My dear friend and brilliant colleague recently fell victim to a sophisticated scam targeting psychotherapy providers.

This experience left my friend feeling violated, confused, afraid, and powerless. She lost a life-altering amount of money to these scammers.

I'm starting this GoFundMe to raise money to help her recoup some of what she lost to these scammers, to support her healing, and to help spread awareness about the possibility of this crime. My friend has reported her experience to law enforcement and we are holding out hope that justice will be served to the scammers.

While this scam specifically targeted my friend's professional identity and duties as a psychotherapist (here is a detailed explanation of the scam), scammers use a variety of tactics to target folks (pretending to be the IRS, etc.). These scammers use complex and intimidating interrogation tactics to exacerbate fear, keep people on the phone, and have people transfer large sums of money.

New York Magazine also recently published a story about this type of scam.

Please give what you can to help support my friend, a wonderful service provider and community member.

Please also spread the word about the possibility of this type of scam. Let others know that they should be suspicious of any phone caller who tries to prevent you from hanging up the phone, and to never transfer a large sum of money without telling someone you trust.