Dr. Kirsten Turkington is a Family Nurse Practitioner and a Forensic Nurse Expert. Dr. Kristen has seen her elderly clients go through this form of financial abuse by scammers who are presented as 'the love of their life'. It's lonely after you've lost someone, but that doesn't mean you should build a love relationship that's purely based on how much money you send them. Here are some of the things you need to be aware of.

Key Takeaways:

• As widowers get so caught up in their grief, they are prime targets for scammers.
• How does Dr. Kristen help her clients beyond being a nurse?
• People scamming older women is elder abuse!
• Susan met an online scammer in Nigeria and was intrigued by how he survived and got these women to send him money.
• These scammers have a million sob stories in their back pocket.
• The more people in the family that are involved, the better it is for the loved one being scammed to see the signs.
• However, a lot of these widows and widowers exhibit addictive personality traits towards this 'new love'.
• This isn't an 'in and out' crime. This is a long withstanding crime and it keeps going until the money runs out.
• This scammer told Susan that when they find out he's a fake, it doesn't matter, they still keep calling because they're emotionally attached.
• Scamming is a full-time job.
• By doing a reverse photograph search can prove to you that this is not the person they're saying they are.
• This scammer pays to be on Match.Com and just go through the motions of talking to various women.
• How do you protect yourself from online scammers?
• Keep your social media profiles locked down. Scammers can get a lot of information off of that.
• There's a lot of people on dating sites. If someone is out of the country and you can't see them within the next 30 days. Just move on!
• If it seems too good to be true, have a bit of curiosity about it. Dig a little bit deeper.
• Most of the time, the individual being scammed doesn't see it as a problem. It's the family members that become aware of it, and concerned.
• 9 out of 10 times, your family members want the best for you. Listen to your support network.
• Suspect someone you care about is being scammed? How can you best approach it without having them become defensive?

Resources:

Dr. Kirsten Turkington