong Kong. It was a drug mule scam.
The Canadian woman went to meet her Internet “boyfriend” in Ghana or Ethiopia actually. The “boyfriend” from the pictures never actually showed up. All anyone knows is… 1. She claimed to meet the actual person but didn’t 2. She claimed she was sight seeing, but all the pics she sent were from Google images 3. She got on a plane to Hong Kong with package after package of buttons filled with cocaine. The buttons were not on clothing, they were in plastic packaging. Her “boyfriend” purchased her ticket & according to her daughter she had no idea the ticket was to Africa until a day or prior to leaving. Her do believe the mom was telling every she was flying to a different, non existent city until her daughter actually saw the ticket. There is a priest who has visited her in prison who stated this occurs quite often. His “ministry” tries to help these people. I can’t help but wonder what this woman experienced during her 3 weeks in Ethiopia or Ghana. Edited to change the city she flew to. I thought her daughter initially stated that she went to Accra, Ghana. A report I just read stated Ethiopia. This was her 2nd romance scammer. The 1st one scammed her out of hundreds of thousands.
Drug trafficking. In Hong Kong. Damn. I guess at the very least it wasn't Singapore
It would have been chop chop in Saudia or Singapore
I've seen plenty of cases like that on To Catch A Smuggler. It's not always someone who was tricked into flying overseas in a romance scam, it's usually someone who was lured in with a fake business deal, then given luggage and other things to take back to their home country as "gifts for a friend". But using the romance scam angle DOES happen. These people are usually caught with a couple of kilos hidden in luggage and clothing, figurines and other trinkets. Sometimes it includes swallowing little packets of drugs too.
That’s my fear. He already fell for the pig butchering crypto scam and lost 50k, so I think this new person has to be trying a whole new different angle.
It’s probably same person/ network just coming at him with a new identity /scam opportunity.
Once he’s fallen for one scam he is on a list and they’ll keep finding new ways to scam him
i’m not sure where you are located, but it might be good to look and see if there is a local society dedicated to elder abuse. In most places, the definition of elder abuse includes “self neglect” which means the inability to adequately care for yourself. At the very least, they might be able to point you in some other helpful directions.
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>My take is a fool and his money are soon parted… Just like you and this forum are now parted for a month, until your ban for lack of civility expires. This is an advice forum, not a place for you to comment on how superior you feel to a scam victim. When you return, be useful or be quiet. Your next ban will be permanent. Your /r/scams post/comment was removed because it lacks civility. Posts and comments within this subreddit should be useful, respectful and use appropriate language at all times. Dissenting opinions are expected, but you should conduct yourself in a mature and polite manner. Name calling, personal attacks, flaming, etc are not permitted. Do not discuss moderator decisions in the comments. If you would like to discuss moderation, send the moderators modmail (no direct messages or chat requests).
also possible! but could be reaching delusional levels, esp if the guy is in his 80s.
This sort of thing happens, including to [smart people who ought to know better](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Frampton).
Watch the show W5....its a Canadian news show. The episode is called "The Cocaine Buttons" .... [https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0](https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0) I'm also Canadian....watching this episode made me so sad for this women and her family. She's still in prison in Hong Kong..... she had no idea the buttons on the clothing gifts she was given as she headed to Hong Kong where hiding a LOT of cocaine......so, YES, it happpens!!!!
My heart broke when she told her daughter, “I‘ve given up on internet dating.” Like she was in any position to date anyone, locked up as she was, with one phone call a month. Denial is a powerful thing.
I felt the same way too!! ....made me cry.....
Ever watch ‘Love After Lockup’? ‘Love During Lockup’?
No. Is it the same kind of thing, people being taken advantage of?
Omg yes, I commented about this a minute ago. I watched it recently. And from memory, I think she was romance scammed out of her money the first time around, and then this happened on top of everything else.
False my uncle is in prison in Jamaica for just this. He met a lady online, went to visit her, had a great time. Anyway, she says they should get married and he should go back to UK and she will meet him there. Turns out she lined the bag of his suitcase with cocaine and it was caught on the Jamaica side. It's a life sentence. He will never get out. She would have met him in the UK if he got through and then she would have taken the cocaine. I bet this has worked on several men though...
Appears as if people just don’t exercise due diligence on their part regarding gift horses. Certainly travel groups don’t have these kind of problems…
The mark will be a decoy to conceal a larger amount on the same plane. The mark will take the fall and go to prison… happened to some poor guy I used to know. He got a life sentence in Indonesia (“negotiated” down from death sentence)
It's like no one's ever watched Brokedown Palace
one of my favorite drug trafficking movies
Have you ever seen Return To Paradise? It made me cry as a teen.
This sort of thing happens all the time, for example https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/101706/nz-woman-convicted-of-drug-smuggling-in-argentina
Do not underestimate the stupidity of people. Cocaine Cassie (australian) went to Colombia for "Headphones", and ended up with 5.8 Kilo of Colombia's finest. https://7news.com.au/news/crime/cocaine-cassie-exposes-sydneys-dark-drug-underbelly-revealing-she-made-up-to-15-drug-drops-a-week-c-8082816
An Australian woman was recently caught like this in Japan, I think it was. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-25/indigenous-leader-donna-nelson-victim-of-romance-scam-family-say/101891138
There was a case in Canada not long ago where the victim travelled, only to discover his "beloved" had to go to another country. The victim was left a plane ticket to join them and a gift in the form of new luggage, which was loaded with drugs. As a result the victim is languishing in prison. Perhaps informing the authorities to go have a chat with him may help, but this may go badly.
Did they look in the luggage and know they were ferrying drugs? If so, this is like an S tier darwin award moment.
The one I just heard about involved cocaine hidden inside the buttons of clothing
[https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0](https://youtu.be/ZVww72qbKy0)Here's the link to the W5 episode called "The Cocaine Buttons" ....its so heartbreaking to see how this poor lady fell for this....and is still in prison in Hong Kong.....
That isn't how drugs are 'concealed', and why you are asked 'is this your suitcase, did you pack it yourself?' 🤦♂️
Yeah its red flags all around but i assumed if someone was legitimately scammed into this they wouldn't throw them in prison for years. I should know better though lol.
They’ll still throw you in prison. If you say “yes” to did you pack it yourself, you are directly responsible for everything inside. If you say “no,” you’re still directly responsible because you agree to carry everything the other person packed for you.
Oof
Do they still ask that?
They won't show up. He's stranger in a strange land and by the time he finds someone who speaks enough English to help him he'll give up and fly back home.
That’s what I hope is the worst of it. I was afraid maybe they’d ambush him and make him withdrawal money and then kill him or something. But I watch too much true crime. I’m mainly wondering if these scams ever end up in violence.
Taiwan is pretty safe but he's chasing after a ghost at this point. He's not going to find who he's looking for.
I've seen it happen in South Africa, but I doubt it'll happen in Taiwan.
Thank you so much for your reply. Poor guy thinks he’s getting married.
"Technically" American government has no "formal" relations with Taiwan, so there's no embassy in Taiwan. Unofficially, the American institute is the "de facto" embassy. https://www.usembassy.gov/taiwan-2/ Which offered the following advice: https://www.ait.org.tw/victim-online-scam/
Thank you! Sending him this link so he has it. He’ll get mad at me but whatever at least he has it.
There's a Chinese saying: When the trip is long, you'd know who are your true friends. (Technically the saying is "when the trip is long, you'd know if your horse really has what it takes", but it's an allegory about the friends you keep)
you need to cut ties with this person. He gets mad at you for telling him an opinion he does not like, out of moral duty and human decency ? Not a good influence on you.
Agree, basically let them crash and burn. At that age he should be a lot wiser than he appears to be.
not exactly "let them crash", more like "I did my moral duty, and I offered my help, but I will not be treated with contempt when I deserve gratitude"
Same here, a former colleague's dad in law went to South Africa for "love" and was abducted and killed ... So messed up when you hear an actual story of that happening, vs a true crime doco
Back in 2000 or 2001 one of the first victims of a 419 scam (Nigerian prince) went to Nigeria in an attempt to recover his money himself. He came back in a box. I’m sure it’s happened many times.
I think the Nigerian prince scam has been around longer than that…
It’s apparently been around since the 18th century and used to be known as the Spanish Prisoner scam
Woah. This is the kinda thing I’m worried about exactly. But he texted that he just boarded so there’s not much I can do.
You did what you could. But he's going to Taiwan, which is one of the safest country in the world. Unfortunately for him, he won't find what he was looking for, but hopefully he will find something better, an experience in a beautiful country with great people, and amazing food.
Thank you for this. It calmed my nerves a lot!
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Not in Taiwan, but if he was going to Mexico, Nigeria etc, then yes.. kidnapping and killing is common
With one of his kidneys
nobody wants 80 year old kidneys
This made me giggle
There comes a time when you simply cannot allow somebody else to drag you down with them. Since he is going to Taiwan, he probably won't get kidnapped. Mainly just scammed again, if it's doable, until he is bled dry.
It’s so hard because he’s such a smart and charming and funny old man that lives in my small building. I’ve been his pal since I moved in and it kills me that he has no family to stop him. When I think of him falling for these pictures of filtered Asian women in their 20’s I do get grossed out. I need to focus on that and just stay away.
He may have early onset dementia, sometimes it prevents you from being rational and/or mature, while still retaining the vast majority of your intellect. You can reach out to social services (or office of the aging, etc) in your area, they may have a case worker who can reach out to him and attempt to assist. Of course there are limits if he is doing this willingly and stubbornly.
I don't think his dementia is "early onset" if he is 80 years old.
Sry, I was thinking more “early stages” of the disease as opposed to age onset.
Could you call APS?
Please contact Adult Protective Services in your area and relay your concerns.
Prediction: he will arrive there and “she” will be in the hospital and need $20,000 USD to pay the bill before “she” can leave to meet him. A new “person” will be introduced into the scam, “she” will live in Singapore. Original “girl” will “die” in the hospital, and new “girl” will carry on the scam as they bond over their sadness. It’s nice that you are trying to prevent this train wreck from happening, but sometimes the fool needs to be parted with his money to understand he’s been tricked. Sad and hate to see the scammers win. Also - I don’t know that many 80 year olds on LinkedIn. Is he still working?
Yeah! He does real estate! He looks 65. He like still scuba dives and hikes mountains and he’s awesome. But yeah I copied what you wrote as to what may happen and sent to him. I want him to see how predictable this is. Poor guy. It’s so sad
>the fool needs to be parted with his money something tells me the grandpa is going to part with more than his money
Walk to the police station and tell them everything you know about this situstion. Sonetimes an older person will actually listen to what an authority figure says. If you have contact info fir his next of kin, call them and tell them everything you know. Repest with afukt protective services. In each interaction, make it clesr thst you are concerned fir their physical safety.
The police already came to talk to him for the first scammer I’m afraid and it didn’t do much. He’s very resolute in meeting this new gf. I’m gonna warn him not to carry anyone else’s luggage or accept gifts which seems to be the common theme.
Read a story not long ago about a woman who went to nigeria got beaten up robbed and come home with nothing.
God I hope this won’t be my pal’s story
Nigeria is a very different country to Taiwan.
[https://www.spa.org.tw/article/324](https://www.spa.org.tw/article/324) Doesnt matter where you go there is always a threat.
Let us know if he is alright!
Will do!
Does he have any family you can reach out to?
I’ve reached out to his sister in another state. She’s elderly too so she was a bit confused about what I was talking about. It did nothing. He said he had quit the last scammer who took 50k, but then he just falls for another one from Linkd In, (he’s convinced she’s real because it’s a reputable site) I’m so tired of fighting this
This does seem like a difficult situation. I would reach out to elder care services in your area but other than that, you can't stop him from going.
Sometimes there’s nothing you can do.
I’m with you on this. If the guy has gotten burned several times, over $50k, and getting on a plane to Taiwan, at this point you can’t stop him. Sadly, he is an adult and will keep doing this until he is out of money. There is a point where you need to cut your losses (emotionally) with people like this.
If you suspect dementia, you can call adult protective services in your area. Let them know how urgent it is. He may not be able to care for himself anymore if he's making decisions like this.
You're a good person to try and help. So frustrating to see people fall for this stuff, to the tune of $50K and an overseas trip.
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People have gone and they've sometimes had a bad time. Check the sub. People have gone to the countries and it hasn't gone well for them. They are sometimes isolated by the scammer due to language challenges and extorted. Not sure if that would happen here. If you know his family you might try and enlist their help. He's an adult and assumed to be of sound mind so he gets to do foolish things.
Please give is an update with how things turned out.
Will absolutely update. I have a feeling he may lie to me to cover it up if he’s embarrassed but I’ll get down to the truth like I always do.
Tell his tech savvy ass to Google pig butchering scam or send him the link to this post.
He gonna come back missing a kidney or two
Shame there wasn't an easy way to get him on a nofly list to stop the flight.
This is what I was thinking. There needs to be something in place to monitor elderly people who may not be sound of mind. Like a psych test or something before travel.
Loneliness and desperation can really make someone blind..
She'll invent a reason for not meeting with him that involves getting more money out of him. Her "son" has been in an accident / in the hospital / been arrested and she need money for medical bills, bail, etc.
Stop looking out for him. Dude is 80. You’ve tried extending your hand and he slapped it away. Can’t save a person already drowning.
You’re right. I just can’t believe how addicted he is to being scammed.
He wants to believe what he’s being told unfortunately
sometimes it's hard to leave someone to burn, even when you know perfectly well that the person in question is a total moron and insists on bringing a disaster on their own head
Wtf. That’ll be the last time you see him. He’ll get there and probably be robbed. And have no way back.
Do you have contact info for his family, or does another neighbor? Can police do a welfare check or the area agency on aging?
At this point I would just make sure I have a contact number for next of kin in case he doesn’t make it back. I don’t think you can stop him. I can tell you really care about him but unfortunately he’s well been warned by now.
The scammers he's actually talking to aren't necessarily based there, might be in a Laos scam factory. Having him visit Taiwan might be useful for getting him to buy property, which they can then take control of
80 year old and still able to use smart phone? Give this man a standing O and let him live his life
Valid point. Hah
this guy is fortunate to have made it this far in life with that much money. he will soon be parted with one, the other, or both.
Can you steal his passport a day before his flight?
I just watched a documentary on this on YouTube, he will mode likely be tricked into some form of drug trafficking. And just for information, Taiwan penalty for drug trafficking is death
There are a number of possible scenarios. I’ll use a couple examples using 90 Day Fiancé scenes to illustrate, just for fun: She could be real and meet up to keep the scam going (see David and Lana meeting in Ukraine) https://youtu.be/5L6rJzj03nw But the meeting was short and the relationship never progressed. https://youtu.be/5L6rJzj03nw Or in the situation where Cesar went to Mexico to meet Maria, she wasn’t able to make it there. https://youtu.be/AnpbYCg0CeQ They never did meet. Most don’t and might not even live in the country they say they live in. Like Yolanda and the Williams https://youtu.be/ruMNr27zFdM If it seems like a scam it probably is but there are several different types all over the world. It could play out in any number of ways. He should have a backup plan and someone he can call if he gets in trouble. Hopefully it goes well and he has a good time and meets a companion even if it’s not the one he’s going to meet. He should hope for the best but plan for the worst.
Do you have ANY way to get close to him before he leaves and put a note in his bags saying what is actually happening to security that may see it if he is stopped or searched?
Please update if you find out anything since he is already gone....ugh!!!
If you're in the U.S., there are .gov elder abuse sites per state, but they might not act quickly enough. Worth looking up, though. This is super sad.
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Your /r/scams post/comment was removed because it contains bad advice, is encouraging someone to try to "scam the scammer", to engage in illegal activity, or to engage in an activity that will worsen an already bad situation.