As my (44f) title says, my grandmother (78f) has been/is actively being scammed out of all of her money. She sent cashier’s checks to strangers, gift card codes & I found out she sent a personal check recently that was part of a fraud case in a different state. She won’t be prosecuted – this time. Someone even called whatever adult protective services in our state, but she denied any issue.
She has 2 sons living nearby, my dad & my uncle. My dad isn’t much help with financial matters & has his own problems. My uncle has tried to step in to help, asking her to give him power of attorney, but she has refused. He is not willing to take any further measures if she is uncooperative.
She has slowly been selling off property to cover debts/scams/whatever & is down to the last of it – soon she will have no money left. I’ve tried talking to her but she is not always truthful. She does not have dementia but is making really poor choices.
I have the capacity to step in & act as power of attorney if she would let me. Otherwise, I’m looking at an emergency court order for guardianship because I can’t just stand by & watch her become destitute.
Is this even my place as her granddaughter?? This situation is tearing me apart, trying to balance respect with my increasing alarm.
Comments
Honestly? It might be worth considering putting her into a home and completely locking down her finances.
Yes it’s your place. Get the court order! And get her evaluated by a specialist- especially if this is not normal behavior for her.
Get a lawyer involved to keep her from blowing her entire savings.
If you go to scams subreddit, you will see it is very common. Nothing ever works. It is like a drug to them.
I mean, this is just awful. My heart goes out to you and your grandma. Quick action’s key here, hon. What sort of scams is she tangled up in lately?
Google the number for adult protective services in your area and give them a call. Unfortunately this is wildly common.
Has your grandma actually been checked out for dementia? I’ve experience of a couple early people in the earlier stages of dementia where they’re mostly fine but their critical thinking/reasoning skills have been affected and as a result have fallen victim to scammers. Not in isolated incidents, but multiple really obvious scams.
Send her links , or watch with her, he you tube videos put out by anti scammers.
r/AgingParents can help
I would lock down her finances and get her a kids debit card that your uncle can add “allowance” to as needed