The #1 Hook a Scammer Used to Almost "Get" Me

It never occurred to me that I could be the victim of a scammer. I am too smart and savvy to get scammed. I’m not one of those sweet, trusting old ladies who believe that a long-lost uncle in India (I’ve done the Ancestry DNA thing — not a drop of Indian blood) has left me millions of $$ if I wire him a handling fee of $5,000. I mean, seriously, who falls for such nonsense?

Until a scammer ALMOST got me by using a trick I never saw coming and had never heard about. He went through a trusted acquaintance of mine.

I urge you to read this story if you think it couldn’t happen to you.

Stay with me for a little pertinent background information. I had a successful website — www.thealzheimerspouse.com — throughout the 8 years of my husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Thousands of spouses became confidants and friends through the sharing of emotions, struggles, and information on my Message Boards.

Many of us also traveled and met each other in person. Through the years, I met many of my website members at the annual Alzheimer Forum in Washington, DC.

One woman, “Jean” (named changed to protect privacy), joined my site when it launched in 2007, and remained a member after her husband died, offering advice and counsel to those still in the battle. She came to visit me in Florida a few months after my husband died in 2015. During her visit, we met with another Alzheimer Spouse website member who lived near me.

I am telling you this to emphasize that I have known this woman for 15 years. I have pictures of us together during her visit to Florida. I have pictures of us with the Alzheimer Spouse neighbor I mentioned above. Jean isn’t a nameless, faceless entity on the Internet. (Due to privacy issues, I am not posting the pictures in this article.)

I had not been in contact with Jean for a couple of years. Recently, she contacted me through Facebook Messenger Chat. It was the usual “How are you? What have you been up to?” I told her that I had experienced health problems but was better now.

She mentioned that she also had some health issues but recovered and she was looking into purchasing real estate. She wanted to buy a cabin in the woods. Remember, please, that not only have I met her in person, but I knew other people who have met her. There was never a hint of impropriety or fraudulent identity.

She told me that she was able to buy this cabin because of a $250,000 Government Gradient Grant she had received.

I admit it. I took the bait. But it was JEAN telling me about this, not an email scammer with poor English; not a phone call from someone promising me riches.

I asked about the grant; she told me she would help me apply and sent me a picture of the “Grant Agent”, along with his contact link.

We ended the chat with her offering to help me through the process every step of the way.

I looked up the “Gradient Grant” she listed. It looked like a legitimate website, but the “Grant” was supposedly for Minnesota residents only. The whole thing seemed “off” to me, but remember, I was thinking — this is coming from JEAN, who, to my knowledge, was not a scammer.

I clicked the agent’s contact link in my text messages. At the end of this story, I will provide you with a link to a website that gives a comprehensive list of RED FLAGS for scams, but as soon as I clicked, I knew this one was TEXTBOOK SCAM 101.

1. Agent answered instantly.

2. Response was in all CAPITAL LETTERS.

3. Although it was written in almost perfect English, I caught a few grammatical missteps.

4. He sent the application immediately via text.

5. NOTE — I filled out the application, but I gave no information that could not be easily accessed by Googling me. Because of my websites, I am all over the web.

6. Instant Approval — Immediate text informing me that I had been approved for the Gradient Grant.

Here is where you figure anyone with a modicum of sense would have clicked off and that would be the end of it. I kept going because I wanted to see how far he would take it; I wanted to find out what Jean’s involvement was; and, as I said previously, I knew I would not provide him with any information he could not access by Googling me.

A giant red flag waving in the breeze came the next day when the “agent” assured me that all of my information had been verified and that I was now eligible to “choose” how much money I wanted to receive:

NOW YOU ARE TO CHOOSE THE AMOUNT YOU WISH TO CLAIM FROM US WHICH YOU WILL PAY FOR THE CLEARANCE AND DELIVERY FEE. WE WILL ENSURE TO MOVE YOUR MONEY TO YOUR ADDRESS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

When I asked how much the “clearance and delivery fee” was, he sent me a list. It ranged from $3,000 if I wanted a $50,000 grant, all the way up to $25,000 if I wanted a $500,000 grant. The fee for the $250,000 grant my friend supposedly received was $12,000.

To stall him, I told him that I would need a week to come up with the money and I would get back to him.

I did not have a current email address for Jean, nor did I have her telephone number, so I contacted her through the FB Messenger service, telling her how odd I thought the whole thing was, and asking if she paid the $12,000 for her “grant money”. She answered that yes, she paid $12,000, and the $250,000 check was delivered to her house the next day.

I was perplexed. I could not imagine Jean being part of such a deceptive scam. I FB Messengered her again and POOF. Her FB Messenger account was unavailable. It said no messages were being accepted.

Being targeted for a scam is not what bothered me. As I have indicated, I’m too smart to get taken (HA! So I thought.). What bothered me was that a friend would take advantage of and deceive me.

Then I had a “light bulb” moment. The only explanation that made sense was that JEAN’s account had been hacked.

The scammer must have wormed his way into her account and used it to target me, who was not only one of her FB friends but a friend in a FB Alzheimer Group to which we both belonged.

A brilliant scheme, if you think about it. Most of us would have clicked off at the first mention of “grant money” for a “small clearance and delivery fee”, but when the offer comes from a friend? We, as I did, would at least take it a few steps further, and maybe some would take it to the end and pay the money.

According to the FBI agent a friend of mine contacted about reporting fraud, so many people fall for these schemes that the FBI will only investigate if you have lost at least $100,000 to a scammer.

A few words to the wise — Beware of friends bearing gifts.

You may think you are too smart to fall for such fraud, but the scammers are resourceful, sneaky, and smart. Their job is to devise ways to “get you”. They almost “got” me.

The Federal Trade Commission takes fraud and scam reports. REPORT SUSPECTED FRAUD TO: ReportFraud.ftc.gov

For comprehensive Scam Information, click How to Spot a Scam: 14 Red Flags to Watch For

Have you been a scam victim? Please share any scam information with us that will help us avoid them.

Edited from the article, Think You Can't Get Scammed? The #1 Hook a Scammer Used to Almost Get Me, originally published in Medium.com's Illumination -Curated Publication.

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