Sunday, December 7, 2014

The Victim Isn't The Only Victim

Since I started this blog I have referred to my father as the victim of a Jamaican lottery scam. While correct, this description is inadequate because my dad is in fact the primary victim of a crime with many casualties. Consider the other parties adversely affected by the scam:
  • My late mother. As with most marriages of their generation, there was no "his" and "her" money. It was all theirs and thus my dad's losses were my mom's as well. And I am sad to report that while she was in the early stages of the dementia that eventually took her life, my father - in a desperate act antithetical to his character - took advantage of her impairment and talked her into withdrawing cash from a joint bank account after he had been denied access, thoroughly convinced that all would be forgiven when he received his big prize.
  • My siblings. Because they also oppose the scam, like me they are now regarded as adversaries by my father.
  • Me. While I do not think of myself as a victim, like my siblings I will never have the same relationship with my dad that I did before. And though I don't see my father as a burden, I have been saddled with the administrative burden associated with being his conservator.
  • Potential beneficiaries. I cringe whenever I calculate the opportunity cost of my parents' losses. For instance, the funds could have put two grandchildren through college or helped other family members in times of need. Or been used to improve their aging home. Or donated to organizations dear to them. Instead, my dad's benevolence (intent to share his winnings, which he often mentioned) was exploited by a ring of conniving Caribbean scumbags.
  • Friends. The circle of financial losers extends beyond our family. My father borrowed money from several acquaintances and collectively owes them thousands of dollars that will never be paid back.
  • Creditors. Because most of my parents' liquid assets were lost in the scam, my dad is cash-poor and subsequently unable to pay off his credit cards, let alone make the minimum monthly installments. All have now been sent out for collection and some lenders have written off his outstanding balance as a bad debt.
  • Other senior citizens. As I noted earlier, my father has served as a money mule for the crooks, receiving payments from other victims and wiring the proceeds overseas. And on one occasion, as another "favor" to his island masters he willingly participated in a scheme to con a retiree in Texas.
So as you see, this post is not an exercise in semantics. It is unassailable proof that when it comes to Jamaican lottery scams, the victim is not the only victim.



Monday, July 7, 2014

A Lost Episode Found

So much has happened - and continues to happen - since my father first became involved in a Jamaican lottery scam, that it is difficult to remember everything that has occurred. Which isn't all bad, because most of these memories are painful and thus worth forgetting.

While revisiting some old posts, I came across a reply that triggered a flashback. Namely, a reply posted by DIDS on October 7, 2010 to Birth of A Blog: My Dad's Story. In her reply DIDS recounted how, after severing the lines of communication between her mother and the scammers, the crooks contacted the police department under an assumed name and requested a "well check" on her mom. Local officials complied despite the fact that the call came from area code 876 (Jamaica), which should have prompted suspicion.

As I now recall the same thing happened to me in the spring of 2013 when my father was hospitalized for minor surgery. The procedure was done on an outpatient basis, but complications made it necessary for him be held over for two nights for observation.

The day my father was discharged, a police officer knocked on my door. He said he had received a call from a relative concerned about my father's well-being who had been trying to contact my dad for several days with no response. I told the officer that my father was being scammed, that the caller was not kin and certainly no friend. The policeman said he suspected as much, but was required to investigate as a precaution.

In truth my father had not been out of touch with the criminals for several days, and their claim that he had, was a bold-faced lie.

Or was it?

The reason I ask is that when one is used to calling or being called several times a day, every day, days can seem like weeks to scammers and their victims, in the twisted world of Scam Land.