The internet is full of dangers, both for young people and, more recently, for senior citizens who are unaware of AI-driven scams. Such is the case for one 80-year-old woman in Washington state, who has fallen victim to a heart-wrenching scam after being convinced she was in an online relationship with billionaire Elon Musk. This elaborate ruse cost her more than $50,000 in Apple gift cards and nearly led to the loss of her home.
This latest story of an alarming scam targeting elderly people was shared by Reddit user Suspicious-Truth5849 on a legal advice subreddit. The Reddit user discovered the situation after finding their mother’s unpaid bills and a letter warning of an impending foreclosure. Turns out their mother, who had fully paid off her two-story home years earlier, had recently taken out a new $28,000 mortgage and is now weeks away from losing the property.
When questioned, she revealed she’d been buying Apple gift cards from stores like Safeway and Dollar Tree “for a friend who converts them into bitcoin.” After looking at the “friend’s” photo, the Reddit user learned that their mother believed she was in a romantic relationship with “Elon Musk,” who had allegedly told her his assets were frozen by the government and that he needed financial help. The “Elon Musk” scammer also promised to whisk away the Redditor’s mom to an island resort using his private jet.
Despite the Reddit user’s multiple warnings, police reports, and outreach to adult protective services, the woman remains convinced the relationship is real. The elderly woman even tried selling her house to a “we buy homes” company for well below market value, where the money she plans to earn is likely intended to be sent to her supposed billionaire boyfriend.
People online are advising guardianship
Thankfully, the Reddit user was able to pay around $2,500 to stave off the mortgage company since their mother’s home was nearing foreclosure. She hasn’t been able to pay for 10 months. The Redditor’s more immediate problem, however, was getting their mother to stop sending money to the “Elon Musk” scammer, as the woman doesn’t want to believe that the Musk she’s talking to is fake.
Other Reddit users have chimed in on the matter, with some hard-to-digest advice suggesting that the mother needs stricter help: “Perhaps you should seek the advice of an attorney on getting guardianship of her?” according to one commenter. Another echoed out the sentiment, saying, “It’s guardianship time.”
Sadly, it appears the Reddit user will really need to take their mother under their care lest she goes bankrupt, especially since “Elon Musk” has taken so much already. While this isn’t exactly the first or the worst dating scam incident for the year, the scammers are alarmingly more deceitful and brazen now, all the more reason to keep certain age groups offline.
