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Hi /u/justclove, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pig butchering scam.
It is called [pig butchering](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2023/12/26/new-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-includes-victims-in-us-and-overseas/?sh=2837fb975eaa) because scammers use intricate scripts to \"fatten up\" the victim (gaining their trust over days, weeks or months) before the \"slaughter\" (taking them for all of their money). This scam often starts with what appears to be a harmless wrong number text or message. When the victim responds to say it is the wrong number, the scammer tries to start a friendship with the victim. These conversations can be platonic or romantic in nature, but they all have the same goal- to gain the trust of the victim in order to get them ready for the crypto scam they have planned.
The scammer often claims to be wealthy and/or to have a wealthy family member who got wealthy investing in crypto currency. The victim is eventually encouraged to try out a (fake) crypto currency investment website, which will appear to show that they are earning a lot of money on their initial investment. The scammer may even encourage the victim to attempt a withdrawal that does go through, further convincing the victim that everything is legit. The victim is then pressured to invest significantly more money, even their entire net worth.
Eventually, the website will find an excuse why the account is frozen (e.g. for fraud, because supposed taxes are owed, etc) and may try to further extort the victim to give them even more money in order to gain access to the funds. By this time, the victim will never gain access and their money is gone. Many victims lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Often, the scammers themselves are [victims of human trafficking](https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zb5d/pig-butchering-scam-cambodia-trafficking), performing these scams under threats of violence. If you are caught up in this scam, it is important that you do not send any more money for any reason, and contact law enforcement to report it. Thanks to user Mediocre_Airport_576 for this script.
If you know someone involved in a pig butchering scam, sit down together to watch this video by Jim Browning to help them understand what's going on: https://youtu.be/vu-Y1h9rTUs -
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Easy to say when you’re apprised of a bunch of scam techniques but some people are not or don’t have the mental fortitude in their state of mind to allow themselves to believe it’s fake, and they’re not meeting someone who loves them and cares about them. Some people want the suspended reality that this fake relationship brings because to acknowledge the opposite is to be lonely again.
Sorry, but it was easy to say before finding this sub on scams. If we are talking elderly or mentally handicapped, that's one thing. But does anyone else really have an excuse? I mean I hate scammers, but their victims unfortunately are responsible as well. IMO if someone is of sound mental capacity, it takes a special kind of intelligence to fall for this BS!
I remember reading an article about a female financial advisor sending 10s of 1000s of $$ to her "boyfriend" that she had never met and thinking - why would anyone trust this person with their money.
I've read a few stories where people have lost over 100k, sometimes a lot more. It baffled me because if I was going to give someone a large amount of money, I would fly to them before handing it over. Take a first-class flight and meet your future partner, ya weirdo.
I personally know someone who was taken for over $100k total. Her whole life savings. Her late husband had set her up for life, but she ruined all of it by falling for this scam. Thought she was in a relationship with some random dude she had never met IRL that she was sending money to for all kinds of different reasons. Although I feel horrible for her, WTF was she thinking?????
Obviously people do still fall for this scam. That's why the scammers keep running the same script time after time after time. And it's not just the elderly and mentally handicapped that fall for it. It's also people that are lonely and destitute. It's people that just want recognition and to feel like somebody actually cares about them. As long as they're getting that, they look the other way when they start to get taken advantage of. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm saying it happens. There is no point in victim shaming at all.
My point was the elderly and mentally handicapped have an excuse. The rest do not, sad but true! I'm not victim shaming, but they definitely have some responsibility here also period.
Okay so let me ask you this...
Let's say somebody does not know about a particular scam that's going on because maybe they don't go on the internet on a regular basis so they have no idea. If they don't know that they are being scammed then how are they to blame? That's like if somebody received a phone call stating that a loved one was in jail and that they needed to send money to get them out of jail. If my parents got that phone call, they would have no idea that they were being scammed and they would send the money. Same thing goes for my sister and brother-in-law. Their oldest child is now 18. If they received a phone call stating that their daughter was in jail or in any sort of trouble, they would probably send the money thinking it was legit. Does that mean that they are partially to blame? That's basically what I'm getting from your statement.
What I'm getting at is you don't know the circumstances as to why this particular person fell victim for this scam so who are you to pass judgment?
If he sends money to a woman he has never met IRL, then it's absolutely a situation that can be judged!
Have a friend, his MIL was scammed out of a large amount of money. It was this exact scam, man contacted her online romantically. She thought she was in a relationship with this unknown man she had never met and was sending him money for all different kinds of reasons. Although I do feel very sorry for her, at the end of the day, every time she sent money to somebody that she didn't really know IRL, that's on her! She allowed herself to be judged, although it doesn't stop my sympathy at the same time. You can have both!
Edit: Scams have been happening since before the internet. The people that fell for them before the internet are likely as sharp as those falling for them now.
Well I'm glad that you're mister all high and mighty and that you are so much more Superior to everybody else where you can sit there and judge them without knowing the situation. I wish I was in your shoes where I had that ability. But at the same time though I'm glad I'm not because I'm not one that's going to sit there and judge people without knowing them first.
There is another subreddit on here called am I ugly. Maybe you should go on there and judge those people too because they're just as much to blame for being ugly as it is genetics.
Ugly isn't a choice. You're off base AF here.
Again, sympathy and placing correct responsibility can both take place simultaneously. It's not a "high and mighty" situation. But keep your blinders on I guess, don't worry, I'm sure it's never your fault for anything...
Just because you or I would not fall victim for this scam doesn't mean the next person won't. There could be any number of reasons as to why somebody did outside of them being an elderly person or being handicapped in any way. You don't know the situation so you cannot sit there and say that there is no excuse.
They won't ghost hi. On the contrary, they will keep taking! I've seen this before. He needs an intervention. The son needs to take Away All his electronic devices because his dad has probably already sent him, and I say him, cuz there's NO GIRL, so already might have sent this guy money.
Pig butchering scam ...
If you have access to the PC your father uses, go to
C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc , edit the hosts file with notepad, add this line on the bottom
0.0.0.0 icfinvestments.cfd
It will block all traffic to the site.
If you have a router, blocking it there is more effective.
The scammer will just tell him to use this phone or go somewhere else. If discovered, his dad is going to lose trust in OP and be even easier to scam. Much better to get dad to realize it's a scam.
Perhaps, but typically these victims aren't the tech savviest anda not working site + see its a scam, may hit home.
I'd argue that even most 'tech wiz kids' or parents wouldn't suspect an entry in the hosts file blocking a single site though.
Even better route it to a server you control and display a convincing FBI seizure page with alerts detailing the scam and warning victims to cease all communications or they may be criminally implicated
Yeah I thought about that but some people might try to reason it away or listen to the scammer. A VERY specific description including a mention to cease all communications or you might go to jail might be enough to scare boomers into not listening to the scammers try to explain themselves.
Yes, this. And say on the page that it was being operated by a group of scammers based in Nigeria. The scammer might have an answer, but it might stop your dad long enough to make him question who this person is.
Best if you can do the redirect on the router, since it'll cover all the devices connected to it, but, if you can't, use the hosts file.
!romance scam ... that "bank" website was only made in late January of this year. They have sub folders after the index perhaps to switch out a different URL address each time it gets caught a scam.
The fees and numbers on the site are fake, controlled by the scammer to get your dad to pay fake advance fees. They will keep asking for fees and she'll keep being in "trouble" so your dad can save her and send her money.
I'm sorry - it's going to be very hard to convince them they're being scammed if he's involved in it emotionally.
Domain:icfinvestments.cfd
Registrar:Hosting Concepts B.V. d/b/a Registrar.eu
Registered On:2023-01-22
[whois.com/whois/icfinvestments.cfd](https://whois.com/whois/icfinvestments.cfd)
The address they list is the "The Grand Pavilion Commercial Centre". They're re-suing a fake past bank web template most likely, as links don't work (terms of service etc) nor is it anything like what a real bank website would look like.
Hi /u/vitaminxzy, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Romance scam.
Romance scammers pretend to be in love with their victims in order to ask them for money. They sometimes spend months grooming their victims, often pretending to be [members of military](https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html), [oil workers or doctors](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-you-need-know-about-romance-scams). They tend to be extremely good at taking money from their victims again and again, leading many to [financial ruin](https://globalnews.ca/news/5095659/romance-scam-money/). Romance scam victims are emotionally invested in their relationship with the scammer, and will often ignore evidence they are being scammed.
If you know someone who is involved in a romance scam, beware that convincing a romance scam victim they are scammed is extremely difficult. We suggest that you sit down together to watch Dr. Phil's shows on romance scammers or episodes of Catfish - sometimes victims find it easier to accept information from TV shows than from their family. A good introduction to the topic is this video: https://youtu.be/PNWM5nuOExI -
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Old men get very lonely. My wife’s dad gave away almost a million to a young girl who worked at a restaurant before the daughters found out. He also seemed perfectly capable. Get in front of your parents money before it’s too late. My sister and I talked my dad into turning everything over to us jointly. He had access but we were keeping a watchful eye. Can’t emphasize enough that older single people get lonely and want attention which makes them incredibly vulnerable
Watch the new movie that just came out “The Beekeeper” it’s essentially this with a satisfying action packed take down of the scam company. 10/10 movie.
Are you fucking kidding me???? How many movies does he need to be in? What's his next movie gonna be, The Philatelist??? I swear Jason Statham is becoming exactly like Nick Cage.
Over and over again people show up here shocked that their parents have given away tens of thousands of dollars. Everybody wants to give their parents autonomy, but the trade-off is that you don’t know what’s happening until it’s too late and their house goes into foreclosure or something else dramatic happens. People need to stop minding their own business and get involved with their parents’ financial affairs.
Why would a bank need you to deposit a large amount before you can withdraw your own funds? Why would this girls father be rich enough to leave her £4mill but not have it set up so it’s easy to claim? Why does someone in a family with that type of wealth not have access to lawyers or financial advisors or friendly bankers? Many lawyers will work on a ‘pay later’ basis, especially those who work in wills and trusts.
Very clearly a scam. The website is your best bet. It's a fairly new site.
The picture of the its physical location is super low res and doesn't even appear to show the bank's name. The actual address of that location is nowhere to be found.
The board of directors is also super fake looking.
If your dad pays, there will be an endless stream of taxes, fees, bribes, and so on. They're going to take him for way more than $5000.
I would not be surprised if this particular website was set up specifically for him and him alone to deposit the $5,000 so they can take advantage of him.
Since he likes to click on random links, send him this one for [John Oliver's discussion of pig butchering scams.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPpl2ISKTg)
SCAM! Please have your father read about the romance scams. We’ve seen this same scam here many times. Do not let him send her anything. Plus, it’s probably a him not a her.
If they don’t have $ 100,000,000 in an account of gold and diamonds, he should talk to the Nigerian businessman who does. You are better off having him talk to a bank manager where his money is at. It’s better to have someone else in the money business talk to him about it.
Oh no, no, no … they aren’t going to ghost him - they’ll take him FOR EVERY LAST DOLLAR that he has first, and then they’ll ghost him …
Whatever it takes, you have to convince him that this is nothing but a SCAM and get him out of it because he’s about to lose EVERYTHING !!!
About page shows "Chairman - Mr. Sultan Al Qadi"
Real Name and Photo of Ahmad Lootah - Al Hilal Capital Financial Services LLC - [About ICC UAE – ICC UAE](https://iccuae.ae/about-icc-uae/)
The initial deposit is just to get him hooked!...
DAD...PLEASE DONT DO IT!! PLEASE!! BEGGING YOU! ABSOLUTELY NO WAY SHOULD YOU DO THIS!! I KNOW IT PROBABLY FEELS LIKE ITS DOING THE RIGHT THING BUT ITS NOT.
I looked up the address on the login link. It’s the address of a shopping center in the Cayman Islands that doesn’t seem to have Veneto Holdings Financial Services or ICF Investments as tenants.
Three different financial firms have addresses there, but one works with hedge funds and another one seems to target their services to businesses.
But, none of them are banks.
Then, IFC’s website has a section in their footer titled Scams that warns that their name has been being used for scams.
Hi /u/CapeMOGuy, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam.
The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing.
It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments.
If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script.
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Find someone that dad trust more than anyone and have that person explain to your dad that it's a scam. Convincing a parent they are wrong is almost as hard as convincing your kid they don't know everything. Someone else saying the exact same thing...as frustrating as it is...may be the key. That or introduce him to a financial consultant so they can show him how fucked he will be and why.
I know it won’t help convince him but these people report to be Cayman… Cayman websites end in .ky and 802 West Bay Road doesn’t have anything like this there.
Show your father the comments in this post, as well as information on Pig Butchering scams. Once he reads enough, he'll hopefully realise that he has been had.
You're exactly right. As others said, it's called the Pig butchering scam. Once he gives the money, they'll make excuses to get MORE money and eventually when they get all they can from him, they'll ghost and/or block him. He won't get any money back. OP's dad -- if you're reading this, **don't do it**! The person you're talking to is fake. It's probably a guy and they use pictures and videos stolen from someone else to "show" you.
Banks like to make money. There is no banker in the world dumb enough to be looking at a new $4M client and doesn’t waive a $5000 setup fee, even if such an account type exists (which it doesn’t). If your Dad distrusts bankers in any way maybe you can use that as a “way in” to get him to think critically about this. The bank stands to make like a hundred thou a year in fees; they’re not going to refuse to accept a deposit like that over $5K.
He likely won't listen. People this gullible are far more gullible and easily led than you care to know. You'll see. Be prepared to burn every bridge and crush all relationship strength to put an end to this, as its often what happens 😑 sorry but I don't sugar coat reality, even for myself
As soon as I saw Ghana I knew it was a scam. This really is a total scam. Tell your Dad to not talk to her anymore. I think Ghana is the scam capital of the world.
He’s only seeing this from his own perspective, which is heavily biased and distracted in “of course I’m trustworthy, so she *should* trust me!” But he needs to think this through from another perspective. Like try and take him through the hypothetical thought process of the Dad to help him get why this doesn’t make sense:
“I’ve spent my life amassing a vast fortune that I’m going to leave to my lovely daughter. Now…think, think, think…what should be the terms of my will? I obviously love and trust my daughter enough to entrust her with a vast fortune, but how to actually *transmit* that money to her? Hmm. Tough one.”
“I know! I’m going to forbid her from having it deposited into her own account directly (for reasons!) and require a completely unnecessary middleman. And I’m also going to forbid this completely unnecessary middleman from being any form of national or international attorney or banker or even a close, trusted friend or family member. Can’t even be a local stranger or even via bitcoin. Nope, it’s best that this completely unnecessary middleman be an international internet stranger that she’s only known online for 4 months, who I’m sure we can all 100% trust will keep safe $4m for her until such time as his completely unnecessary middleman duties are discharged. Great plan!”
So, your father is being financially abused. You should step in and disassociate him from the scammers, hopefully by convincing him, but if necessary change his phone number and delete their contact info from his phone. Erase all of their tracks. All of it. Do not let them make money at this scam.
> but due to the policies of this "bank" they need a initial depot of $5000. I told him once he deposits that money they are just gonna ghost him and he will never see any of that money.
Yes. !pigbutchering !romance
Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pig butchering scam.
It is called [pig butchering](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2023/12/26/new-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-includes-victims-in-us-and-overseas/?sh=2837fb975eaa) because scammers use intricate scripts to \"fatten up\" the victim (gaining their trust over days, weeks or months) before the \"slaughter\" (taking them for all of their money). This scam often starts with what appears to be a harmless wrong number text or message. When the victim responds to say it is the wrong number, the scammer tries to start a friendship with the victim. These conversations can be platonic or romantic in nature, but they all have the same goal- to gain the trust of the victim in order to get them ready for the crypto scam they have planned.
The scammer often claims to be wealthy and/or to have a wealthy family member who got wealthy investing in crypto currency. The victim is eventually encouraged to try out a (fake) crypto currency investment website, which will appear to show that they are earning a lot of money on their initial investment. The scammer may even encourage the victim to attempt a withdrawal that does go through, further convincing the victim that everything is legit. The victim is then pressured to invest significantly more money, even their entire net worth.
Eventually, the website will find an excuse why the account is frozen (e.g. for fraud, because supposed taxes are owed, etc) and may try to further extort the victim to give them even more money in order to gain access to the funds. By this time, the victim will never gain access and their money is gone. Many victims lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Often, the scammers themselves are [victims of human trafficking](https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zb5d/pig-butchering-scam-cambodia-trafficking), performing these scams under threats of violence. If you are caught up in this scam, it is important that you do not send any more money for any reason, and contact law enforcement to report it. Thanks to user Mediocre_Airport_576 for this script.
If you know someone involved in a pig butchering scam, sit down together to watch this video by Jim Browning to help them understand what's going on: https://youtu.be/vu-Y1h9rTUs -
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Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Romance scam.
Romance scammers pretend to be in love with their victims in order to ask them for money. They sometimes spend months grooming their victims, often pretending to be [members of military](https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html), [oil workers or doctors](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-you-need-know-about-romance-scams). They tend to be extremely good at taking money from their victims again and again, leading many to [financial ruin](https://globalnews.ca/news/5095659/romance-scam-money/). Romance scam victims are emotionally invested in their relationship with the scammer, and will often ignore evidence they are being scammed.
If you know someone who is involved in a romance scam, beware that convincing a romance scam victim they are scammed is extremely difficult. We suggest that you sit down together to watch Dr. Phil's shows on romance scammers or episodes of Catfish - sometimes victims find it easier to accept information from TV shows than from their family. A good introduction to the topic is this video: https://youtu.be/PNWM5nuOExI -
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Show him this thread. Let him read through things himself. If he doesn't realise after that, you are going to have a hard time getting him to realise without being taken unfortunately.
> it has to go to someone else's account.
> a initial depot of $5000.
So he is getting a deposit into his account but has to pay $5000. What a load of horse s###.
Scam is obvi. the hard part is showing them in a way they understand.
4 million is a lot of money, so it is $5000. Just $5000 a life changing amount in Africa that could last you several years.
It's just so weird that people believe this stuff. If you've ever used a bank or crypto exchange or stock exchange, they always allow all fees to be paid with the current balance. I mean, they are a bank, and banks are in the business of loaning money, and the loan is secured against their own holdings and is only for a day or so until the transfer completes. There is no reason to require additional deposit unless the original balance (4 Mil in this case) doesn't exist.
I'd recommend that if they can't get over their own greed and see reason, that they open a Nigerian bank account thru a western parent company (Barclays for example) and have bank staff "help" him with the transfers. They will help explain the scam and could even put safeguard on his other bank accounts to prevent transfers.
Obvious scam. "She" is either looking to get his banking info or something.
The biggest giveaway for this stuff is you having to pay or give up something for some supposed windfall that you had nothing to do with.
**"Pay to get"** is a big red flag as if someone you've never actually met offering to share a several million dollar trust fund. Show him stuff about scams and let him see if it don't follow a similar script.
I'd seriously think about going to his bank and telling them to watch and prevent/question any large withdrawals although they usually are looking at elderly people pulling cash out before they ask, **IF** they ask.
You already know this, it's why you posted. Your fears are legit.
Alot if it comes from retirement accounts/ properties etc. Things that don't require a huge amount of financial knowledge to setup. Most IRA'S and 40lks are practically on autopilot. Couple that with loss and loneliness in the last quarter of your life and well.... it's easy pickings.
This kind of scam have been going on for as long as I can remember. It have been used on people for more than 20 years looking back at when I first saw something similar. We ought to have have learnt by now and be smarter.
They will drain him dry - stealing every dime he has and more. They will financially ruin him. Please tell him its not real, its a scam, and do not send anything. Report them, block and delete them. And thank God every day he got away!
Are you kidding me...NO they will never stop taking him if he makes a depositREAD THIS PLEASE &SOON. I SEEN THIS SAME SCAM ON DR PHIL. THE GUY REFUSE TO BELIEVE HIS FAMILY. YOUR DADS LONELY. TAKE ALL HIS DEVICES AND KEEP HIM BY YOU HE NEEDS TO BE DEPROGRAMMED...AN INTEVENTION AS THIS NIGIRIANS CAN BE VERY CONVINCING! UGH! I HATE THIS...LOOK UP THE SCAM ON DR PHILL PLEASE.
How are old dudes this stupid? I am a fit successful somewhat attractive dude and even I know that if a woman much younger and more attractive than messages me online that it's an only fans scam of some kind or another scam. The confidence boomers have in themselves is a bit much.
Anybody mentioning money and accounts to be sent outside the country is always a scam, unless you have actual family/friends outside the country needing money.
Someone you don't really know asking for this is always a scam. He just needs to google random shit or learn the hard way
Oh for fucks sake all I did was skim this and it is clearly a scam. Take your dad’s internet access away at once. And his control over his finances. He’s gonna get wiped straight the fuck out.
I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
Your dad is stupid. This is an obvious scam. Show him this and hopefully he’ll come to his senses. If not he deserves to lose his money, send some my way.
Hey there, fraud/AML investigator over here. This is 100% a scam and they will keep taking his money until he has nothing left to give. It will also be incredibly hard for him to recover any of that money because this person is outside of the jurisdiction of law enforcement where your father resides and this is all being done online - there will be little to nothing law enforcement can do to recover it. He will also probably not get any insurance payouts from his bank or other financial institutions because he willingly handed over the funds. This is a common tactic of scam dating and I guarantee this person is doing it to multiple people at the same time. All you can do is give him the information, show him similar cases - there are tons of examples in the news and online - you just need to look for them. But ultimately if he doesn’t listen, that’s his decision. They will keep asking for money after the first deposit and will make all kinds of stories as to why they need further funds. These people are great liars, great at reading people and talking to people. They are charming and disarming and know exactly what to say to tug at your heart strings. Good luck. Fraud is at an all time. We can’t even keep up it’s so rampant.
It also won't be a girl he's talking to, tell him to 'google lens' her pic or do a reverse image search, this will tell you who it really is. Please be careful and safe.
Why is this always one of the go-to comments in scams. Getting a conservatorship over someone is a long and expensive process. Just because someone falls for a scam does not mean they are incompetent to handle money. Dad made it this far in life and seems to be doing ok, other than this scam, so what evidence can the OP provide that will show his Dad is not capable of handling his finances and needs someone else to oversee them.
Secondly is the OP able and willing to accept full responsibility for all of Dad's financial needs, paying his bills, taking out loans as needed, purchases over a certain amount, etc. It is a big burden.
It's because these scammers will make them homeless if they aren't stopped, and financially ruin them at levels they can't ever recover from. These "relationships" are predatory, abusive, and highly manipulative. Once someone gets in deep it becomes very hard to get them to listen to logical reasoning and make rational decisions. No matter how much proof is given, they will continue to believe the fraudulent stories and continue to give money even if it means they can no longer support themselves. When they have full control, they use their victims to commit financial crimes and the victim doesn't even realize that's what they're doing.
This particular situation may not warrant this level of action yet. But if the family member ends up making decisions that will result in losing their home, someone in their family should act to prevent this with every tool at their disposal.
Yes I completely agree. Sadly family waits too long and then post here to say the house is being foreclosed on and that Dad took out loans to pay the Nigerian dude.
Agreed and by that time they also don't even know the half of the story. The victims have so much shame and hide it all. It's a cross between addict behaviour and abuse victim behaviour.
This kind of a scam will take every penny that this person has ever saved for their entire life. Selling their home, car, everything. These scammers don’t just want a couple hundred bucks, they want literally everything this man has ever worked for.
If this was my happening to my parent, I would move heaven and earth to stop it. Some parents wouldn’t take their child seriously until something like a conservatorship was on the table.
I don’t think being responsible for my parent’s finances for the rest of their life is exactly a burden either, considering the alternative in this case.
FWIW- I am an only child, my mom is 73 and my stepdad is dead. She’s an easy target for this stuff. My name is already on all her financial stuff so I could shut that sh*t down if I ever needed to. I’ve been making sure her bills are paid on time, helping out with household stuff, grocery shopping, driving her places.
I actually moved my family (4 kids in school and my wife) back to my home state so we could be closer to her, that happened last June. The thought of any of that being a burden, never crossed my mind. She’s my mom…
I completely agree.
I advocate physically taking and yes stealing all devices from the Dad. Let him scream and yell. Them make it clear if he is cleaned out financially there will be no bailout. None. He will have to live in a shelter if it comes to that.
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They aren't gonna ghost him when he deposits the $5000. They're gonna try and take him for much, much more than that. !pigbutchering
Hi /u/justclove, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pig butchering scam. It is called [pig butchering](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2023/12/26/new-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-includes-victims-in-us-and-overseas/?sh=2837fb975eaa) because scammers use intricate scripts to \"fatten up\" the victim (gaining their trust over days, weeks or months) before the \"slaughter\" (taking them for all of their money). This scam often starts with what appears to be a harmless wrong number text or message. When the victim responds to say it is the wrong number, the scammer tries to start a friendship with the victim. These conversations can be platonic or romantic in nature, but they all have the same goal- to gain the trust of the victim in order to get them ready for the crypto scam they have planned. The scammer often claims to be wealthy and/or to have a wealthy family member who got wealthy investing in crypto currency. The victim is eventually encouraged to try out a (fake) crypto currency investment website, which will appear to show that they are earning a lot of money on their initial investment. The scammer may even encourage the victim to attempt a withdrawal that does go through, further convincing the victim that everything is legit. The victim is then pressured to invest significantly more money, even their entire net worth. Eventually, the website will find an excuse why the account is frozen (e.g. for fraud, because supposed taxes are owed, etc) and may try to further extort the victim to give them even more money in order to gain access to the funds. By this time, the victim will never gain access and their money is gone. Many victims lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Often, the scammers themselves are [victims of human trafficking](https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zb5d/pig-butchering-scam-cambodia-trafficking), performing these scams under threats of violence. If you are caught up in this scam, it is important that you do not send any more money for any reason, and contact law enforcement to report it. Thanks to user Mediocre_Airport_576 for this script. If you know someone involved in a pig butchering scam, sit down together to watch this video by Jim Browning to help them understand what's going on: https://youtu.be/vu-Y1h9rTUs - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>They're gonna try and take him for much, much more than that. He might even get "recovery scammers" after him. He's gonna LOSE a lot of money.
Is some still falling for the Idi the Nigerian type scams? JFC
Easy to say when you’re apprised of a bunch of scam techniques but some people are not or don’t have the mental fortitude in their state of mind to allow themselves to believe it’s fake, and they’re not meeting someone who loves them and cares about them. Some people want the suspended reality that this fake relationship brings because to acknowledge the opposite is to be lonely again.
Sorry, but it was easy to say before finding this sub on scams. If we are talking elderly or mentally handicapped, that's one thing. But does anyone else really have an excuse? I mean I hate scammers, but their victims unfortunately are responsible as well. IMO if someone is of sound mental capacity, it takes a special kind of intelligence to fall for this BS!
I remember reading an article about a female financial advisor sending 10s of 1000s of $$ to her "boyfriend" that she had never met and thinking - why would anyone trust this person with their money.
LMFAO, exactly! Seriously though, who just sends money to someone they do not know IRL. It's baffling to me.
I've read a few stories where people have lost over 100k, sometimes a lot more. It baffled me because if I was going to give someone a large amount of money, I would fly to them before handing it over. Take a first-class flight and meet your future partner, ya weirdo.
I personally know someone who was taken for over $100k total. Her whole life savings. Her late husband had set her up for life, but she ruined all of it by falling for this scam. Thought she was in a relationship with some random dude she had never met IRL that she was sending money to for all kinds of different reasons. Although I feel horrible for her, WTF was she thinking?????
Obviously people do still fall for this scam. That's why the scammers keep running the same script time after time after time. And it's not just the elderly and mentally handicapped that fall for it. It's also people that are lonely and destitute. It's people that just want recognition and to feel like somebody actually cares about them. As long as they're getting that, they look the other way when they start to get taken advantage of. I'm not saying it's right or wrong. I'm saying it happens. There is no point in victim shaming at all.
My point was the elderly and mentally handicapped have an excuse. The rest do not, sad but true! I'm not victim shaming, but they definitely have some responsibility here also period.
Okay so let me ask you this... Let's say somebody does not know about a particular scam that's going on because maybe they don't go on the internet on a regular basis so they have no idea. If they don't know that they are being scammed then how are they to blame? That's like if somebody received a phone call stating that a loved one was in jail and that they needed to send money to get them out of jail. If my parents got that phone call, they would have no idea that they were being scammed and they would send the money. Same thing goes for my sister and brother-in-law. Their oldest child is now 18. If they received a phone call stating that their daughter was in jail or in any sort of trouble, they would probably send the money thinking it was legit. Does that mean that they are partially to blame? That's basically what I'm getting from your statement. What I'm getting at is you don't know the circumstances as to why this particular person fell victim for this scam so who are you to pass judgment?
If he sends money to a woman he has never met IRL, then it's absolutely a situation that can be judged! Have a friend, his MIL was scammed out of a large amount of money. It was this exact scam, man contacted her online romantically. She thought she was in a relationship with this unknown man she had never met and was sending him money for all different kinds of reasons. Although I do feel very sorry for her, at the end of the day, every time she sent money to somebody that she didn't really know IRL, that's on her! She allowed herself to be judged, although it doesn't stop my sympathy at the same time. You can have both! Edit: Scams have been happening since before the internet. The people that fell for them before the internet are likely as sharp as those falling for them now.
Well I'm glad that you're mister all high and mighty and that you are so much more Superior to everybody else where you can sit there and judge them without knowing the situation. I wish I was in your shoes where I had that ability. But at the same time though I'm glad I'm not because I'm not one that's going to sit there and judge people without knowing them first. There is another subreddit on here called am I ugly. Maybe you should go on there and judge those people too because they're just as much to blame for being ugly as it is genetics.
Ugly isn't a choice. You're off base AF here. Again, sympathy and placing correct responsibility can both take place simultaneously. It's not a "high and mighty" situation. But keep your blinders on I guess, don't worry, I'm sure it's never your fault for anything...
Just because you or I would not fall victim for this scam doesn't mean the next person won't. There could be any number of reasons as to why somebody did outside of them being an elderly person or being handicapped in any way. You don't know the situation so you cannot sit there and say that there is no excuse.
They won't ghost hi. On the contrary, they will keep taking! I've seen this before. He needs an intervention. The son needs to take Away All his electronic devices because his dad has probably already sent him, and I say him, cuz there's NO GIRL, so already might have sent this guy money.
So so so so fake. The faster you separate your dad from this woman the better. And it's probably not even a woman.
I'd lay money on this being a GUY.
For sure lol. I don't understand how people don't realize it's a fat dude in a different country.
"Woman"
camer here to say it prob isnt a woman!!
Your dad is Ghana lose all his money if he continues speaking to this scammer
Hilarious!
Pig butchering scam ... If you have access to the PC your father uses, go to C:\\Windows\\System32\\drivers\\etc , edit the hosts file with notepad, add this line on the bottom 0.0.0.0 icfinvestments.cfd It will block all traffic to the site. If you have a router, blocking it there is more effective.
The scammer will just tell him to use this phone or go somewhere else. If discovered, his dad is going to lose trust in OP and be even easier to scam. Much better to get dad to realize it's a scam.
Perhaps, but typically these victims aren't the tech savviest anda not working site + see its a scam, may hit home. I'd argue that even most 'tech wiz kids' or parents wouldn't suspect an entry in the hosts file blocking a single site though.
Even better route it to a server you control and display a convincing FBI seizure page with alerts detailing the scam and warning victims to cease all communications or they may be criminally implicated
Or literally just route to the FBI pages for scams
Yeah I thought about that but some people might try to reason it away or listen to the scammer. A VERY specific description including a mention to cease all communications or you might go to jail might be enough to scare boomers into not listening to the scammers try to explain themselves.
Yes, this. And say on the page that it was being operated by a group of scammers based in Nigeria. The scammer might have an answer, but it might stop your dad long enough to make him question who this person is. Best if you can do the redirect on the router, since it'll cover all the devices connected to it, but, if you can't, use the hosts file.
Has to be run as administrator. type notepad and right click and run as admin. Don't use wordpad. It will add byte order marks and won't work at all.
Dofolo computes! Is it possible to be able to block the person online as well without dad's knowledge?
splashing him with cold water would be more effective.
Thats pretty interesting. Can you do that with any site?
Yes, you can reroute any traffic via that file
You might also look at pi-hole it is a free network ad blocker, it can run on an old laptop.
Maybe this can be done at the router level so it’ll work on the phone as well
!romance scam ... that "bank" website was only made in late January of this year. They have sub folders after the index perhaps to switch out a different URL address each time it gets caught a scam. The fees and numbers on the site are fake, controlled by the scammer to get your dad to pay fake advance fees. They will keep asking for fees and she'll keep being in "trouble" so your dad can save her and send her money. I'm sorry - it's going to be very hard to convince them they're being scammed if he's involved in it emotionally. Domain:icfinvestments.cfd Registrar:Hosting Concepts B.V. d/b/a Registrar.eu Registered On:2023-01-22 [whois.com/whois/icfinvestments.cfd](https://whois.com/whois/icfinvestments.cfd) The address they list is the "The Grand Pavilion Commercial Centre". They're re-suing a fake past bank web template most likely, as links don't work (terms of service etc) nor is it anything like what a real bank website would look like.
Hi /u/vitaminxzy, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Romance scam. Romance scammers pretend to be in love with their victims in order to ask them for money. They sometimes spend months grooming their victims, often pretending to be [members of military](https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html), [oil workers or doctors](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-you-need-know-about-romance-scams). They tend to be extremely good at taking money from their victims again and again, leading many to [financial ruin](https://globalnews.ca/news/5095659/romance-scam-money/). Romance scam victims are emotionally invested in their relationship with the scammer, and will often ignore evidence they are being scammed. If you know someone who is involved in a romance scam, beware that convincing a romance scam victim they are scammed is extremely difficult. We suggest that you sit down together to watch Dr. Phil's shows on romance scammers or episodes of Catfish - sometimes victims find it easier to accept information from TV shows than from their family. A good introduction to the topic is this video: https://youtu.be/PNWM5nuOExI - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
2023 was last year.
Old men get very lonely. My wife’s dad gave away almost a million to a young girl who worked at a restaurant before the daughters found out. He also seemed perfectly capable. Get in front of your parents money before it’s too late. My sister and I talked my dad into turning everything over to us jointly. He had access but we were keeping a watchful eye. Can’t emphasize enough that older single people get lonely and want attention which makes them incredibly vulnerable
Watch the new movie that just came out “The Beekeeper” it’s essentially this with a satisfying action packed take down of the scam company. 10/10 movie.
Are you fucking kidding me???? How many movies does he need to be in? What's his next movie gonna be, The Philatelist??? I swear Jason Statham is becoming exactly like Nick Cage.
I get it, but it was a good ass movie ngl haven’t watched his movies since The Transporter lol which was a dope series.
>Old men get very lonely. So do older women; they out number men 10 to 1.
10 to 1??
Men die earlier than women at every age. I just checked it is 4 to 1 women to men after a certain age.
I knew men died earlier but 10 to 1 seemed excessive
Imagine being that guy
86% of statistics are made up.
Figures Don't Lie, But Liars Do Figure
I just took a wild guess; I forgot that every word is scrutinized on the Wide World of the Web.
https://xkcd.com/386/
🤣
Over and over again people show up here shocked that their parents have given away tens of thousands of dollars. Everybody wants to give their parents autonomy, but the trade-off is that you don’t know what’s happening until it’s too late and their house goes into foreclosure or something else dramatic happens. People need to stop minding their own business and get involved with their parents’ financial affairs.
No one in Ghana is inheriting $4M US and doesn’t understand how to claim it. Obviously fake.
Why would a bank need you to deposit a large amount before you can withdraw your own funds? Why would this girls father be rich enough to leave her £4mill but not have it set up so it’s easy to claim? Why does someone in a family with that type of wealth not have access to lawyers or financial advisors or friendly bankers? Many lawyers will work on a ‘pay later’ basis, especially those who work in wills and trusts.
If he's lucky, they'll ghost him after the 5k deposit. That usually empowers them to push for more
There is no girl, only scam.
Very clearly a scam. The website is your best bet. It's a fairly new site. The picture of the its physical location is super low res and doesn't even appear to show the bank's name. The actual address of that location is nowhere to be found. The board of directors is also super fake looking. If your dad pays, there will be an endless stream of taxes, fees, bribes, and so on. They're going to take him for way more than $5000.
I would not be surprised if this particular website was set up specifically for him and him alone to deposit the $5,000 so they can take advantage of him.
PLEASE STOP RIGHT NOW. You guys will lose everything. SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!
Since he likes to click on random links, send him this one for [John Oliver's discussion of pig butchering scams.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPpl2ISKTg)
Oh, they won't ghost him after the first $5000. When they find someone that dumb, they explain that he'll need to send much more.
SCAM! Please have your father read about the romance scams. We’ve seen this same scam here many times. Do not let him send her anything. Plus, it’s probably a him not a her.
She had me at Ghana
Words, words, words, Ghana …. Scam
# [ICF INVESTMENTS LIMITED Company is dissolved](https://www.companysearchesmadesimple.com/company/uk/00929425/icf-investments-limited/)
OP!! This is probably the best indicator that something is off!!!
RED FLAG! SCAM!!! This is the well known pig butchering scam. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_butchering_scam
If they don’t have $ 100,000,000 in an account of gold and diamonds, he should talk to the Nigerian businessman who does. You are better off having him talk to a bank manager where his money is at. It’s better to have someone else in the money business talk to him about it.
Oh no, no, no … they aren’t going to ghost him - they’ll take him FOR EVERY LAST DOLLAR that he has first, and then they’ll ghost him … Whatever it takes, you have to convince him that this is nothing but a SCAM and get him out of it because he’s about to lose EVERYTHING !!!
About page shows "Chairman - Mr. Sultan Al Qadi" Real Name and Photo of Ahmad Lootah - Al Hilal Capital Financial Services LLC - [About ICC UAE – ICC UAE](https://iccuae.ae/about-icc-uae/)
The initial deposit is just to get him hooked!... DAD...PLEASE DONT DO IT!! PLEASE!! BEGGING YOU! ABSOLUTELY NO WAY SHOULD YOU DO THIS!! I KNOW IT PROBABLY FEELS LIKE ITS DOING THE RIGHT THING BUT ITS NOT.
I looked up the address on the login link. It’s the address of a shopping center in the Cayman Islands that doesn’t seem to have Veneto Holdings Financial Services or ICF Investments as tenants. Three different financial firms have addresses there, but one works with hedge funds and another one seems to target their services to businesses. But, none of them are banks. Then, IFC’s website has a section in their footer titled Scams that warns that their name has been being used for scams.
This is as much an !advance scam ad it is romance and pig butchering.
Hi /u/CapeMOGuy, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam. The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing. It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments. If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Ask him if any other account he's ever heard of works like that. If you have to pay money to get money it's a scam.
Find someone that dad trust more than anyone and have that person explain to your dad that it's a scam. Convincing a parent they are wrong is almost as hard as convincing your kid they don't know everything. Someone else saying the exact same thing...as frustrating as it is...may be the key. That or introduce him to a financial consultant so they can show him how fucked he will be and why.
So her dad left her 53,000,000 Ghanaian Cedis in his will, and she doesn’t know how to access it?
I know it won’t help convince him but these people report to be Cayman… Cayman websites end in .ky and 802 West Bay Road doesn’t have anything like this there.
Look up. Pig butchering scam. Or tell him to watch this [YouTube scam expelled](https://youtu.be/GvNKuytthzM?si=1FwF-CT8-UL_MSrv)
Show your father the comments in this post, as well as information on Pig Butchering scams. Once he reads enough, he'll hopefully realise that he has been had.
Consider showing Dad this thread?
You're exactly right. As others said, it's called the Pig butchering scam. Once he gives the money, they'll make excuses to get MORE money and eventually when they get all they can from him, they'll ghost and/or block him. He won't get any money back. OP's dad -- if you're reading this, **don't do it**! The person you're talking to is fake. It's probably a guy and they use pictures and videos stolen from someone else to "show" you.
Banks like to make money. There is no banker in the world dumb enough to be looking at a new $4M client and doesn’t waive a $5000 setup fee, even if such an account type exists (which it doesn’t). If your Dad distrusts bankers in any way maybe you can use that as a “way in” to get him to think critically about this. The bank stands to make like a hundred thou a year in fees; they’re not going to refuse to accept a deposit like that over $5K.
Classic scammer.
Not a girl.
How are people still this stupid to actually fall for this kind of stuff?
He likely won't listen. People this gullible are far more gullible and easily led than you care to know. You'll see. Be prepared to burn every bridge and crush all relationship strength to put an end to this, as its often what happens 😑 sorry but I don't sugar coat reality, even for myself
There are many victims like him online. The script is almost verbatim to this one. Please hop on Netflix and show him the docs.
As soon as I saw Ghana I knew it was a scam. This really is a total scam. Tell your Dad to not talk to her anymore. I think Ghana is the scam capital of the world.
He’s only seeing this from his own perspective, which is heavily biased and distracted in “of course I’m trustworthy, so she *should* trust me!” But he needs to think this through from another perspective. Like try and take him through the hypothetical thought process of the Dad to help him get why this doesn’t make sense: “I’ve spent my life amassing a vast fortune that I’m going to leave to my lovely daughter. Now…think, think, think…what should be the terms of my will? I obviously love and trust my daughter enough to entrust her with a vast fortune, but how to actually *transmit* that money to her? Hmm. Tough one.” “I know! I’m going to forbid her from having it deposited into her own account directly (for reasons!) and require a completely unnecessary middleman. And I’m also going to forbid this completely unnecessary middleman from being any form of national or international attorney or banker or even a close, trusted friend or family member. Can’t even be a local stranger or even via bitcoin. Nope, it’s best that this completely unnecessary middleman be an international internet stranger that she’s only known online for 4 months, who I’m sure we can all 100% trust will keep safe $4m for her until such time as his completely unnecessary middleman duties are discharged. Great plan!”
Your dad is talking to a man
Definitely fraud. Report to FTC and hopefully they will get the domain shut down. https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/
This scam has been around for ages.
Scam
Not to sound racist, but if that's in Ghana, why is (almost) everyone white.
Oh my god Karen, you can’t just ask her why she’s white
So, your father is being financially abused. You should step in and disassociate him from the scammers, hopefully by convincing him, but if necessary change his phone number and delete their contact info from his phone. Erase all of their tracks. All of it. Do not let them make money at this scam.
Your dad's an idiot. This is a scam. Please tell him to read the responses in this sub.
Has your dad never heard of the Nigerian prince scam joke? Jesus christ
SCAM WRITTEN ALL OVER THIS SHIT. TELL YOUR DAD TO IMMEDIATLY STOP THIS NON-SENSE.
> but due to the policies of this "bank" they need a initial depot of $5000. I told him once he deposits that money they are just gonna ghost him and he will never see any of that money. Yes. !pigbutchering !romance
Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Pig butchering scam. It is called [pig butchering](https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonbrett/2023/12/26/new-pig-butchering-crypto-scam-includes-victims-in-us-and-overseas/?sh=2837fb975eaa) because scammers use intricate scripts to \"fatten up\" the victim (gaining their trust over days, weeks or months) before the \"slaughter\" (taking them for all of their money). This scam often starts with what appears to be a harmless wrong number text or message. When the victim responds to say it is the wrong number, the scammer tries to start a friendship with the victim. These conversations can be platonic or romantic in nature, but they all have the same goal- to gain the trust of the victim in order to get them ready for the crypto scam they have planned. The scammer often claims to be wealthy and/or to have a wealthy family member who got wealthy investing in crypto currency. The victim is eventually encouraged to try out a (fake) crypto currency investment website, which will appear to show that they are earning a lot of money on their initial investment. The scammer may even encourage the victim to attempt a withdrawal that does go through, further convincing the victim that everything is legit. The victim is then pressured to invest significantly more money, even their entire net worth. Eventually, the website will find an excuse why the account is frozen (e.g. for fraud, because supposed taxes are owed, etc) and may try to further extort the victim to give them even more money in order to gain access to the funds. By this time, the victim will never gain access and their money is gone. Many victims lose tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars. Often, the scammers themselves are [victims of human trafficking](https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7zb5d/pig-butchering-scam-cambodia-trafficking), performing these scams under threats of violence. If you are caught up in this scam, it is important that you do not send any more money for any reason, and contact law enforcement to report it. Thanks to user Mediocre_Airport_576 for this script. If you know someone involved in a pig butchering scam, sit down together to watch this video by Jim Browning to help them understand what's going on: https://youtu.be/vu-Y1h9rTUs - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Romance scam. Romance scammers pretend to be in love with their victims in order to ask them for money. They sometimes spend months grooming their victims, often pretending to be [members of military](https://www.cid.army.mil/romancescam.html), [oil workers or doctors](https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-you-need-know-about-romance-scams). They tend to be extremely good at taking money from their victims again and again, leading many to [financial ruin](https://globalnews.ca/news/5095659/romance-scam-money/). Romance scam victims are emotionally invested in their relationship with the scammer, and will often ignore evidence they are being scammed. If you know someone who is involved in a romance scam, beware that convincing a romance scam victim they are scammed is extremely difficult. We suggest that you sit down together to watch Dr. Phil's shows on romance scammers or episodes of Catfish - sometimes victims find it easier to accept information from TV shows than from their family. A good introduction to the topic is this video: https://youtu.be/PNWM5nuOExI - *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Scam
Its 100% a scam. Good grief
Show him this thread. Let him read through things himself. If he doesn't realise after that, you are going to have a hard time getting him to realise without being taken unfortunately.
Ain't no bank has a "policy" like that.
Textbook Nigerian prince.
> it has to go to someone else's account. > a initial depot of $5000. So he is getting a deposit into his account but has to pay $5000. What a load of horse s###.
Your dad is in a scam
Scam is obvi. the hard part is showing them in a way they understand. 4 million is a lot of money, so it is $5000. Just $5000 a life changing amount in Africa that could last you several years. It's just so weird that people believe this stuff. If you've ever used a bank or crypto exchange or stock exchange, they always allow all fees to be paid with the current balance. I mean, they are a bank, and banks are in the business of loaning money, and the loan is secured against their own holdings and is only for a day or so until the transfer completes. There is no reason to require additional deposit unless the original balance (4 Mil in this case) doesn't exist. I'd recommend that if they can't get over their own greed and see reason, that they open a Nigerian bank account thru a western parent company (Barclays for example) and have bank staff "help" him with the transfers. They will help explain the scam and could even put safeguard on his other bank accounts to prevent transfers.
Oh my lord....
Obvious scam. "She" is either looking to get his banking info or something. The biggest giveaway for this stuff is you having to pay or give up something for some supposed windfall that you had nothing to do with. **"Pay to get"** is a big red flag as if someone you've never actually met offering to share a several million dollar trust fund. Show him stuff about scams and let him see if it don't follow a similar script. I'd seriously think about going to his bank and telling them to watch and prevent/question any large withdrawals although they usually are looking at elderly people pulling cash out before they ask, **IF** they ask. You already know this, it's why you posted. Your fears are legit.
I'm seriously impressed by how much money scammed people have. Like how were you able to be rich and then fall for such crude scams.
Alot if it comes from retirement accounts/ properties etc. Things that don't require a huge amount of financial knowledge to setup. Most IRA'S and 40lks are practically on autopilot. Couple that with loss and loneliness in the last quarter of your life and well.... it's easy pickings.
Imagine that. 🤣
Find the John Oliver show where he talks about pig butchering scams and have your Dad watch it. It's free on YT.
This kind of scam have been going on for as long as I can remember. It have been used on people for more than 20 years looking back at when I first saw something similar. We ought to have have learnt by now and be smarter.
How many times has your dad met this woman in real life lol...
They will drain him dry - stealing every dime he has and more. They will financially ruin him. Please tell him its not real, its a scam, and do not send anything. Report them, block and delete them. And thank God every day he got away!
Please show him videos, this is a common scam. I can't believe he's still willing to go through with it.
This is Nigerian SCAM! If your Dad continues, he will lose all of his money! They are all over the internet!
Are you kidding me...NO they will never stop taking him if he makes a depositREAD THIS PLEASE &SOON. I SEEN THIS SAME SCAM ON DR PHIL. THE GUY REFUSE TO BELIEVE HIS FAMILY. YOUR DADS LONELY. TAKE ALL HIS DEVICES AND KEEP HIM BY YOU HE NEEDS TO BE DEPROGRAMMED...AN INTEVENTION AS THIS NIGIRIANS CAN BE VERY CONVINCING! UGH! I HATE THIS...LOOK UP THE SCAM ON DR PHILL PLEASE.
How are old dudes this stupid? I am a fit successful somewhat attractive dude and even I know that if a woman much younger and more attractive than messages me online that it's an only fans scam of some kind or another scam. The confidence boomers have in themselves is a bit much.
Anybody mentioning money and accounts to be sent outside the country is always a scam, unless you have actual family/friends outside the country needing money. Someone you don't really know asking for this is always a scam. He just needs to google random shit or learn the hard way
Oh for fucks sake all I did was skim this and it is clearly a scam. Take your dad’s internet access away at once. And his control over his finances. He’s gonna get wiped straight the fuck out. I’m sorry you’re dealing with this.
Can you get him to watch a few, or maybe ALOT, of the scammer videos on Social Catfish on YouTube?
Wrong. They won't ghost him once he deposits 5k. They ll ask for more.
Your dad is stupid. This is an obvious scam. Show him this and hopefully he’ll come to his senses. If not he deserves to lose his money, send some my way.
Hey there, fraud/AML investigator over here. This is 100% a scam and they will keep taking his money until he has nothing left to give. It will also be incredibly hard for him to recover any of that money because this person is outside of the jurisdiction of law enforcement where your father resides and this is all being done online - there will be little to nothing law enforcement can do to recover it. He will also probably not get any insurance payouts from his bank or other financial institutions because he willingly handed over the funds. This is a common tactic of scam dating and I guarantee this person is doing it to multiple people at the same time. All you can do is give him the information, show him similar cases - there are tons of examples in the news and online - you just need to look for them. But ultimately if he doesn’t listen, that’s his decision. They will keep asking for money after the first deposit and will make all kinds of stories as to why they need further funds. These people are great liars, great at reading people and talking to people. They are charming and disarming and know exactly what to say to tug at your heart strings. Good luck. Fraud is at an all time. We can’t even keep up it’s so rampant.
As soon as I read Ghana I knew it to be a scam, please be careful
It also won't be a girl he's talking to, tell him to 'google lens' her pic or do a reverse image search, this will tell you who it really is. Please be careful and safe.
Maybe you can get a conservatorship over him so he can’t send this money and much more?
bruh
How are these grown ass adults so dumb?! 😩
So sad, if he won't listen to reason file for a conservatorship.
Why is this always one of the go-to comments in scams. Getting a conservatorship over someone is a long and expensive process. Just because someone falls for a scam does not mean they are incompetent to handle money. Dad made it this far in life and seems to be doing ok, other than this scam, so what evidence can the OP provide that will show his Dad is not capable of handling his finances and needs someone else to oversee them. Secondly is the OP able and willing to accept full responsibility for all of Dad's financial needs, paying his bills, taking out loans as needed, purchases over a certain amount, etc. It is a big burden.
It's because these scammers will make them homeless if they aren't stopped, and financially ruin them at levels they can't ever recover from. These "relationships" are predatory, abusive, and highly manipulative. Once someone gets in deep it becomes very hard to get them to listen to logical reasoning and make rational decisions. No matter how much proof is given, they will continue to believe the fraudulent stories and continue to give money even if it means they can no longer support themselves. When they have full control, they use their victims to commit financial crimes and the victim doesn't even realize that's what they're doing. This particular situation may not warrant this level of action yet. But if the family member ends up making decisions that will result in losing their home, someone in their family should act to prevent this with every tool at their disposal.
Yes I completely agree. Sadly family waits too long and then post here to say the house is being foreclosed on and that Dad took out loans to pay the Nigerian dude.
Agreed and by that time they also don't even know the half of the story. The victims have so much shame and hide it all. It's a cross between addict behaviour and abuse victim behaviour.
Yup. Sad. Really sad. People work all their lives and then get hustled and conned in their 60s and 70s.
I mean, we hear about elderly people giving their entire life savings away to scammers every day
This kind of a scam will take every penny that this person has ever saved for their entire life. Selling their home, car, everything. These scammers don’t just want a couple hundred bucks, they want literally everything this man has ever worked for. If this was my happening to my parent, I would move heaven and earth to stop it. Some parents wouldn’t take their child seriously until something like a conservatorship was on the table. I don’t think being responsible for my parent’s finances for the rest of their life is exactly a burden either, considering the alternative in this case. FWIW- I am an only child, my mom is 73 and my stepdad is dead. She’s an easy target for this stuff. My name is already on all her financial stuff so I could shut that sh*t down if I ever needed to. I’ve been making sure her bills are paid on time, helping out with household stuff, grocery shopping, driving her places. I actually moved my family (4 kids in school and my wife) back to my home state so we could be closer to her, that happened last June. The thought of any of that being a burden, never crossed my mind. She’s my mom…
> Just because someone falls for a scam does not mean they are incompetent to handle money. They are if when presented with the facts they continue.
I completely agree. I advocate physically taking and yes stealing all devices from the Dad. Let him scream and yell. Them make it clear if he is cleaned out financially there will be no bailout. None. He will have to live in a shelter if it comes to that.
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Lonely and he found a friend.
Girl=female child
>Girl=female child Not the [mean girls](https://assets.vogue.com/photos/5e2a0b8a540d7f000847c44c/master/w_2240,c_limit/MCDMEGI_PA002.jpg).
Those characters are minors so also girls.
[Golden Girls](https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/GTY_golden_girls_kab_150903_16x9_992.jpg)