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<div>If you are reading this page, thank you for your time, compassion and understanding.
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<div>My family and I have started this fundraiser for my mom, Gloria.
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<div>Everyone who comes to know my mom knows her to be a kind, caring, and free-spirited person who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Unfortunately, these wonderful attributes can leave someone vulnerable to deplorable people looking to scam individuals in today’s technology-driven world.
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<div>My mom, soon to be 74, has been a widow since 2010. She has dealt with being alone as best she can during that time, but sorrow always remains. She stays occupied by doing things and going out with her sister, also widowed since 2020, on weekends. My family and I, either as a collective, individually, or with significant others, make every effort to make time to take my mom out to keep her busy and to enjoy life the best we can.
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<div>In 2021, my mom was in a serious head-on collision on her way home. Her car was totaled and she was banged up pretty badly. After several visits to the doctor, she eventually recovered. In 2023, nearly two years to the day, on her way to work, someone ran a red light and t-boned her. She spun through the intersection so much that her car faced the other direction. This accident was different; my mom was more than just banged up, she was emotionally shaken. She saw several doctors and had even more tests done as her pain was ever lingering. In the weeks after, I noticed a change in her personality and behavior. Something was off.
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<div>Around the middle of June, it all started to unfold. My mom told me she made a “friend” on Facebook. With my mind spinning and red flags going off I began to ask questions. "His name was Henry, he works on an oil rig in the Pacific and we talk online."
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<div>My stomach became twisted and I immediately asked to see his profile, which I could tell was fake. I tried to explain it to her but she wasn’t receptive. I immediately called my brother, who came over the next day, and we explained to our mom that this was not a real person. After an hour or so, she said she understood and she wouldn’t talk to him again. This very same situation happened four more times over the next three months - each time becoming more and more difficult to deal with on our end and to try and explain. This situation put incredible strain on our relationship with our mom and with our significant others.
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<div>In October, I opened a letter from her bank thinking it was mine. It says she is late with her payment. This made no sense to me as she always paid bills on time, even early, and had a great credit rating. I asked for permission to review her financials. Upon reviewing her accounts, my heart dropped and all I could do was cry in anger and disbelief.
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<div>My mom was truly convinced this "Henry" was a real person; this entity used her kindness, her compassion - all of her qualities against her. They managed to convince my mom they loved her, would take her away, and be happy together. They fed off her loneliness and grief and convinced her to send money online over and over for several months, promising that she would "get everything back and more." This included sending gift card codes, Bitcoin, and wire transfers. They manipulated her so much that she withdrew her 401k and personal savings to a sum of over $50,000!!!
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<div>My brother and I did everything we could over the next two months to try and get her money back. We spoke to all of her financial institutions, we went to our local police, we contacted the FBI online fraud department, etc. Nothing could be done. I spoke to our local Detective and he was able to trace the transfers and email addresses to Nigeria, which is the #1 location for many of these types of scams. He also researched "Henry's" FB photo and it turned out to be a celebrity, who has even published videos and warnings to others that he is aware that his likeness is commonly used in romance scams and to beware. They stole a real person’s identity and pretended to be them. This is all part of their process and it’s sick!
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<div>My mom started going to see her doctor more to speak about this situation and also began seeing a therapist. She has undergone further testing to make sure she is OK. My brother has set up new email and phone numbers for her. I’ve been maintaining her finances since November at the request of her doctors and Detective to prevent any further problems. She is doing better now and we hope this is behind us.
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<div>I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this. For those who know my mom, my family, and myself, I hope this sheds some light on things we have been going through the past year plus. We’ve decided to swallow our pride as we just can’t help her recover her lost finances alone. Any contribution is deeply appreciated and words can’t express that enough. If you are unable to help monetarily, then please use this as a PSA. Never take a situation for granted and always look out for your older relatives. Never be afraid to question a parent, grandparent, etc. about something that seems off. You just might save their life!
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<div>Thank you with a heavy heart!
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<div>My Mom's situation was picked up by Newsweek! Here's a link to article...
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<div><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/new-jersey-senior-scammed-out-50000-sick-romance-scam-1949583?fbclid=IwY2xjawMDSktleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHrUGigocZgrMNKfaqdIBY74F083ImIO1vAVfti4loU5LKNR_Cguzlpat5S4p_aem_MFkI_UkBd7I_OJ2Z9kraDw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/new-jersey-senior-scammed-out-50000-sick-romance-scam-1949583?fbclid=IwY2xjawMDSktleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHrUGigocZgrMNKfaqdIBY74F083ImIO1vAVfti4loU5LKNR_Cguzlpat5S4p_aem_MFkI_UkBd7I_OJ2Z9kraDw" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.newsweek.com/new-jersey-senior-scammed-out-50000-sick-romance-scam-1949583?fbclid=IwY2xjawMDSktleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHrUGigocZgrMNKfaqdIBY74F083ImIO1vAVfti4loU5LKNR_Cguzlpat5S4p_aem_MFkI_UkBd7I_OJ2Z9kraDw</a></a>
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<div>Some helpful information:
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<div><a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/data-visualizations/data-spotlight/2023/02/romance-scammers-favorite-lies-exposed</a></a>
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<div><a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/romance-scams" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/romance-scams" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/romance-scams</a></a>
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Anonymous

George A Heimel

Melanie Mattera

Joseph Waruta

Ashley Cintron

Christine Rahl

Tracy Loiacono

Pas & Sudha Sankaran

Rosy Jacobs

Demetria Stewart

kelly brancato

Rosa D'Anna

Lindsay Powers

Sue Ann Najdzin

Mark Kurdyla

Restore Hope for Our Mom, Gloria, After Devastating Scam

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Restore Hope for Our Mom, Gloria, After Devastating Scam

Still $43,595 to go. Help us build momentum.