My(19) aunt(39) is my dad’s younger sister. She was contacted by an account claiming to be Arsenal’s official account. Whoever is behind it asked her to ‘help pay for the players’ training.’ She sent them the money.
When my dad found out, he told me about it and then asked me to talk to her. He said that since I’m the closest thing she has to a son, she might listen to me. I told her there are many reasons why I’m sure it’s a scammer. First, Arsenal doesn’t need the money. Second, no blue checkmark that official/verified accounts have. And finally, it’s an English club so you would expect them to have someone from England writing their correspondence. Or at least a person who speaks fluent English. But the English used by the person who messaged her is worse than mine, and I speak English as a second language. One sentence that stuck out to me was ‘We is struggling financially and needs your help.’
I told her the scammer must have noticed from her social media posts that she’s a fan of the team and targeted her for that reason. She refused to listen, choosing to trust the scammer’s word and repeatedly insisting that the club lost money recently. I tried talking to her again several times over the next month but she always said she knows what she is doing. So I told Dad that I don’t see any chance of convincing her. He said I shouldn’t just give up on my family like that.
Comments
^^^^AUTOMOD Thanks for posting! READ THIS COMMENT – DO NOT SKIM. This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read this before contacting the mod team.
My(19) aunt(39) is my dad’s younger sister. She was contacted by an account claiming to be Arsenal’s official account. Whoever is behind it asked her to ‘help pay for the players’ training.’ She sent them the money.
When my dad found out, he told me about it and then asked me to talk to her. I told her there are many reasons why I’m sure it’s a scammer. First, Arsenal doesn’t need the money. Second, no blue checkmark that official/verified accounts have. And finally, it’s an English club so you would expect them to have someone English writing their correspondence. But the English used by the person who messaged her is worse than mine, and I speak English as a second language. So I assume that the scammer is a non-native speaker like me.
She refused to listen, choosing to trust the scammer’s word and repeatedly insisting that the club lost money recently. I tried talking to her again several times over the next month but she always said she knows what she is doing. So I told Dad that I don’t see any chance of convincing her. He said I shouldn’t just give up on my family like that.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Welcome to /r/AmITheAsshole. Please view our voting guide here, and remember to use only one judgement in your comment.
OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I might be the asshole since I’m essentially giving up on helping out a family member.
Help keep the sub engaging!
Don’t downvote assholes!
Do upvote interesting posts!
Click Here For Our Rules and Click Here For Our FAQ
Subreddit Announcements
Follow the link above to learn more
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Contest mode is 1.5 hours long on this post.
NTA. She wants to FA she can FO.
So…. why are you the one talking to your aunt? What sort of outcome is your father expecting? Why isn’t he directly involved? Also, is your aunt generally a moron? How much money are we talking about? Is she an Arsenal fan?
NTA. That said, I would have your Aunt give you the contact information they provide and then report it. There should be some department and contact information about reporting fraud/scams. I doubt your Aunt will be reimbursed but at least it would stop her from getting scammed if they scare the scammers.
NTA
A fool and their money are soon parted
What are you supposed to do? Ground her? Take away her bank privileges? What authority does your dad suppose you have over an autonomous adult who refuses your advice? Hopefully before it gets too bad, she will pick up on some of the tells of a scam, especially since you’ve pointed them out. You’ve done all you can, short of ruining your relationship with her for no purpose.
NTA sounds like HE gave up on her, why are you the one having to try to convince an adult woman that a club worth £2.5 billion, who apparently pays their top player 280k a week (according to Google), probably doesn’t actually need her money?
Is it because your dad knows he wouldn’t be able to do it without insulting her? Because in that case, I get it 💀
NTA
But there’s got to be some way you can report the account as a scam, right? Maybe just to Arsenal? I can’t see why the team wouldn’t want to post something from their official account telling everyone that this scammer is posing as them.
It’s really hard to talk to older adults about tech and all these things they don’t understand because it’s automatically perceived as condescending. So your father really should be talking to her, not you. The fact that he’s making her situation your problem is pretty messed up.
NTA, I’d tell him you tried so it’s down to him as she’s not listening to you. Not uncommon, as those scammed prefer to think they are special and clever. They don’t want to accept they were duped.
She’s not ready to accept her mistake yet. That would involve admitting to herself that she was conned. Expect her to send more money.
https://www.arsenal.com/fanzone/arsenal-supporters-clubs
This is the link which has contact details of arsenal supporters groups around the world from their official website. Pick the one near you. It’ll have the contact details of the people in charge of that group. Call them and explain the situation and request them to get in touch with your aunt. She might be more likely to listen to them
Just an out of the box idea
NTA. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. If your dad is so adamant on family helping family, then let HIM do it. You are only her nephew, but he is her OLDER BROTHER. What did he do tho help? He shoud try to help too. Maybe then he will see how difficult it is. Or he already tried and can’t be bothered anymore, so he tries to shift it on you.