tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-231909792024-02-19T00:06:20.448-06:00The Lola ChroniclesThis blog isn't about me. It is about my mother, an elderly woman robbed of nearly everything she had by a swarm of scam artists. Start at the beginning and read her story.Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-89239595619785836242008-08-20T07:20:00.003-05:002008-08-20T07:30:29.253-05:00Another study on financial competency and dementiaA study conducted by a team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham has shown that loss of financial competency occurs early in mild Alzheimer's and related dementias and that the decline is steep.Here is an article about the study in Science Daily.Here is another article from the UAB Health System.The director of UAB Alzheimer's center had this to say:“The impairment and eventual loss of Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-63947659216382185162008-08-02T05:56:00.006-05:002014-02-03T11:17:32.734-06:00New studies on brain deficits in the elderlyWhile researching efforts on fraud prevention against the elderly, I ran across two new studies, published just this year, indicating that some seemingly healthy seniors have significantly impaired decision making skills.
The first such study, by Natalie Denburg of the University of Iowa addresses this question:
"We often read or hear stories about older adults being conned out of Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-3426529121621547542008-07-27T07:07:00.004-05:002008-08-22T07:12:58.495-05:00When reason fleesFour and a half years have passed since that terrible day when the FBI called. I still wonder, almost every day, why I didn't figure it out sooner. What signs did I miss? Why was I so ignorant about the gathering dangers, poised to take down an elderly woman with a fair amount of money and impaired judgment? Could I have stopped her victimization before she lost so much?Sure, I was worried about Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-4420313976285106952008-07-21T08:28:00.005-05:002008-07-21T08:53:15.509-05:00Mighty big checksHere's a partial list of some of the large checks that Lola wrote for various scams. I found them in check registers and verified them against statements from two banks and other records. This list is by no means exhaustive. Most checks ultimately went to Canada, some in the form of wire transfers; an exception is $15000 to the alleged Banco de Costa Rica. Note that some of the payee's names Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-50639700758484144622008-07-17T12:13:00.008-05:002008-07-21T18:57:25.425-05:00How MBNA Abused LolaAfter the guardianship hearing in January 2004, I confiscated Lola's credit cards. I questioned Lola about how much she owed, and she thought it was about $2000. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking it could have been a lot worse. When I located the latest bills, which were on the kitchen counter, open but unpaid, I learned that it actually was a lot worse.The American Express card wasn't tooCarolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-51787988159200964012008-07-11T11:09:00.008-05:002008-07-14T07:59:34.721-05:00In Her Own WordsIn early 2004, in an effort to keep my mother busy while I held her captive in my home, I had her write narratives from a disorganized mess of notes jotted down in haste during phone calls from scam artists. My intention was to pass this information on to the FBI in a more useful form than the notes on the little snippets of yellow paper everywhere. What follows is excerpted from a narrative Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-55615237488246964512008-07-04T09:17:00.002-05:002008-07-04T09:22:53.241-05:00New York Times blogA few days ago, an excellent blog known as The New Old Age by Jane Gross debuted in the New York Times.I've been following the blog and reading the fascinating comments since its debut.The intended audience seems to be caregivers and future caregivers of aging parents and grandparents.So far, there have been no posts regarding elder scams, a subject near and dear to my heart, but the blog is Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-49012114429109522882008-06-10T06:01:00.003-05:002008-07-15T15:39:44.688-05:00Four generationsI'd like to pause the narrative to post a current picture of Lola and some of her descendents.She lives in a nursing home now and has no memory of those terrible days of scams and guardianship and upheaval.She still knows her family, but can't recall anything that happened in the last 25 or so years.Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-63465456210040433332008-05-26T19:09:00.009-05:002008-07-14T07:58:48.674-05:00More on Bank of AmericaIn one of my earlier posts, Making the Rounds of the Banks, I hinted at more to come on Bank of America.Let me summarize events leading up to a colossal blunder on the part of BOA (Bank of America):On January 16, 2004, I froze Lola's overdrawn checking account at BOA and closed her plundered money market account, drained of all funds by the con artist known as John Mason.On January 28, 2004, I Carolyn in ARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02541328486840313169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-26535945874222787142007-12-31T19:37:00.001-06:002008-05-27T05:01:36.627-05:00Rainy December NightsEvery single time I went out, it was the same. A cold rain was falling. Lane markings were obscured by a reflective layer of water disturbed by rain drops and splashes. The water shifted uneasily in colorful waves thrown at it by building lights, neon signs, passing cars, and traffic lights. The rhythmic sweep of the windshield wipers muffled the sound of the spray.I parked the car and headed forUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-4868966260515149702007-11-18T14:48:00.000-06:002007-11-18T15:07:54.035-06:00Hog Killing DayMother was in the mood to reminisce when I visited her at her assisted living facility two days ago.Mother makes the Lane farm in Independence County sound like a paradise for children. They (the children) worked hard to help sustain the farm, but they always had plenty of good, fresh food to eat – tomatoes, watermelons, squash, beans, greens, apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, blackberries. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-76934635069926476512007-08-09T11:47:00.001-05:002007-08-11T05:03:58.606-05:00The mail takes overIt covered every surface in the house, filled voids under, on, and behind furniture, threatened to collapse the floors. Boxes of it sat in the family room waiting to be sifted through. So much mail was arriving daily that Mother had her friend Bill install a slot in the side garage door and place a large cardboard box behind it. Each day the mailman eschewed the tiny mailbox and shoved reams and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-63954292938683697422007-08-07T12:45:00.001-05:002008-05-27T04:55:53.514-05:00Publishers’ Clearing House and United States Purchasing ExchangeFor years, my mother received a steadily escalating stream of packages. In the early nineties, when she was still living in Hot Springs, I started seeing a lot of boxes from United States Purchasing Exchange. Mother’s only explanation was that it was a noble entity with the lofty purpose of opening up trade with China. Years later, stumbling upon an invoice, I noticed that USPE had a sweepstakes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-24734031762822177042007-08-05T04:34:00.000-05:002007-08-21T07:42:45.539-05:00Selling the carWhat was going on three years ago, in August 2004? Under Arkansas guardianship laws, I can’t sell so much as a toothpick from my mother’s assets without a court order. Thus, in dire need of money to support my mother, I filed a petition with the court to sell a few things – my mother’s car, her lots in Hot Springs, and her coin collection. The petition was granted around the end of the month. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-52300172843102994722007-08-04T18:26:00.000-05:002007-08-11T05:12:10.706-05:00Three and a half years after the FBI calledThose awful events of 2004 are far behind me now. But for a long time, falling asleep each night, I was haunted by ghostly visions of my diminutive mother pacing in dark corners of my bedroom. She was always wearing her bathrobe and talking on the phone with her head bent over as if trying to keep me from hearing. With time, the nocturnal images have faded, and I dwell on those days less and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1148436626796017332006-05-23T20:46:00.001-05:002008-07-15T20:25:04.446-05:00565 arrested in fraud schemesI saw that headline on CNN and MSNBC today: 565 people were arrested in fraud schemes in five countries, the U.S., Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Spain. The MSNBC article is here. And here is a Department of Justice fact sheet summarizing the crimes. Some of the crimes listed are eerily familiar.Although this investigation is more recent than the one that included my mother's Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1148435044286371712006-05-23T20:09:00.000-05:002006-05-23T20:44:04.296-05:00Little scraps of yellow paper everywhereThat January day my mother's house was littered with junk mail, magazines (including duplicates), boxes of stuff everywhere. She usually knew when I was coming and tidied up a bit, stashing boxes behind furniture and in every corner of every closet and under beds. I took her by surprise that day. One thing was ubiquitous -- little torn pieces -- corners, half pages -- of lined yellow paper. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1143549029893346972006-03-28T06:07:00.001-06:002008-04-21T16:05:10.750-05:00How to find a lawyer in two hoursYou might be wondering how I found a lawyer so fast that I was in and out of court within a few hours of initiating my search. Well, the morning of January 16, my law student daughter called her friend Amelia who was already a full-fledged lawyer, specializing in guess what -- guardianships, trusts, and estates. Although Amelia practiced in another state, she started making phone calls to Little Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141644644320479462006-03-06T05:29:00.001-06:002008-06-21T05:34:57.971-05:00John MasonLet’s pick back up on the evening of January 16, 2004. My sister and I return to Benton and try to call Mother to be sure she’s ok. Her phone was busy for 45 minutes.The next morning, I head back to Little Rock, determined to persuade Mother to return to Fayetteville with me for a few days before the next court hearing on January 21. I also had some work to do.First, I requested her checkbooks. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141472987795871652006-03-04T05:42:00.000-06:002007-08-11T05:00:03.946-05:00The phone works better than a gunThough the vultures attacked on many fronts, the telephone was the weapon of choice for my mother's victimization. I usually checked her caller-id when I visited; lists of numbers with unfamiliar area codes predominated. I would ask, "Who is calling you?" Her reply -- "..just a bunch of telemarketers." Me: "You don't talk to them do you?" Her: "Oh, no. I just tell them to leave me alone." Uneasy Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141347985805567922006-03-02T18:40:00.001-06:002008-05-27T04:41:35.415-05:00What did they know and when did they know it?If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably deduced that lots of people knew about my mother’s penchant for sending large sums of money to Canada and Costa Rica. To name a few:The FBI. The FBI intercepted a $2000 check to a scam artist in Canada in October of 2002. The agent went to my mother’s house and informed her that the $40,000 or so that she had paid for Canadian Lottery fees had gone to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141265645061494512006-03-01T19:48:00.001-06:002008-06-21T05:38:19.734-05:00The process serverExhausted and frazzled though we were, our day wasn't over yet. Picking up some Corky's barbecue, we raced to the house to eat and break the news to Mother before the process server arrived. I was terrified. I choked down a few bites, and began, gently, oh so gently, to explain the surreptitious activities that Jeannie and I had been sneaking around performing all day. She seemed to grasp the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141181583944993252006-02-28T19:46:00.001-06:002008-07-10T21:02:00.491-05:00Making the rounds of the banksAnd my sister, what about her? Her name is Jeannie, and she had broken her ankle a month prior to our shockingly personal introduction to the world of criminals who prey on the elderly. She gamely hobbled around on her walker with me (one of the criteria for choosing a lawyer was handicapped access). However, when it came to the banks, she stayed in the car except for the last one. There is a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141177524965099332006-02-28T19:30:00.001-06:002008-07-10T21:06:49.132-05:00Collecting evidenceWhere was my mother in all this? Well, she didn't know I was in town, so when my sister and I showed up at the house on Friday just before the lawyer appointment, she was so taken aback that she cooperated, initially anyway. She produced a hefty stack of wire transfer receipts totaling over $53,000 during the prior six months, all of them to numerous individuals in Costa Rica. Of course I had to Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23190979.post-1141175378875311952006-02-28T18:26:00.000-06:002007-08-11T05:03:20.896-05:00The day the FBI calledOn Thursday, January 15, 2004, my cell phone rang in my office. I answered my sister's call, and thus began a long and trying tale of intrigue, greed, grief, deception, and madness. By 5:00 pm that day, I was three hours away from my home in Fayetteville, sitting in my sister's living room. We listened raptly while an FBI agent described in shocking detail the unhappy fate of $80,000 that my Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0