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One issue I always try to point is the fallout of crime. You were not the "recipient" of the crime you outlined, however, YOU and your entire extended family are. People who say: Its just a few bucks, what is the big deal? From this point forward, YOU will never think that way again. When there is a murder, etc. YOU will never look at it the sameway again.
You will stop and think with a crime: Damn. I wonder how the family is doing? The kids? The wife? I wonder how they are coping with what is going on. I sure hope that 13 yr old girl doesn't grow up to be a drug addict prostitute, because her father was killed. And the wife a raging alcoholic.
One of the most forgotten issues of crime is the extended victims. Those people have to live with the fallout of the crime for the rest of their lives. MOST people read a news article in the paper and bam, forget about it. Not only that, they have no problem when the suspect is given a very lenient sentence. They never think for one minute what a slap in the face it is for the people who have to live with the crime for the rest of their lives. In fact, they really don't care. Out of sight and out of mind.
you have really hit on something, yes, when a crime, especially a serious one is committed there are so many people affected. I know in our case, my step mom is gone, she is in heaven with dad and other than the embarrassment she didn't suffer all that much, nor will we, but we will live with knowing he took advantage of her and many other old ladies that were lonely, had a few bucks and needed this "Nice" man to help them. I don't even think mom cared about making money on her investments as much as she craved the attention he was giving her. She was somewhat of a loner, we lived across the country and only saw her about once a year, she had no other family and he filled a need as he filled his pockets. She paid a pretty hefty price for the attention he gave her in the beginning. Obviously after he took advantage of her, he was rarely to be seen. His excuse to her, he was so busy helping people with reverse mortgages, and making sound investments, plus taking care of his failing health and his sick wife, he couldn't visit as often.
I don't know if his personal life changed, I do think but am not even sure about that, he had a son in Or, I wonder what his sone thinks of his dad. The wife of the guy may have been involved in the screme as well or we are hearing that.
The other tough question is, when do you step in and take over a parent's finances? It sounds like some of these birds would have taken in anyone, not just an elderly person.
At times I wonder whether financial services are the place to be right now if you're basically a weasel looking to make a buck. The whole "too big to fail" thing with the banks; the total lack of regulation or oversight of individual or agency financial services; the inability of the average person to assess whether they're dealing with a shyster or a straight arrow. If you're basically an honest person, maybe you're more likely to go into social work, you know?
It's amazing how many scammers there are out there and how many trusting people there are.
You know those Nigerian email scams, right, where the person claims to be some kind of royalty and needs your help safeguarding their money in the US? So they have you send them a "shipping fee" or something of a few hundred or thousand dollars, and then you're supposed to get a trunkful of money sent to you. It's laughable...you'd think.
But, I work in public transportation, and I know someone who monitors the air cargo email address for JFK airport. He says he gets desperate emails in there from time to time from people who are waiting for a package or a trunk to arrive in their name and it never did...when pressed, it turns out they sent money to the address provided by the displaced "Nigerian royalty" and are waiting for this big shipment of money to come to them.
It's amazing how many scammers there are out there and how many trusting people there are.
You know those Nigerian email scams, right, where the person claims to be some kind of royalty and needs your help safeguarding their money in the US? So they have you send them a "shipping fee" or something of a few hundred or thousand dollars, and then you're supposed to get a trunkful of money sent to you. It's laughable...you'd think.
But, I work in public transportation, and I know someone who monitors the air cargo email address for JFK airport. He says he gets desperate emails in there from time to time from people who are waiting for a package or a trunk to arrive in their name and it never did...when pressed, it turns out they sent money to the address provided by the displaced "Nigerian royalty" and are waiting for this big shipment of money to come to them.
The email scams from Nigeria blow my mind, of course they all do: I realize, from experience now, these scams obviously do work, you have to wonder how people, who have some brains, and many of the victims are not dumb, can fall for this, but it is obvious to me, there are people out there more trusting and less skeptical than I. My step mom, would have been the last person on earth I would have expected something like this to happen to...
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