73-Year-Old Michigan Woman Believed She Won Over $3M but got SCAMMED for $700K

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: kotajikikox on April 16, 2024, 07:41:33 AM

lol computer shop ,

you want to know what's even worse? after getting scammed,she went to the GEEK SQUAD. that's right the best buy geek squad.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/computer-tablet-services/geek-squad-24-7-support-welcome/pcmcat748300520360.c?id=pcmcat748300520360

imagine sending $15k or $20k to a scammer at a bitcoin ATM and showing up to the geek squad hoping/thinking they can help you get your money back now that is a sad situation. but that's exactly what happened. and it happened to a lady. these scam victims seem to be women i'm not sure why that is but i do not really see as many men falling for this scam as women. what do you guys think about that?

are men just smarter? Shocked

kotajikikox

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 13, 2024, 10:31:41 PM

Quote from: kotajikikox on April 10, 2024, 11:07:35 PM

that is the difference between younger age and the Older one , because they felt nothing to gain from their capacity and with this they become greedy , we don't know what's her plan why she wanted that 3.5million because we are not there to ask her and give us her motive , yet this is het fault and we cannot do anything about this.
I just felt sorry for her still.

i remember a story about this lady getting scammed and she went to a computer shop hoping they could fix everything. well, no unfortunately, computer shops can't reverse bitcoin transactions. your life savings is gone, lady. that's a really sad story how desperate someone would be to go to a business for help like that. i'm sure she needed that money too.

lol computer shop , and even if that shop could help about recovery for sure they will be the one that would took the funds after, we are talking tons of money here and not just some penny that can be given as a free services , mostly this kind of stuffs can change every humans Attitude and behavior.

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: betswift on April 14, 2024, 06:51:21 AM

It’s really sad to hear about the 73-year-old woman.Her story shows why it’s so crucial to have people in your life who you can chat with about these things.

she did have someone in her life she could talk about it to. didn't you read the story? she ended up asking her friend for advice but that was AFTER she made that money grab.

Quote

It’s tough to call someone dumb for being caught in a scam like this

you would think someone that had amassed $700,000 liquid cash would be smarter than to just give it all away. so yeah it was dumb.

Quote

because these schemes are designed to be convincing and prey on hope and trust. It’s just a tough reminder for all of us to stay sharp and support each other, especially those who might not be as familiar with these kinds of tricks.

it's a bitcoin ATM. all she had to do is google "bitcoin" and that would pretty much tell her what she was doing was irreversible. some people just were meant to be broke and maybe this lady was one of them this may all sound harsh but thats how i see it.

betswift

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

73-Year-Old Michigan Woman Believed She Won Over $3M from Publishers Clearing House, Instead She Was Using Bitcoin ATMs and Buying Jewelry In $700K Scam

In total, the woman sent more than $669,500 before she gathered that something wasn't adding up with the sweepstakes winnings and told a friend. Her friend told her it was a scam and she reported it to police on March 17.

this scammer really got ahold of that ladies bank account and milked her for every cent. it sounds like.

"She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,”

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/73-year-old-michigan-woman-believed-she-won-over-3m-from-publishers-clearing-house-instead-she-was-using-bitcoin-atms-and-buying-jewelry-in-700k-scam/ar-BB1kNGEy

It’s really sad to hear about the 73-year-old woman.Her story shows why it’s so crucial to have people in your life who you can chat with about these things.
It’s tough to call someone dumb for being caught in a scam like this because these schemes are designed to be convincing and prey on hope and trust. It’s just a tough reminder for all of us to stay sharp and support each other, especially those who might not be as familiar with these kinds of tricks.

bitterguy28

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Quote from: jrrsparkles on April 13, 2024, 11:30:05 PM

People recieving emails, SMS and messages on social media states that they won this much amount in lottery and to withdraw the winning reward the user should deposit a minimum clearance amount for verification type of scam is decade old method and surprisingly it still survives and people lose their life savings to it.

there are lot of this here in my country , specially when the government started implementing Sim Card registration that made us vulnerable to hackers and those who can access our data.
but lucky for me that never did I entertain any one from these kind specially when i am not playing anything like that.

peter0425

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This is a stupid mistake and I wouldn’t normally feel bad except she’s really old and she might not exactly know the complexities of things anymore.

I just wonder if she had any kids and if any of them knew what she was doing? It must be devastating for her and I can not imagine nor do I want to experience something similar to what she is going through at her age.

jrrsparkles

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People recieving emails, SMS and messages on social media states that they won this much amount in lottery and to withdraw the winning reward the user should deposit a minimum clearance amount for verification type of scam is decade old method and surprisingly it still survives and people lose their life savings to it.

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: kotajikikox on April 10, 2024, 11:07:35 PM

that is the difference between younger age and the Older one , because they felt nothing to gain from their capacity and with this they become greedy , we don't know what's her plan why she wanted that 3.5million because we are not there to ask her and give us her motive , yet this is het fault and we cannot do anything about this.
I just felt sorry for her still.

i remember a story about this lady getting scammed and she went to a computer shop hoping they could fix everything. well, no unfortunately, computer shops can't reverse bitcoin transactions. your life savings is gone, lady. that's a really sad story how desperate someone would be to go to a business for help like that. i'm sure she needed that money too.

kotajikikox

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 10, 2024, 06:29:41 PM

Quote from: kotajikikox on April 10, 2024, 08:09:57 AM

yeah it should be her greed that brings her in but still she is a 73 year old that might be thinking differently at her age, so let us still feel sorry at least for her age .

i could feel sorry for someone, even a young person who didn't have much and gave everything they had and got scammed trying to get a better life but when you already have $700,000 you already have a better life...no need to be greedy Shocked

that is the difference between younger age and the Older one , because they felt nothing to gain from their capacity and with this they become greedy , we don't know what's her plan why she wanted that 3.5million because we are not there to ask her and give us her motive , yet this is het fault and we cannot do anything about this.
I just felt sorry for her still.

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: kotajikikox on April 10, 2024, 08:09:57 AM

yeah it should be her greed that brings her in but still she is a 73 year old that might be thinking differently at her age, so let us still feel sorry at least for her age .

how would she be thinking differently? she wanted the $3.5 million, car and $7000 per week for life. keep in mind she already had $700,000 or more just sitting in her bank account but that wasn't good enough for her. how do you have sympathy for someone like that? no matter what their age. i say she got exactly what she deserved but that's just me.

i don't think her mental condition played any role in any of this. she was all there upstairs if she could figure out how to send money through a bitcoin atm and sit on this secret for weeks if not months and then when she finally didn't get what she had hoped, she sits down with a friend and explains the whole thing. yeah. not buying that she was old and senile and that's why she fell victim for it.

i could feel sorry for someone, even a young person who didn't have much and gave everything they had and got scammed trying to get a better life but when you already have $700,000 you already have a better life...no need to be greedy Shocked

boyptc

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 09, 2024, 08:20:15 PM

Quote from: boyptc on April 09, 2024, 07:57:09 AM

Actually, I've read one of this kind of scam that they mimic family members or near to it. Like someone tries to introduce him/herself that they know your relative and your relative involves in an accident and they need immediate money.

that's not what happened here as this scam went on for MONTHS.

Then, someone who posed as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission contacted her and persuaded her to send sizable payments over several months to secure her winnings and pay storage fees for the car she won.

it was her own greed that did her in. so i don't really feel sorry for her. she could have bought 10 cars with the money she had and had hundreds of thousands of dollars left over.

Well, she just fell for that trick by using someone's name and highly valued official. It's worth mentioning by these scammers and that's why they're going to do it again to the other potential victims.

The problem here is when someone over the phone or email wants you to pay this xx amount then that's how the scam goes and it's already a red flag.

I'd never pay for such.

kotajikikox

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 09, 2024, 08:20:15 PM

it was her own greed that did her in. so i don't really feel sorry for her. she could have bought 10 cars with the money she had and had hundreds of thousands of dollars left over.

yeah it should be her greed that brings her in but still she is a 73 year old that might be thinking differently at her age, so let us still feel sorry at least for her age .

Quote

scammers want to target noobs. if they could target 7 year old children they would do that if it meant filling their pockets with bitcoin. no one is off limits. but 7 year old children don't have money so that's why they don't do that. but if they did you would see scammers befriending them and trying to get them to send them all their money just how it is...

sad but true mate, scammers target no specification but the willing victim will be the one to take in .

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: boyptc on April 09, 2024, 07:57:09 AM

Actually, I've read one of this kind of scam that they mimic family members or near to it. Like someone tries to introduce him/herself that they know your relative and your relative involves in an accident and they need immediate money.

that's not what happened here as this scam went on for MONTHS.

Then, someone who posed as an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission contacted her and persuaded her to send sizable payments over several months to secure her winnings and pay storage fees for the car she won.

it was her own greed that did her in. so i don't really feel sorry for her. she could have bought 10 cars with the money she had and had hundreds of thousands of dollars left over.

Quote from: peter0425

A very sad story , How could someone scammed a lady with that age ? there are lots of people that they can victimized whom has more capacity in providing for themselves , but this woman ?

you're asking the wrong question. if YOU were a scammer trying to get people to send you bitcoin through an ATM machine, who do you think you would target? that's right, you would target people exactly like this lady who had no clue about anything. and usually that means older people, even elderly. you wouldn't care if it put them out on the streets. that would be THEIR problem. something they should have thought of before rolling the dice.

scammers want to target noobs. if they could target 7 year old children they would do that if it meant filling their pockets with bitcoin. no one is off limits. but 7 year old children don't have money so that's why they don't do that. but if they did you would see scammers befriending them and trying to get them to send them all their money just how it is...

boyptc

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 08, 2024, 08:24:19 PM

Quote from: boyptc on April 08, 2024, 06:57:56 PM

That's sad and terrible.

These scammers really are targeting anyone that are not familiar with the scam. And this old woman, this might be her retirement fund that she no longer will be able to recover.

Totally these scammers are ruthless and they don't have compassion to whomever they're going to scam because they have no bracket as everyone is their potential victim.

just wait until they start using artificial intelligence to mimic family members voices. if they start doing that, expect a whole new wave of people getting scammed. then the scammers will start using AI voices to call peoples' banks and things like that...banks will probably need some type of extra verification since just giving your name and address and such might not work anymore. they call them "deep fakes"

Actually, I've read one of this kind of scam that they mimic family members or near to it. Like someone tries to introduce him/herself that they know your relative and your relative involves in an accident and they need immediate money.

So, you on the other side of the phone panicking without realizing that you're forced to send money without verifying if the call is true.

It's no longer safe nowadays, scammers will also upgrade so we also need to keep ourselves informed with their tactics.

peter0425

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A very sad story , How could someone scammed a lady with that age ? there are lots of people that they can victimized whom has more capacity in providing for themselves , but this woman ? that is maybe her everything so sad losing 700 thousand dollars just like this at that age.
but again another Bitcoin ATM thing , how many of this will still need to happen .

rodskee

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Quote from: _BlackStar on April 06, 2024, 12:15:35 PM

Let's be honest - this is not a pleasant story to hear. I just wonder why such an old and rich woman doesn't have someone she can trust by her side – especially when she's dealing with a lot of money. In my opinion, $700K is a lot of money - so a 70+ year old should have someone accompany him wherever he goes rather than doing it alone.

at the age of 73 is there none of Her relatives and friends that taking care of? I mean
at least someone that checking her each time and what is she dealing for?

Quote

I didn't read the OP's entire story even though I tried to open the news link - but I admit it's not a pleasant story. It's a shame that an elderly woman like her has to lose a lot of money because of scam.

its a really sad story , knowing that the victim is an Old woman that only has short time
in world but yet scammers chooses to victimized.

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: boyptc on April 08, 2024, 06:57:56 PM

That's sad and terrible.

These scammers really are targeting anyone that are not familiar with the scam. And this old woman, this might be her retirement fund that she no longer will be able to recover.

Totally these scammers are ruthless and they don't have compassion to whomever they're going to scam because they have no bracket as everyone is their potential victim.

just wait until they start using artificial intelligence to mimic family members voices. if they start doing that, expect a whole new wave of people getting scammed. then the scammers will start using AI voices to call peoples' banks and things like that...banks will probably need some type of extra verification since just giving your name and address and such might not work anymore. they call them "deep fakes"

boyptc

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That's sad and terrible.

These scammers really are targeting anyone that are not familiar with the scam. And this old woman, this might be her retirement fund that she no longer will be able to recover.

Totally these scammers are ruthless and they don't have compassion to whomever they're going to scam because they have no bracket as everyone is their potential victim.

oktana

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Quote from: Alone055 on April 06, 2024, 06:27:09 PM

Quote from: oktana on April 06, 2024, 06:13:39 PM

It is very important to note that any body who asks you to send money to claim your balance or winning or anything at all is 99% trying to scam you.

The thing is, these scammers are pretty good with the tricks and plots that they use to victimize people, and one wouldn't even understand that they are getting scammed because they use such wording, they approach you in a very good manner starting a conversation that doesn't make you feel like they are here to scam you because they wouldn't get to the point straight away. The scammer will make you feel unaware of what is happening or what is going to happen so that you don't suspect anything.

I have seen and experienced such things and I know how smooth they are in this craft. You will find a lot of such scammers in Telegram if you join crypto-related Telegram groups and channels. Someone like me or you who is experienced and knows such things wouldn't fall for their traps but someone who is new in the space would think they might have something good to offer because they would target people by giving them offers that they can't refuse out of greed.

The scammers on telegram are actually a lot. Speaking of that, I cannot count how many times they texted me trying to earn trust (because that’s the key they use to bewitch people). Based on experience, many of us already have trust issues and no new method of scamming can work on us. I really hope that the newbies get to know these things on time and don’t fall victim like many people have sadly done.

larry_vw_1955

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Quote from: Ale88 on April 06, 2024, 11:57:46 AM

I partially blame the bank as well at this point: I understand many old people fall for this scams but bank employees should be very aware of the situation. If all of sudden you start withdrawing money and getting cashier's checks one after the other, the bank should ask you a couple of questions just to make sure you know what you are doing, especially if it's an old customer doing that. It's fun how banks often asks questions for perfectly legit transfers but when there is something that would raise a ton of rd flags nobody notices it Roll Eyes

exactly! no checks in place to stop someone from doing something that dumb. especially the bitcoin atm you would think it would have some type of limits in place for NEW customers like no more than $1000 per day and max of $5000 per month. but NOOOOO....that lady should sue the bitcoin atm machine.

According to the Troy Police Department, the scam began months ago when the woman was mailed what appeared to be an official notice from the popular sweepstakes company claiming she won $3.5 million, a car, and $7,000 a week for life

imagine being already a millionaire but risking almost all of it to become a slightly bigger millionaire. it's not going to really change your life if you win but if you lose... Shocked

Quote from: davis196 on April 07, 2024, 12:59:09 AM

Most old people are losing their cognitive abilities at a certain age, which makes them dumb and gullible.

Imagine the police having to explain to this lady why she couldn't get her money back. "Maam, I'm really sorry but bitcoin transactions are irreversible they have this blockchain and ..."

one good outcome of the whole is that this lady became technologically savvy enough to use a bitcoin atm and learn a hell of alot about BTC.

Vod

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

Quote from: Rabbitqt on April 06, 2024, 10:10:19 PM

It's hard to feel sorry for people like this. She only realized after sending 600k? I'm sorry, but they don't deserve this type of money if they lack common sense. Maybe next time, in her limited life, she will be wiser...

She was 73!

Our brains have not caught up to our health care; dementia is on exponential increase. Sad

Most of us will experience cognitive decline if we live long enough; let's not forget she might have been much more intelligent when she was younger to earn so much money.

If someone approaches me to tell me about Jesus, I explain that only my body is weak due to a stroke, and my mind is still strong. But I comfort them with a reminder one day my mind will go and I will find religion.

bluebit25

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The scams associated with the use of Bitcoin ATMs are disgusting and disgusting. It's sad that they take advantage of people who can't defend themselves, especially people like the elderly. Warnings on ATMs may be an effective measure, but they are not enough. Ensuring that our elderly do not fall victim to online fraud is essential. By guiding them through phishing procedures and introducing identifying signs, it can largely contribute to their safety measures. Sometimes we also need to restrict access to electronic devices or even receiving phone calls from unrecognized numbers.

God bless u

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I don't believe this! Literally these kinds of people motivate the scammers that you can continue with your work there are still people here who are dumb enough to get scammed by your nonsense techniques.

Look I know she lost a big amount but I'll never say words in favour of the victim. I mean why you do such silly things and what is the point of your education if you're falling into these kinds of traps. If she got that much money this means she is well established and probably an educated woman then why didn't got all the checkpoints marked before making transactions.

davis196

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Quote

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

Most old people are losing their cognitive abilities at a certain age, which makes them dumb and gullible.
That's why seniors are the main victims of online scams. By the way, why did you post this forum thread here? Is it because she was using Bitcoin ATMs to send BTC to the scammer? Banning Bitcoin ATMs won't solve the problem. The scammers will always find a way to convince her to send them money. In most cases, the scammers convince old people to send them gift cards. Why aren't gift cards banned?
Having 700K in her bank account mean that this old woman was in a pretty good financial state. I don't know why a rich person would play lottery games or sweepstakes, but as I said, old people start losing their minds at a certain age.

headingnorth

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Greed makes people do stupid things.

Imagine if she invested that $600k into bitcoin during the last bear market.
She would have been up close to $3 million already by just holding as a long term investment.

pinggoki

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Quote from: oktana on April 06, 2024, 06:13:39 PM

What can I say, she’s an old woman and may not understand the way scammers operate these days. It is very important to note that any body who asks you to send money to claim your balance or winning or anything at all is 99% trying to scam you. Considering her age, this could be all the money that she has worked for. It is too much of an amount that I understand how terrible she must feel (unless she is a millionaire/billionaire). I hope this serves as a lesson which people can learn from, and know to not trust anyone.

That's the reason why they're the most targeted, they don't understand technology and they don't have a good way of telling that they're being scammed because it's unfamiliar to them and even if they're cautious, most of the scammers operate in a scheme that isn't too good to be true which means that the scam might look true because it doesn't promise you anything other than the fact that they can continue your subscription on something or they can cancel it. This is definitely the worst time to be an old person, your retirement money (I suppose) getting stolen isn't something you can shrug off, you can't work and that's all that you're relying on, it's such a deplorable scheme to be targeting the weak and old, I hope that there's enough people that are doing whatever they can to fight against these evil, these can't go any longer.

Rabbitqt

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It's hard to feel sorry for people like this. She only realized after sending 600k? I'm sorry, but they don't deserve this type of money if they lack common sense. Maybe next time, in her limited life, she will be wiser...

People spend their whole lives accumulating money like this then spend a total of 5 minutes sending it to some random that has promised unrealistic returns without any research... The old adage rings very true but yet forgotten: 'If something sounds too good to be true, it likely is.

Alone055

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Quote from: oktana on April 06, 2024, 06:13:39 PM

It is very important to note that any body who asks you to send money to claim your balance or winning or anything at all is 99% trying to scam you.

The thing is, these scammers are pretty good with the tricks and plots that they use to victimize people, and one wouldn't even understand that they are getting scammed because they use such wording, they approach you in a very good manner starting a conversation that doesn't make you feel like they are here to scam you because they wouldn't get to the point straight away. The scammer will make you feel unaware of what is happening or what is going to happen so that you don't suspect anything.

I have seen and experienced such things and I know how smooth they are in this craft. You will find a lot of such scammers in Telegram if you join crypto-related Telegram groups and channels. Someone like me or you who is experienced and knows such things wouldn't fall for their traps but someone who is new in the space would think they might have something good to offer because they would target people by giving them offers that they can't refuse out of greed.

oktana

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What can I say, she’s an old woman and may not understand the way scammers operate these days. It is very important to note that any body who asks you to send money to claim your balance or winning or anything at all is 99% trying to scam you. Considering her age, this could be all the money that she has worked for. It is too much of an amount that I understand how terrible she must feel (unless she is a millionaire/billionaire). I hope this serves as a lesson which people can learn from, and know to not trust anyone.

Maus0728

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Quote from: adaseb on April 05, 2024, 11:04:20 PM

The bitcoin ATM scams are bad. They even have warnings on all the bitcoin ATMs that if someone calls you and claims to be the police and you need to pay some fine in bitcoin, it’s a scam and to ignore them.

The problem with this one is this scam got a high success rate depending on how intimidating the scammer and compelling they are that they're the police or whatever person they pretend to be, that's why they target old people, they're old and they don't really have a good feel of their surroundings so it's easy to go for them if the scammers want an easy victim.

Quote from: adaseb on April 05, 2024, 11:04:20 PM

I remember a few years back when bitcoin atms were new. There was a lady at one and she was clueless how to operate it. She showed me her phone and said she needs to send this much BTC to this address, I looked and read the messages above and noticed she was getting scammed. I told her about it and she was relieved. It’s crazy how many people fall for all these scams.

There was an reply here by @blckhawk that talked about having young people around old people so they don't become victims of this scam, this is basically that scene that I'm picturing from what I've understood in that post. I guess you've just made some scammer's life a bit miserable, they thought they're about to get to paid but it seems to be not the case, I guess the risk is on them that the old victim doesn't know how to navigate the bitcoin ecosystem and you just happen to be there! Be proud that you're the bane of scammers my guy!

GbitG

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That's sucks, I feel sorry for her.

Scammers often target people they know are vulnerable and can be easy targets for them, They know if they are trying to target someone young, they will be able to understand their plots more easily which is why they often target people who are old and give them offers they can't refuse to lure them into their scams and then gain access to their funds in some way.

I heard a similar story a few months ago where the scammer scammed a woman who was a single parent. She was a personal banker and had saved some money for the future of herself and her son. The scammer made friends with her and they stayed friends for months before the scammer did his job. He told her that he knows someone who is into some trading business or something and she can earn good money if he makes an investment with him. The woman couldn't think he is lying because they have been in contact for about 3 months or so and he had already won her trust. The scammer took away about $600k from her on the name of trading with a fake exchange and stuff like that..

acroman08

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

She's old, a lot of old people are not that tech savvy or up to date with scams that are going on and to protect themselves from it. it's also the reason why a lot old people are scammers prime targets. also, I remember reading from an article in the past that old people are far more trusting compared to younger generation.

thecodebear

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It's amazing how gullible some people are. You would think this sort of thing wouldn't work on a single person in the world, and yet people fall for it. She thought that in order to get winnings she had to repeatedly hand over lots of money, and jewelry, to someone. I can't even imagine being that gullible unless she has severe old age mental issues.

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Quote from: adaseb on April 05, 2024, 11:04:20 PM

The bitcoin ATM scams are bad. They even have warnings on all the bitcoin ATMs that if someone calls you and claims to be the police and you need to pay some fine in bitcoin, it’s a scam and to ignore them.

I remember a few years back when bitcoin atms were new. There was a lady at one and she was clueless how to operate it. She showed me her phone and said she needs to send this much BTC to this address, I looked and read the messages above and noticed she was getting scammed. I told her about it and she was relieved. It’s crazy how many people fall for all these scams.

I have seen numerous stuffs like this wherein one of the relative was targetted by scammers stating they have a screen recording of him watching porn along with access to his front camera and everything was recorded and were blackmailing him to sent the funds through Bitcoin else they would forward it to his contacts. There are different methods used by these scammers hence it better to check with someone who has knowledge on these things before making any wrong move.

Husires

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These elderly watch TV are easily lured by lottery companies and scammers have found a way to convince her that she has won that amount and that she needs to pay the tax money and money for the car she won. The federal government report says that the amount is about 3 billion annually, most of which is from people claiming to be bank employees or government officials.

Aanuoluwatofunmi

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

73-Year-Old Michigan Woman Believed She Won Over $3M from Publishers Clearing House, Instead She Was Using Bitcoin ATMs and Buying Jewelry In $700K Scam

In total, the woman sent more than $669,500 before she gathered that something wasn't adding up with the sweepstakes winnings and told a friend. Her friend told her it was a scam and she reported it to police on March 17.

this scammer really got ahold of that ladies bank account and milked her for every cent. it sounds like.

"She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,”

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/73-year-old-michigan-woman-believed-she-won-over-3m-from-publishers-clearing-house-instead-she-was-using-bitcoin-atms-and-buying-jewelry-in-700k-scam/ar-BB1kNGEy

I wouldn't say it was because she is a woman that led to the way she was scammed in such manner, even men can fall the same way she did if care i not taken, sometimes we need experience in doing something and not that we went straight ahead in doing them, also, if we are likely to make a very quick return on something and with huge amount of money, we are to give a second thought because such is likely to be a scam, had it been she was being observant right from the start of the whole thing, she would have sensed something phishy in them, though i don't often see related scam in such manners with the use of bitcoin ATM than now.

Fiatless

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

"She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,”

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

In some cases, greed is one of the reasons why people fall for these scammers. I have had issues when I was told that I won a huge sum in lotteries I never bought tickets. But some people might see it as a miracle and start following the directives of these scammers. I assume that these scammers can easily be tracked since there was a transfer from the ATM to bank accounts. The majority of the targets of these scammers are elderly people because many of them are not familiar with these new scams and can be easily deceived because of mental decline. They are not dumb, they are just victims of sophisticated crimes.

_BlackStar

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Let's be honest - this is not a pleasant story to hear. I just wonder why such an old and rich woman doesn't have someone she can trust by her side – especially when she's dealing with a lot of money. In my opinion, $700K is a lot of money - so a 70+ year old should have someone accompany him wherever he goes rather than doing it alone.

I didn't read the OP's entire story even though I tried to open the news link - but I admit it's not a pleasant story. It's a shame that an elderly woman like her has to lose a lot of money because of scam.

Ale88

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Quote from: larry_vw_1955 on April 05, 2024, 09:57:34 PM

"She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,”

I partially blame the bank as well at this point: I understand many old people fall for this scams but bank employees should be very aware of the situation. If all of sudden you start withdrawing money and getting cashier's checks one after the other, the bank should ask you a couple of questions just to make sure you know what you are doing, especially if it's an old customer doing that. It's fun how banks often asks questions for perfectly legit transfers but when there is something that would raise a ton of rd flags nobody notices it Roll Eyes

seoincorporation

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Damn, i feel bad for that old lady, the illusion of winning $3M blind her common sense and she gets into a deep hole.

Some years ago i got scammed in the same way, but i only lost $50... the way that the scam works was the next. I got an invitation to test a casino, and after some bets i won $150k, but when i tried to withdraw support told me that i have to confirm my account and for that need to make a deposit at least of $50, and i think "risking $50 to get $150k worth it", so i made the deposit, but after trying to make the withdraw they told me that something was wrong with my deposit and i have to make a new one, in that moment i realized how i was scammed, and just walked away. There was nothing else to do.

adaseb

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The bitcoin ATM scams are bad. They even have warnings on all the bitcoin ATMs that if someone calls you and claims to be the police and you need to pay some fine in bitcoin, it’s a scam and to ignore them.

I remember a few years back when bitcoin atms were new. There was a lady at one and she was clueless how to operate it. She showed me her phone and said she needs to send this much BTC to this address, I looked and read the messages above and noticed she was getting scammed. I told her about it and she was relieved. It’s crazy how many people fall for all these scams.

blckhawk

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That's a sad thing, old people really need young adults in their life because with these people running around scamming them of their retirement, it's going to be even more rampant, with more and more people getting old and having more money for their retirement, they're never going to find peace because they're always going to be a target of these scammers and we know how much those people like to do it especially being such an easy money for them if the elderly bites the bait of the scam. Or maybe move them away from their electronics or phone because that's how these scammers get you, by phone or by emails. It's a good thing that people all over the world with a really high expertise in network infiltration are doing the work of exposing these scammers and trying their best to destroy their networks, I donate to those people whenever I can because most of them do it full time without payment because YouTube doesn't monetize them but through donations, they're able to do it.

larry_vw_1955

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73-Year-Old Michigan Woman Believed She Won Over $3M from Publishers Clearing House, Instead She Was Using Bitcoin ATMs and Buying Jewelry In $700K Scam

In total, the woman sent more than $669,500 before she gathered that something wasn't adding up with the sweepstakes winnings and told a friend. Her friend told her it was a scam and she reported it to police on March 17.

this scammer really got ahold of that ladies bank account and milked her for every cent. it sounds like.

"She went back and forth, sent multiple cashier’s checks, deposited money into bitcoin ATMs, which was then transferred into the suspect’s account, and also bought a couple of pieces of high-end jewelry and sent them to the suspect,”

if that $669,500 was any significant part of her net worth then you have to wonder how someone could be THAT DUMB.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/73-year-old-michigan-woman-believed-she-won-over-3m-from-publishers-clearing-house-instead-she-was-using-bitcoin-atms-and-buying-jewelry-in-700k-scam/ar-BB1kNGEy

Topic: 73-Year-Old Michigan Woman Believed She Won Over $3M but got SCAMMED for $700K (Read 488 times)