Scam Alert

It is too late for my father, who is now in debt to the tune of $170,000, but others may benefit from this information. Much of the money he is in debt for is due to his open heart. He opened his heart to a welfare mother and her children back in 2000. She had run the gambit and bled dry every social service agency in a three county area. She found my father because he was volunteering with the local St. Vincent de Paul Society. Pleading her case, he could not see her go homeless with two young children and allowed them to move in temporarily. Ron and I met her when we first left the country and went to see my father to say good-bye. We did not know a thing until we arrived on his doorstep. We tried doing an intervention with the St. Vincent Society, but he would hear nothing of it. Stories of her infiltration into his life are at the beginng of this blog, in the 2001 archives. This lasted for about seven years. Each time he had to go to the hospital, which was often, she made herself at home using his credit cards. One lesson my parents drummed into us was to maintain your credit rating. Ironically, this was my father's downfall. His excellent credit rating meant above average spending limits. Once he discovered the theft, he refused to take any action other than obtain a confession from his live-thief with a lame promise never to do it again. My brother and I warned, begged, pleaded, and even cut ourselves off from him and them, erroneously thinking that he would want us more than her. He received no secondary gains from sharing his home with her. He cooked for her children while she partied with an assortment of boyfriends, he made sure the kids made it to school when she was too 'tired' to get up and be a mother. He made his bedroom in the dining room, so she and each of the children could have their own rooms. It was not until late 2008 that he finally saw the light and sent her packing. Having no where else to go, her brother who is a police captain, sent her train tickets to TN, though reluctantly. Her brother and father knew the cloth from which she was cut; they did not want much to do with her either. Just when the coast was clear, the Jamaicans set in with their phone scam. After doing a Google search, there are numerous reports, complaints, warnings, and confessions. Yet, the legal system is powerless being they are offshore. Here is a link to an AARP newsletter from 2008. It most likely will not make an ounce of difference with stubborn people, but it is worth trying. Scam Alert Caribbean Calls—A Double Whammy http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/scam_alert_caribbean_calls_a_double_whammy.html

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