Romance Scams- What you Need To Know

[Music] welcome everybody it's the life after 50 show I'm Katherine Watson and I'm here today with Jennifer Salazar and we have a topic that everybody needs to know about no matter what your age you can fall victim to this scam it happens a lot it's been happening for a long time but now with everybody being on lockdown the social distancing we're finding that a lot of people are just more vulnerable I think to this particular scam and what we're talking about is the romance scam so before we get into what that is I'm gonna let Jennifer tell you who she is and who she works for and why she wanted to come on and talk about this important topic today so Jennifer take it away thank you and thank you so much for having me today my name is Jennifer Salazar and I work for the Better Business Bureau education foundation and I'm also the director of the Texas senior Medicare Patrol the BBB Education Foundation has the federal grant for the senior Medicare Patrol which covers all 254 counties in the great state of Texas so today I want to come talk about the romance scam because since a lot of us are in quarantine and in lockdown we are more vulnerable to this scam right now so it's important that we know what it is because according to AARP if we know about a scam we're 80 percent less likely to fall for it and that's so important to put point out that that is the one defense that we have against all these scammers the scammers are not going to go away and they're getting more sophisticated Jennifer they're they're finding all kinds of new ways to come after us so it's important to be educated to know what's going on to be aware and I thank you for coming on the show to help bring that awareness in audience if you're out there and you have been affected or you know somebody that's been affected just tell us below in the comments we want to hear your stories because your stories even though they might be painful to you they help other people to avoid the same situation so tell us what you want to in the comments below we'd love to hear from you and ask your questions as well so Jennifer just what is the romance scam so the romance scam is someone that is pretending to be a future partner there are criminal and they're disguising themselves as somebody that they're not it's also called catfishing because they're trying to throw that bait out and get somebody to bite so they're acting like a potential love interest but in fact it's really a criminal and they'll have millions of lies why they will never meet you because you want to meet this person and in person but you can't because they live in another country are they're traveling with the military are there a priest that's going on a mission are traveling doctors there's millions of reasons why you can never meet this person but they keep it lively and they find out everything they can about you to keep you interested and now it's really simple all they have to say is I'm on quarantine absolutely no I mean that everybody understands that and so that is not a hard sell well oh and for example I was traveling in another country and now I'm stuck because a quarantine absolutely are you know and they do they do and they will and they're targeting a lot of folks of any age of any age right now the biggest target they go after is actually Mel's between the ages of 45 and 54 but they already know they actually go for any age and it doesn't matter how old you are I've had victims from the age of 18 all the way up to 85 so it doesn't matter your age it doesn't matter your age they what's hard to get you you know I talked to a client one time Jennifer that her dad had fallen victim to one of these and it was so sad because they had no idea he was living in California and they lived here in Texas and dad seemed happy on the phone he had met somebody new and he was having a good time and he was enjoying life and they thought oh great he's finally getting past the death of mom and he's you know coming out of his shell again and they were so grateful for that that they overlooked what was happening and by the time they found out he had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars I mean hundreds of thousands of dollars he had lost almost his whole retirement and and it was really sad for the whole family it is it is it's not only a financial loss it's an emotional loss because you really believe that you're in love you really believe that this person is their you know gonna be your life mate and they have emergencies and you want to help them you want to be their knight in shining armor say if their car broke down or if they need an emergency you know surgery you send them thousands of dollars to help them but these scammers also love obituaries they do target widows because they're vulnerable they wait a few weeks but what they do is they research the obituaries learn everything they can about the person that passed away then they'll contact the widow and say I'm so sorry I knew you're Harry in fact we were in high school together if you go look at his yearbook we were on the football team together they built a rapport they used to before quarantine we target high school reunions to because what they would do is like on social media if they had a social media page for a 50th anniversary or 50th and reunion what they would do is hey do you remember me and they'd pull them off the website they get to talk and everything and then I really want to go the reunion I can't afford it and then they get to the reunion and find out that that Facebook was hacked and it really wasn't the person at all so there's millions of ways and you need to watch out for dating apps believe it or not anybody of any age can get on a dating website you need to be cautious of dating websites Facebook be cautious of Facebook LinkedIn you and I were talking about LinkedIn earlier exactly exactly I was telling Jennifer that I have gotten I can't tell you how many invitations from quote military guys and when I did a little digging into who was because I don't just connect with anybody I do research I google their name I do all kinds of research and it was obvious they were they were not who they said they were and but I can't tell you how many guys in military uniforms were trying to connect with me so it happens a lot and it's just it's sickening to me it really is it makes me sick so let's talk a bit about how do they keep someone engaged once they once they find will wait a minute let's go back let's move this up let's talk about how they find them first and then we'll talk about how they keep them engaged so we know the Internet is one of those tools right absolutely there's you know different dating sites and you have to be very careful also about the religious dating sites because a lot of people think oh it's a religious stating site somebody religious wouldn't ever do that a lot of scammers will use faith to try to get you to try to hook you because a religious person wouldn't do a catfish sama or I'm at scam these people are faking also you need to watch out for dating apps on your phone Facebook even a phone call for example we were just talking about how they target our you Aries you might get a phone call out of the blue offering you condolences and you believe this person is real and they're not they will do anything they can to target you also they read you they stalk you they read your Facebook page they read any of your tweets if you have grandchildren yeah have pictures of you built they will research you they will stalk you they will find out where you live now more than likely they're not coming to your home because they don't live anywhere around you but they'll send you flowers they send you things and they won't spend a lot of money they'll spend a little bit because the return on investment might be huge might be huge but they're going to send you little things and then they're going to find out everything and anything about you they want to know all your secrets all your dreams because they might use that against you later but they want you to think they are the end-all be-all and they are going to find out as much as they can to connect with you and you really feel vulnerable to this person you really feel like this is it and this is my love and it's not it's not yeah it's really so disheartening that this happens I mean they spend a lot of time and energy researching you and getting that information if they would just put that energy into something good you know but they don't and scammers are not going away they're here to stay so you have to learn to protect yourself and yes go ahead also there might be more than one for example we've found that a lot of times these scammers there might be three working with one person Wow there might be three working one person because they're working multiple people at one time multiple people at one time and they found out last year that over a million people in the US was affected by the romance scam really yes when you say effect it you mean they fell for it thank you out for it and gave money to these yep good grief that's and and the sad thing is in Australia according to the law enforcement in Australia there are more suicides due to the romance scam than there are murders in Australia Wow so that just shows you the impact yeah this because people really feel it's right and especially somebody who's lost a loved one you know they're they're so vulnerable and you know they want to believe the best maybe they had a marriage that was wonderful and that they had a wonderful spouse that they lost and you know so somebody else comes along they're expecting them to be that same caliber person that same quality that they were used to and they want to believe the best in everybody you know and and you know I I don't I don't advocate that everybody stop trusting the world you know we've got to have trust but you've got to be careful with that trust and you've got to know who you're talking to hell they can find you wherever you are they can find you let's talk about how they keep you engaged you talked about oh they'll send just some flowers maybe a box of candies something to to keep you kind of on the hook what else do they do they will call you multiple times today they'll text you multiple times a day they keep it exciting for example you know they tell you exciting things they might send you a postcard from somewhere exotic but they will text you confessing their love want to hear about your day really taking the time to listen to you they want to know everything about your day how you're feeling and you feel like wow this person really cares and especially during quarantine I don't know about you but it gets exciting to talk to somebody right it's exciting and you're excited just to have that connection and you're excited to see their world and hear about how exciting their world is for example a gentleman is in Brazil and he can go walk the beaches and you're stuck here in your home and you're looking at your backyard and it's raining outside so it is exotic it's fun it's a fantasy and you believe it's real so they keep you engaged by promises like someday we're going to go we're gonna walk this beach together they'll send you a picture of the beach they keep it to where someday we're going to go to your favorite restaurant they find out so much about you and then they create all these lives someday we're going to get married it's going to be beautiful they keep it going they keep it going and they want to know everything and right now a lot of people have nothing time and they want to talk and these scammers are really zoning in on that that's how they're keeping them engaged as they're good listeners they're good listeners they want to hear and they want to get all the scoop because the more information they have about your likes and dislikes and your views on the world the more ammunition they have to to target you absolutely absolutely later let me ask you something do they ever do video calls with people sometimes sometimes now here's the thing that a lot of times cat Fisher's may do it now sometimes they don't they keep sending photos now for the ladies they send a lot of attractive photos to the guys and usually they're portraying somebody under 30 usually just trying to make ends meet like a student or a nurse or working multiple jobs very trusting very trusting and they can't video chat because they're too busy with all their jobs so they send pictures or somebody might video chat but you never get to meet him really it's kind of rare for the video chatting I would always think one would be yeah we're taking it would be I think it might be something that people could ask you know hey you know let's get on a boom call let's get on a video chat and it's off that might be a good sign and sometimes they do and sometimes they don't it just depends but a lot of times they like to send lots and lots of photos and like for the gentleman you know they're targeting them off of their looks now ladies they will portray themselves any way they can they like to look financially stable a lot of times they like to look like single fathers because that way they look nurturing in responsible and in all situations for ladies and gentlemen they like to look religious because more than likely you would date somebody religious with good moral values a good moral compass and another thing that they like to target is they like I keep saying they text you they call you because they want to slowly isolate you they want you to be the only person they they only want you and the scammer to communicate they don't want you to communicate with anybody else they're gonna slowly isolate you because if you talk to other people they might be tipped off on the scam and that stops their money coming in mm-hmm very very interesting so what is the grooming process the grooming process is when the scammer builds up the victim you know they hear from them every day they tell them oh my goodness you're so beautiful in the morning because they want pictures all day long and they will build up their self-esteem like I'm so sorry you had such a bad day and go make your green tea I know that's your favorite drink and they get to know you they groom you they make you feel good they build your self-esteem up they will say please get off the dating website because I only want you to talk to me because we are going to get married will you marry me you know they will do all that I don't want you to tell your children about us because we're special nobody really needs to know about us until I come in with your engagement ring and it's two carats and please don't tell anybody else about us and if you do just don't tell them that I'm not doing well and I lost my job and you're giving me this money I'm so embarrassed I lost my job or I can't believe my wallet was stolen they don't want anybody to know that you're giving them money and so they build you up to knock you down because once they got you built up they're gonna start asking for money like emergencies so that's a big red flag that's a big red flag right there if they don't want you to tell anybody else if they start using those kind of words I mean if you can't tell your own family about somebody that you're having a relationship with there's something wrong with that relationship big red absolutely yeah absolutely and they say it because this is special this is intimate it's not meant for anybody else but in reality they don't want you to know that you're giving them money and we've seen victims where they will call us at the BBB Education Foundation for referrals for like they can't afford their gas bill are there an electric bill and we start talking to them like hey what's going on and they're like well and they open up to us and they tell us well my boyfriend lost his job and I've been sending my money to them these folks get so in debt that they can't afford their own financial needs and not only does that happen they go into their 401 k's they go into their savings they ask their children for money that's that's how a lot of times we find out about the romance scam is when they've depleted all their money they've depleted everything and they need help that's how we find out about it because where is your money going where is your money going and they're so embarrassed and they're like well he just needs to get on his feet he just needs to get on his feet and we've seen so many sad stories where people have lost all their family because of the room yet scam because they really believe this person loves them and they want this love and their children don't talk to them anymore there's some wonderful tools though to verify if the person's real like there's a website we get into that though Jennifer Juana we've got a couple of comments here let me bring this up Connie asked if says so important that we stay connected to those we love and become good listeners absolutely Connie great information thanks Jennifer and Katherine thank you for coming on the show Connie absolutely you've got to stay connected to to your family members you've got to call them regularly be that person who's there for them if you're calling them every day there's less chance that something will slip by that you won't realize that something's going on so very very important Teresa Parker also says valuable information glad you're getting this Teresa please ladies share this with everybody you know because it's so important that this information gets out there to help people everybody needs to know about this scam how it's affecting them especially right now like we said with the Kovan 19 situation more people are vulnerable because they're lonely they're just plain lonely and we can't get together and families can't get together as much as they used to so really really important Jennifer yes go ahead and sometimes the victim likes to keep it quiet because this is for them and they're embarrassed to tell their loved ones that I have a boyfriend in another country and it's kind of like a fantasy having a secret is exciting especially while we're locked up you know I hate to say it especially when we're in quarantine it's something exciting is something new it's better than watching TV is talking to somebody a romance is new and it's fun but it's actually dangerous very very dangerous yeah yeah absolutely so it can do a lot of damage they can do a lot of damage I mean like we were talking about earlier people can have their entire life savings wiped out yeah yeah emotionally you know look at Australia there's more suicides than murders than scam and that's just heartbreaking thinking it's heartbreaking the person's so embarassed and let me tell you this my friends anybody that's listening if you know anybody don't be embarrassed be empowered if you think you're a victim call me our you know we are there with Jennifer's number up yes we're not judgmental I promise I've talked to so many people that believe that their love may be a cat for sure and I will tell you this I have never really been able to convince people that it is a scam but I give them the tools and we're there to help them and it's sad don't cut your family out your family really loves you and the thing is these scammers want you to lose everything because all they wants their money there are evil people there are criminals they just want your money they want you to they want to never look at what they do they're very good very good for me let me just tell everybody because this is gonna go to my podcast later so I want to say out loud your phone number so you can call Jennifer Salazar for help if you have any questions if you think you might be the victim of a scam like this or you know somebody that might be Kyle Jennifer Salazar at seven one three three four one six one eight four again that's Jennifer Salazar seven one three three four one six one eight four with the Better Business Bureau she can help you and if she doesn't have what she needs to help you she has the right information and tools and resources to be able to direct you where you need to go for the best help possible so Thank You Jennifer for that I also want to put up a website that you can go to that will help direct you to other areas that can help you and that's FTC dot geo V FTC dot geo fee okay gosh Jennifer this has been a really eye-opening event I know there's a lot of other scams out there that are going around we have a few more minutes is there something else you want to tell us about the romance scam or do you want to alert us to a few other scams that might be really hitting people right now with the Cova 19 epidemic well unfortunately scammers are really taking advantage of the pandemic and there's a phone call going around right now it is definitely a scam they're calling folks on Medicare saying said you're on Medicare you're entitled to a free senior care package in this carrier package you get gloves you get masks you get hand sanitizer we just need to confirm your Medicare number so we can send this to you they just want your Medicare number your Medicare numbers easily worth $30,000 but not to you to a scammer so they're trying very hard to get that also medicare has approved telehealth for your home right now which is a wonderful thing for example Medicare does not want anyone to get the corona virus they don't want you to travel to your doctor's office and in there and maybe be exposed to it however with every good there's a bad some doctors not all only 2% of doctors are on the take ok 98% are great what they're doing is they're calling you are their nurse was calling you just to check on you but then they bill Medicare for an exam and no exam existed that's a scam so read your Medicare summary notices if you see anything that looks just a sec at anything that looks like an error please call me at that number that you provided and also the other scams are out and about the grandparents damn right now still going very strong because we're locked up we're in a quarantine and they have a technology to mimic the grand child's voice oh it does sound like it does sound like you're 33 and they do if you've ever done a speech or youtube or anything like that scammers have the technology to take that voice and make it sound like it's your grandchild calling you and it's not Wow you know I love technology but then you've got these not that capable people that use it for bad and it's just oh that I had no idea it is yeah up there oh my goodness and with or I put up on the screen never give your Medicare number Al Capone ever ever ever ever just don't do it and for the grandparents scam always have a code word with your loved ones don't give your code word out to anybody also they can change that phone number in that caller ID so make it look when you're a kid and it's not robocalls are using robo calls saying that we have new insurance for coronavirus press 1 press 2 don't press anything the robo wants you to press a number to confirm that you're a live person if you get a robotic call just hang it up just hang it up don't press anything don't say anything press it just hang up also Texas last year was number one in the most robo calls in the nation 157 protects us resident Wow and and I'll tell you what I've also been getting a lot of text a scam messages late Jennifer I've noticed that I don't answer a text message if I don't know who it is so one thing I would tell people when you're texting somebody that you don't text all the time tell them who you are you know say hey this is Judy I met you at such-and-such and you know then they'll be more likely cuz I you know I just delete if I don't know lately I just delete delete it because if you don't know if it is a scammer the block load yes they can load a virus to your phone yeah and not only that the government will never text you because there is a scam going on right now from the government saying that you can get a free coronavirus test or you can take an online test there are no online test for coronavirus also there is no cure and there is no vaccine there is no vaccine and no cure because you might get a test a text about a cure or a vaccine those are scams I promise you that those are scams yeah in the stimulus check there's some scams going on with that still yeah for example you get a text saying you qualify for stimulus grants delete it yeah all of those yeah delete it but as far as the romance scam just be careful take your time don't look for love too fast if asks lots of questions ask to FaceTime don't send money to anybody you don't know don't wire money to anybody you don't know no matter how big their situation is even if they have to have a major surgery don't do it there's wonderful websites if you call me I can get those to you you can take a profile picture of somebody and run it in this website I believe it's called ten I and it will tell you how many sites that picture was used on so you can tell if they are lying to you or not there's so many signs but my friends if you're close to the situation and if you really believe you're in love you're not going to see those signs but we're here to help we're here to help if you are a daughter are a son of someone who you think is a victim call us we're not there to judge we're there to help you great great well Jennifer this has been eye-opening I learned some new things that I didn't know about this and you brought a lot of information to people that need this information so everybody spread the word get this information out there to everybody that you know like we said before the more we empower people with education the less likely they're gonna fall victim to these scammers and we just need to be done with them right absolutely send them to jail don't give them your money you work too hard for your money don't give them your money that's your money absolutely well thanks again Jennifer I appreciate you being on the show today and thanks everybody for watching we will be here next week and I've got a great show for you [Music]

Channel: Find Houston Senior Care

Views: 18,380

Keywords: scams, Texas Medicare Patrol, BBB, seniors, medicare scams, romance scams

Id: MkuCfm42EEA

Length: 29min 48sec (1788 seconds)

Published: Wed May 27 2020