Help our dear Peggy, who was scammed by thieves!

My name is Jose Maria, and I am fundraising to help my dear friend Peggy. You may know Peggy if you've worked at Seattle Opera or the Seattle Symphony, as she has volunteered with those organizations for many years. But you may also know her from New York or other places (she gets around!)

 

In Seattle, Peggy has made our visits as guest artists more enjoyable. She would give us rides, feed us, throw parties, and offer herself to us abundantly and lovingly. Over the years, many of us have enjoyed Peggy's friendship outside of her volunteer work and been amazed at her brilliant mind, generous spirit, and zest for life. She is a one-a-kind woman who, at her tender age of 80, decided to fulfill a lifelong dream of moving to Italy. She didn't let fear get in the way of her passion and threw herself at her amazingly audacious goal with total commitment.

 

After years of careful planning, lawyers, bureaucracy in two languages, financial design, garage sales, packing, overseas shipping and more "fun stuff," she finally got her visa. She moved to the beautiful town of Treviso (a mere 30 minutes from Venice!), and the next phase of her remarkable life began. We know she will thrive in Italy, and we will all enjoy visiting our beloved friend there for an aperitivo and a walk around that gorgeous town.

 

Unfortunately, Peggy's last day in the USA was difficult and traumatic. Just a mere 24 hrs before her flight took off, some sophisticated thieves royally scammed her. She was woken up at 6:30 am by a phone call from "Amazon" about alleged accounts created with Peggy's Social Security number and purchases made that were unpaid. This call triggered a nightmarish day, which included allegations that "criminals" purporting to be Peggy had registered cars in Texas and were engaged in illicit business, that the Feds had already issued an arrest warrant for Peggy, that Social Security was involved, that she should not try to leave the country because she'd be arrested at the airport, etc. Adding insult to injury, the scammers said they were "trying to help her".

 

We all know Peggy. She is smart; she is worldly, and she has been around. Why did she fall for this? Because these scumbags did a VERY compelling job. Whenever she would question the logic of the facts she was being presented with, they would already have a perfect answer. They even had other thieves lined up to impersonate Police Officers and others. In Peggy's own words:

 

"I was then referred to a Senior Investigator for SSA within the Solicitor General’s office. He sent a picture of his photo ID and badge and later had a police detective with Seattle Police Department called me to say she checked him out and he was legit. She had me google the number she was calling from to prove it was from Seattle PD. There’s much more to the 13 hours I spent on the “encrypted, recorded call” that you don’t want to read and I don’t want to relive. I want to warn you that somehow some “evil people” posing as good guys trying to protect me got too much information about me and were very clever in tricking me into giving them a lot of money I will never see again."

 

This happened on Peggy's last day in Seattle, probably the busiest, most nerve-wracking for her. Personally, I think there is an insider job component to this scam. Somebody who knew Peggy's brain would be overwhelmed in her last 24 hrs before moving overseas tipped the thieves off. If this had happened a week earlier, I do not doubt that Peggy would have had a bit more bandwidth to see the red flags.

 

But unfortunately, she was scammed out of $25,000. This is money she needed (and still needs) to support the next phase of her life. She had, very carefully, planned her finances as she had to prove to the Italian Government that she could support herself without working. What these scammers did to Peggy is unforgivable.

 

But we can all help, and I cannot think of a better opportunity to show Peggy how much she means to us and how grateful we are for the friendship she has lavished upon us for so long.

 

Let's spread the word and see if we can collectively help "equalize" the situation. Other than finding the scammers and bringing them to justice (good luck with that), I cannot think of a. better "revenge" than fundraising as close to the stolen amount on Peggy's behalf.

 

I thank you in advance and let's all plan many visits to Treviso to see our beloved Peggy!