AARP Hearing Center
An 84-year-old widow in California, Joan got his calls day and night.
He promised her $32,000, equal to what she sank into a time-share she had owned.
He sent her a form from the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network — easily copied off the web — to lend authenticity to his spiel.
He urged her to get the ball rolling for her time-share refund by sending a $2,448 cashier’s check to a woman at a residential address in northern California.
Wisely, Joan refused. But while she hasn’t lost a dime, she’s lost what money can’t buy: health and peace of mind. She is angry and anxious since the caller somehow knows her Social Security number, date of birth and other sensitive information even though she didn't knowingly divulge it. He even knew exactly how much money she’d spent over the years to own the time-share.
Worryingly, her blood pressure shot up after the calls began in late October, leading to her blood-pressure medication being doubled and more drugs prescribed to stave off a catastrophic illness. “They said if I have a stroke, that’ll be it,” she says.
“I was thinking, I’m 84 years old, you dumb bunny. And you shouldn’t be harassing me.”
—Identity theft victim talking about the criminal who kept calling
Joan called AARP’s Fraud Watch Network helpline, at 877-908-3360, and spoke for this story. Her full name is not being published to protect her privacy.
Calls day and night
Joan lives in senior apartment facility. The scammer called her cellphone as early as 6:30 a.m. and as late as 8:30 p.m. Usually he called every two or three days, she says, and used so many different phone numbers it was hard to resist answering. Call spoofing lets criminals mask their identity, since their real number does not show up on caller ID.