Quote: (06-18-2014 08:34 AM)lowside Wrote:
there's something trollish about this thread.
You guys are seriously underestimating. I know a few people who have done dumb shit like this, particularly elderly people. Old people don't have the natural suspicion we do because they grew up in a time when screwing people over as a way of life was less common, and because they believe that people wouldn't rip off a little old lady.
A friend of the family was caught up in these bogus sweepstakes. Woman with a eastern European accent tells her to send $700 via Western Union for "handling fees" for her "free car". The Western Union office has a sign up saying not to send money to these people but the old lady won't listen, she's sure she won a new car (let alone that she doesn't drive, but her son could use a new car...). The Western Union cashier tries to explain, old lady insists that she has to send this money, finally the cashier has a co-worker do it, because she refuses to take part in the transaction. It was a mess to unwind this. Her family had the police come and talk to her, explain stuff to her, had to do stuff with her bank to ensure she couldn't fall for this kind of stuff again.
Another friend's mom gave away all her money to Benny Hinn, was living off dog food (literally, I'm not kidding) but sending thousands to that shithead.
I don't have any real advice. I would definitely confront the church she goes to and let them know what's going on. If they're not receptive, you can always threaten to sue them. A credible threat may scare them off. You can see about having her declared incompetent, but that's going to fuck up family relationships. You can have a financial expert talk to her, or have the police make a community service call.