Family member is being scammed, what can I do?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 May 2014 Posts: 3

I have a family member that has been caught up in a scam for 2 yrs now. We have tried everything, interventions, police, lawyers etc. Since its an international issue, no one can help. I do not know how to convince them it's a scam. They refuse to talk to counselors.
Basically they have always been addicted to the get rich quick schemes online, which I believe is how they got the email address. They sent an email saying your winner of a random lump sum payout from a company or whatever it was. One thing led to another, they needed money to release funds etc. Story goes on like you all know. They are at least 200, 000 "invested" and don't want to lose contact with these people. All money transfers I believe have been going to malaysian bank. This family member has already gone to the extent of setting up there own suicide... so I believe we are nearing the end. They finally have realized it may be a scam, through their laptop on the ground that day. We all talked to them again saying we can help if they will stop contacting the scammer. But they have them convinced we are all liers. Now a few days later they want to go buy a laptop again because they have to keep in contact. What can I do? And what can you guys do to help?
I've almost wanted to become the scammer just to show them how easy it is to make this all up. They contact through email/ text and calling. So they believe it's real because they talk to real people.
I have no doubt it's a scam, I just need help convincing them it is. I am in USA so if anyone has contacts that can help, I greatly appreciate it.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 2:45 pm

The best thing to do is go to our sister site scamwarners.com and post full details (emails, email addresses, phone numbers etc.) over there, the support team will be able to advise you what to do.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 2:58 pm

Its is classic addictive behaviour - that smashing the laptop then wanting a new one is just like a junkie admitting he needs help and throwing his stash away, then, on reflection, going out to buy some more....

See if you can get your hands on one of the original emails, then Google random passages for a match. That may help convince, but serious denial is always rife, just as people are adamant when confronted that they don't have a alcohol / gambling / drug / porn / whatever problem.

If you ripped the internet connection out of the wall, they would go to the library.

As already mentioned, Scamwarners will offer good advice. There is a link near the top of the page.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 6:33 pm

The setting up for suicide is really concerning to me. I understand your frustration. If you can post over at ScamWarners they will not only help with the victim but help you as well. Scammers don't just hurt the victim, they hurt their loved ones as well. Your family member is very lucky to have a family that cares so much.

Sometimes it's best, after showing all the evidence, to let the victim come to the realization on their own, but I would not suggest that in this case since you mentioned suicide.

As mentioned, if you can get copies of the original email(s), put some of the phrases into a search engine and you will most likely come up with tons of hits that say "SCAM"! (may even already have a hit at ScamWarners) They may or may not work to help convince your family member.

I do hope you can convince your family member that it's a scam and get them the help they need. Please, do keep us posted! We care!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 May 2014 Posts: 3

I did post over on scamwarners. So I'm just trying to figure out how to convince them. We can show him all the online scams but they have been brainwashing him for 2 yrs now. I think you guys can help me more. If I set something up and started interacting with the scammer. Get him caught up in a couple lies. Like he is saying he is in Washington DC airport, but if I call from different number and act as someone else. Prove to my family member that he has been lieing about his location...? I could even start the whole scam over and act like I received the original email and show the family member how the process starts all over with another person.
When you do the scam baiting, I assume you use prepaid phones, create fake emails etc?
I appreciate the concerns. We all thought this would come to an end, but now the family member feels they are so deep into this that there is no way out of it. I keep telling him to cease all contacts with them, they just start a whole scenario over again.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 6:53 pm

The Support Team over at Scamwarners are in a much better position to help you - they are all experienced scam baiters as well as having the knowledge of what to look for to prove things are a scam.

A report on Scamwarners detailing why it is a scam is going to be a lot more convincing to your family member than a report here where most of the posts are playing with scammers and it may also attract other victims who search for the details and find the post.

ETA: Also if your family member is convinced that it is a scam and visits the site - the support team at SW are in a better position to provide him with advice.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 6:57 pm

To scam bait, set up a Gmail account and an answerphone service with K7, its free.
http://voicemail.k7.net/signup/

Once you have your Gmail and K7 accounts set up you can start safely baiting them.

Here are a ton of tools you can use to bait your scammer.
http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=151052

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 7:12 pm

If you have an interest in baiting this scammer, I would advise you to get a mentor. In the Help, Hint & Tips forum there is a mentor program to sign up for. Your mentor will help you bait SAFE! (Baiting is addicting, so say goodbye to your old life)

As B8er said, ScamWarners is the best bet for support, we just bait the lads (scammers).

There is a link in my sig line for new baiters, please read! This is the best online community around and if you have any questions someone will come along and help. There are baiters here who have been doing this for years, some a decade or more, so please heed their advice.

Welcome to eater! I do hope your family member comes to terms. They have invested a lot of money and that is probably the main reason they won't let it go and the scammer knows this. Please, have them read at ScamWarners. Something might "click" and they may identify with someone who is going through the same thing they are. It's a wonderful site for support for victims of scams (and their family members), please get them over there.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 7:15 pm

The advice you will be given on Scamwarners is not to try baiting them yourself as you have too much emotional involvement.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 7:30 pm

^^^ Didn't know that B8er! Thanks for the tip. Razz

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 7:35 pm

I concur with B8er. At this point, baiting is probably not advisable for any immediate people involved with the family member. Anger and hatred toward a situation directly at hand can lead to inadvisable comments and situations.

As has been mentioned many times before, SW is the best reference source at this point.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 20 May 2014 Posts: 3

I will continue on with scam warners with any more info I can come up with. I may post update on here and maybe give you the scammer info as well. Thanks for the insight.

Posted: Tue May 20, 2014 8:33 pm

Chev, if you can give us the scammers info, I am sure there will quite a few baiters here who make sure he pays and suffers immensely.

Please do keep us posted. We do care. <insert hug emoticon that doesn't exist on eater>

Wannabe Baiter Joined: 20 Feb 2011 Posts: 90

Sometimes I wonder if baiting goes too far, and then I hear stories like what your family member is going through, and I want to see all scammers burn in Hell.

My prayers are going out to you and your loved ones, I hope that you can convince them of the truth. But tell them they shouldn't feel ashamed, these things happen to all kinds of people every day. Help turn their shame into anger at the scammer.

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