Help Restore a Social Worker's Savings

On September 3rd, 2024 my close friend lost 9,500 dollars to scammers who preyed upon her and her past, pretending to be police officers and extorting her for her entire savings. These scammers knew just enough of her personal information to know how to create a sense of fear and urgency that led her to send them money. They convinced her to drive to her bank and kept her on the phone for hours, convincing her that if she didn’t give them this money she would be in serious trouble. At every turn when she would ask them questions, they had convincing answers that made her feel as though it was true.

My friend is a very intelligent person with a masters degree and still was completely fooled by these people. Because of this, she has lost all of her savings. My friend is a social worker and has worked very hard to save this money. She works with children. She lives a modest lifestyle and I’ve known her to say no to fun events simply so she could continue to save money. NO ONE deserves to be treated this way, and her least of all. One of the things that disturbs me most is that at the end of the call these scammers, who had reduced her to tears and manipulated her, called her a stupid b*tch, dropping their act once they had scared her enough to give her money away.

Please consider donating to help support her. She has already made a police report, contacted her bank, and even contacted the federal trade commission. None of these options resulted in her getting her money back because of the way they got her to transfer the money (in cash). She was reluctant to allow me to make this fundraiser, but even a small amount of money would be worth it to help her build up enough savings for an emergency. I am setting up this GoFundMe in hopes we can restore my friend’s savings entirely, but even a small amount would go a long way in convincing her that she is worthy of the same empathy that she gives others.

My friend having her social work license meant she was even more susceptible to these scammers trying to trick her into thinking she could get a felony and lose her entire livelihood. One of my biggest worries about my friend is that she feels alone in this and incredibly embarrassed despite the fact that this could happen to ANY of us. Most of us have a story that’s similar of getting scammed out of a smaller amount of money, or of scammers ALMOST fooling us. Although not all are impacted so horribly, we can still understand that these schemes are elaborate and predatory. They’re designed to cause fear and get us to act without thinking.

Out of respect for her privacy I am not including her name— please understand she has a lot of shame for what was done to her and at this time she wishes to remain anonymous. I will include screenshots that blur her name out as proof along with any information she wishes to provide. Let’s show my friend that she is not alone and that she’s got a community who has her back! Please share this with others ❤️