My recently widowed father (72) is planning a trip across the country to meet a woman who he claims called him by accident and with whom he has since built a romantic (remote) relationship. Here's what he's shared with me:
- He received a "wrong number" call from a woman that led to a number of other conversations online and on the phone that started to take on a romantic tone.
- He believes she is real because he has checked her out online, including validating that she is indeed the CEO of her company, is 40 years old, and is originally from Taiwan. Haven't seen this myself.
- She says she runs this company with her brother in Canada and her father back in Taiwan. The details of the company were not clear to me.
- They have exchanged photos but not video because her webcam is not working.
- He is planning a trip to Los Angeles (from the East Coast of US) in a few months to meet her in person. She said her driver will pick him up at the airport.
- No money has been asked for or sent, according to him.
This is obviously a scam, right? But, without there being an ask for money I can't figure out the angle and haven't been able to convince him to disengage.
It is either going to be an ask for money to help her overseas family or a "can't lose" investment in her company. I'm guessing she'll back out of the travel plans last minute so they never meet OR he's going go there and have his organs harvested.
Does anyone recognize this scam? What should we expect next? Has anyone else successfully talked their elderly loved ones out of one of these?
OP here. This is part of my issue with this whole situation. He's not a dumb guy. He knows better. Or knew better. Always been good with money, always had a cynical view of any institution (correctly, as it turns out). In addition to figuring out how to get him out of this I need to come to grips with the fact he's not the same man who I knew.
Scams work for a reason. More often than not, it's a right place right time thing. I consider myself a pretty smart guy too, but I remember a few years back I gave my ssn to someone running the "you're about to be arrested" scam. Realized it before I gave them money, and ssns are all leaked by now already (freeze your credit)...but that was a bit of a wakeup call (heh).
I was tired after a long day, I was annoyed, and I'd had a few beers at that point. I was in a susceptible mindset when the phone rang. It happens. Scams are designed to short circuit your thinking, and with some scams being "smart" makes you more susceptible. It's a question of experience.
I know that 23 yr old cosplay models that love videogames and want me to rate their new bikini for some design aren't adding me on discord...but if it was my first day on discord, I might think that's normal.
Edit: actually I think this might be the approach you should take--make it very clear that you don't think any less of him, because this happens to everyone. Falling for a scam doesn't make you dumb, it's a learning experience. Many people that fall for scams keep giving up cash because they feel stupid and ashamed, don't make him feel stupid and ashamed.