Hide Transcript Show Transcript

WELL. SCAMMERS ARE TARGETING THEM AND CREATING WHAT’S CALLED A "SUCKERS LIST." KOOC’S MAGGIE CARLO TALKED WITH A LOCAL FAMILY, FIGHTING TO UNTANGLE THEIR MOM FROM A ROMANCE SCAM. MAGGIE: SARAH’S MOM JOINED FACEBOOK TO KEEP UP WITH HER KIDS AND GRANDKIDS. SARAH: I MEAN, WHO’S NOT ON FACEBOOK IT STARTED OUT AS SOMETHING FOR THE YOUNGER GENERATION, BUT NOW, PROBABLY THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE ON FACEBOOK NOW ARE OLDER. MAGGIE: THAT’S SARAH. WE’RE NOT SHOWING HER FACE BECAUSE SHE WANTS TO PROTECT HER FAMILY’ PRIVACY. YOU SEE, WHAT’S HAPPENING TO HER MOM ISN’T OVER. THIS IS A CAUTIONARY TALE FOR ANYONE WHO’S ON SOCIAL MEDIA. ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO, SARAH’S MOM GOT A FRIEND REQUEST ON FACEBOOK FROM SOMEONE SHE DIDN’T KNOW. SARAH: UNFORTUNATELY, SHE ACCEPTED THAT FRIEND REQUEST. MAGGIE: AND THAT’S WHERE THIS NIGHTMARE BEGINS. SARAH’S 75-YEAR-OLD MOM, WHO LOST HER HUSBAND TO CANCER I 2010, STARTED CHATTING WITH A STRANGER, WE’LL CALL HIM ROBERT, AND SLOWLY, OVER ABOUT 12 WEEKS, ROBERT HAS GAINED SARAH’S MOM’S TRUST AND EVEN A PIECE OF HER HEART. SARAH: HE IS GAINING HER TRUST OVER OURS. MAGGIE: THIS IS THE COURTING PHASE OR WHAT OFFICIALS ARE NOW CALLING THE GROOMING PHASE SARAH: IT STARTS OUT LITTLE. "CAN YOU GO TO WALMART AND PURCHASE A GIFT CARD FOR ME" FOR THIS REASON, KIND OF A TEST. MAGGIE: REMEMBER, ROBERT AND HER MOM HAD BEEN CHATTING DAY AND NIGHT, AND THIS IS NOW A TRUSTED PERSON TO HER. SARAH: COMPLIMENTS, LOTS OF COMPLIMENTS. MAGGIE: BUT IT IS SCAM, A ROMANCE SCAM, AND INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR LOVE, THESE SCAMMERS ARE LOOKING FOR CASH AND CREDIT. ROBERT EVEN TRIED TO PERSUADE SARAH’S MOM TO DO A BANK TRANSFER OF FUNDS TO HIM. THE BANK SUSPECTED SOMETHING WASN’T RIGHT AND STOPPED THE TRANSACTION. THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU SAYS ROMANCE SCAMS ARE RUNNIN RAMPANT RIGHT NOW. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF THESE TYPES OF SCAMS WORLDWIDE. AARP SAYS CROOKS ARE USING ALL DIFFERENT KINDS OF APPS INCLUDING FACEBOOK, MATCH.COM AND INSTAGRAM TO TRY AND START A LOVE CONNECTION THAT IS REALLY ABOUT GETTING YOUR MONEY. AND ONCE YOU FALL FOR 1 -- SARAH: THEN YOU GET ADDED TO THE SUCKERS LIST, AND THEN THEY SELL THOSE LISTS TO OTHER TEAMS. MAGGIE SO YOU’LL LIKELY BE : TARGETED AGAIN. FOR SARAH’S FAMILY THE NIGHTMARE IS NOT OVER. THEY’VE CHANGED THEIR MOM’S NUMBER AND TRIED SEVERAL INTERVENTIONS, BUT SARAH’S MOM IS NOT CONVINCED THIS IS A SCAM. SARAH: WE HAVE FELT SO ALONE IN THIS, AND IT IS MADDENING AND FRUSTRATING, FRIGHTENING, AT THE SAME TIME, TO THINK THAT SOMEO

Advertisement 75-year-old woman's Facebook experience becomes cautionary tale of 'romance scam' Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Sarah's mother joined Facebook to keep up with her children and grandchildren."I mean, who's not on Facebook? It started out as something for the younger generation, but now, the majority of the people in Facebook are now older," said Sarah, who didn't want to release her last name because she wants to protect her family's privacy.Her mother's experience on Facebook, however, has turned into a cautionary tale for anyone who's on social media."This has really shown us that this can happen to anyone," she said.About three months ago, Sarah's mother received a friend request from someone she didn't know."Unfortunately, she accepted that friend request," Sarah said. "Well, he's won her over, without a doubt."The 75-year-old woman, who lost her husband to cancer in 2010, started chatting with the stranger. At first, the conversations were just on Facebook Messenger. They quickly moved to text messages and phone calls.Over about a 12-week period, the stranger gained Sarah's mother's trust and a piece of her heart."He is gaining her trust over ours," Sarah said. "It's very hard, as a family, that someone you love so much that is such an integral part of our family is slipping away from us, so to speak."Authorities also call this courting phase the "grooming phase.""Starts out little. 'Can you go to Walmart and purchase a gift card for me for this reason?' Kind of a test," Sarah said.The stranger, who has been speaking to Sarah's mother day and night, is now a trusted person to her."There's been a lot of affection, compliments. Lots of compliments," Sarah said. "He's saying, 'You're beautiful' and 'You have a beautiful soul.'"But it's all been part of a scam."Romance. The 'romance scam,' according to the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) is rampant right now," Sarah said.Instead of looking for love, the person running the romance scam is looking for cash and credit.The stranger talking to Sarah's mother even tried to persuade her to do a bank transfer of funds to him. Bank officials suspected something wasn't right and stopped the transaction.The Better Business Bureau says the romance scams are running rampant right now. Officials estimate that thousands of these scams are being run worldwide.Officials with the AARP said crooks are using different kids of apps -- including Facebook, Match.com and Instagram -- to try and start love connections that are really about conning people out of their money."Once you fall for one of these scams, you get added to a list called a 'suckers list,' and then those teams of scammers sell those lists to other teams," Sarah said.Although Sarah's family discovered the scam, the nightmare isn't over because it could be targeted again. Family members have changed their mother's phone number and have tried several interventions, but she's not convinced it's a scam."We've felt so alone. It's maddening, frustrating, to think someone you love and care so much about could be taken advantage of," Sarah said.KOCO 5 has reached out to Facebook and Match.com to see what they're doing to protect users.Facebook officials said: "Pretending to be someone else on Facebook is an explicit violation of our policies. We've invested in technology to combat scamming and encourage people to report suspicious messages to us so we can take action."Match.com released a statement saying, in part, "Match has a dedicated team and sophisticated technology that patrols for fraud and reviews each and every member profile to block IP addresses from high alert countries, stolen credit card numbers and red flag language in profiles."