Mother Scammed out of Life Savings

Hi my name is Vanessa and I have started this Go Fund Me for my mother Karen who has fallen victim to a nasty scam.

 Anyone that knows Karen has seen that she would give the shirt off her back if you needed it. She had an inheritance from my grandmother who wanted to set her up with a nice life and she has done so in Florida. For her to disclose what had happened, even to me, was extremely difficult for her.

 I was talking to my mom as she detailed the events of the week and I could hear her crumble as she realised as she told me out loud, that what she'd been told by the scammers was simply not feasible but she trusted them at the time. In some ways I can see how she fell for it initially, as they had information about her and she believed she was talking to real employees of the businesses. At this point, her bank, local, state, and federal law enforcement are aware of the scammers and are doing all they can to recover even some of the money, but the outlook is extremely bleak.

 I sent her articles of similar scams and when she read it, and recognised the similarities between her experience, the bottom fell out of her world as she realised she had in fact been scammed.

 She was a prime target for these people…trusting…and only contacted who she thought was apple support on a google search for a fraudulent charge of only $4.99. They convinced her that hackers were trying to access her bank account, had her download an app and connected her with “Chase” bank and they kept her on the phone all day.

Sadly, she has given the scammers every last cent of her inheritance that she had. All on the 'promise' of getting her funds in a secure account and building more overtime. As you can imagine, as well as the devastating financial implications she is unbelievably humiliated that she fell for this scam.

 I am asking everyone I know to please donate if you can, even if it's $5, I know it will help her. She feels absolutely lost and is struggling both emotionally and financially. Not to mention the idea of her having to cancel her lifelong dream trip to Ireland this fall is devastating her even further.

 I know so many are having it tough at the moment, so a small donation or even just sharing the link with family and friends is all I ask. If we can forward it on to as many people as possible, it will make a huge impact to my mother. Also, hopefully it will make more people aware of the type of scams that are ruining so many lives. If you prefer to make an offline donation, her Venmo is @karen-cedeno-5. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.