I hope there is a special hell for those who target the elderly. My mother (age 87) came to me with a check she received—for $3,959!
The check looks very legit, written from ACETO Corporation from an account at JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A.
So why are these nice people sending my elderly mother a check? According to the letter, from Shaw Financial Incorporated, Mom is a confirmed lottery winner. Oh lucky her!! They are even giving her a check to cover the processing fee.
Golly gee, aren’t they nice?
Fortunately, Mom realized it was a scam. Curious, I did an Internet search and came across this site discussing this specific scam, and how it works.
If you have elderly parents, talk with them, and let them know how these kind of scams work. Of course, these scams don’t just hit the elderly. I know of a college student who fell victim to a similar one.
It often involves depositing a check the crook gives you—which appears to go through. You then have to pay them something to get your prize or whatever, which is often LESS than the amount of the check you gave them, so wow, it all seems so legit, right?
Nope. Because they have your cash before the bank notifies you that big old check you deposited was bogus, and your bank is now deducting the amount from your account.
I urge you to talk to your parents, talk to your college kids, heck, talk to your spouse. Even smart people fall for these things.
