Dear Miss Ellie:

My mother has been sending money to a soldier in combat in Lebanon by money order via an agent. She really believes she is helping this man, feels he is in danger, and she believes they are also in love, which I hope you can imagine makes me ill. She sends him money for food, medical supplies, laundry, equipment, and other tangible items. She is going through money so fast and being retired she cannot make this money back.  Even the lady at the store where she sends him money orders tells her this is a scam, but he sends her loving photos, and notes via e-mail, and she is smitten. I have got to make her stop before she loses her likelihood. 

Mother in love with a scammer

Dear Mother in love with a scammer:

I really didn’t know where to start so I made a few phone calls to confirm my thoughts. I called Fort Campbell in Clarksville and had a conversation with two friends who are both Army generals. First, let me tell you, this is a scam, a huge scam that has been going on for years. Mostly out of places like Ghana, India, and many African countries where IP addresses can be tracked. Men and women alike are trained to seek out soldiers in uniform on Facebook, take the name off their uniform and form a new identity using many versions of that last name. A simple Facebook search will also prove this. These scammers all share their knowledge with one another on what works and what does not work.  There are many websites dedicated to this.

Men in uniformed service never need anything she has told you.  They do not need money for trips home to see a dying mother, for medical, for training or equipment, for laundry, for food, for anything else. Our soldiers are paid a salary, and the military cares for all their needs during deployment. While a loving card and a care package are always welcome, their needs are covered. 

Upon further research, these scammers also take advantage of everything happening in the news.  One took $5,000 to help his family in the hurricane flooding in the Carolinas because his family desperately needed help, another I learned did the same to a Murfreesboro woman who thought she was helping his family with flooding in Puerto Rico, and Houston. This is widespread.

My suggestion is to have your mother call the police and have them forward their investigation to the FBI.  Also, recommend to Facebook they shut these scammers down.  I hare tried and tried, and they are still running rampant, and not one knows how many millions have them given to them through fraud.

Ellie

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