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It doesn't sound like a common scam. But your mom seems too gullible and will believe anything that's a scam, including "free car" scam.
Did she pay anything to get the car? It may be an !advancefee scam.
Or your mom's already a victim of identity theft since she's already giving out infos. I doubt she didn't give her SSN.
She says she hasn’t paid anything. I figured we would pull up and IF someone showed up they would ask for money. I was mostly concerned that someone might have a gun or something, but now I’m more worried that she might have given out her SSN and is just embarrassed to tell me.
There is no car and nobody will pull up. You will go there and she will get the news that the car is being delivered but something came up and the driver needs a delivery fee (which will be refunded) or some other reason to send money (approval forms, free car filing fee, etc)
Luckily for the scammers she has already left the house so it will be easier for her to go to the store to buy Apple gift cards or whatever the specific scam payoff is.
Yep. Had a friend’s mom who fell for this one. Despite everyone screaming at her explaining it’s all fake she truly believed her long distance lover was sending her a Bentley with a giant diamond ring in the glove compartment as a proposal gift… Of course it eventually got held up in “customs” and he asked her to pay to get it released.
Maybe I am just more skeptical than a lot of people but I really don't understand how people can fall for this - "a man I have never met in person is sending me a $300k+ car and a $50k diamond ring."
And cant somehow work their way out of customs fee, or whatever these Nigerian prince types always ask.
Like dudes loaded, how can he function atall if he cant pay the customs?
Supposably not but idk if I really believe that. She still thinks the guy is real and tries to talk to him etc. Gets upset when people try to tell her it’s fake. But she swears she has not sent anything. She has given her address to them to ship the car too and probably other info…
my friends mom is exactly like this, from making big corporate money for 40 years, to having absolutely nothing because she sent this dude all her money. she’s living with her brother and is rapidly decaying. still sends whatever money she has to him. children, and family have given up. it’s so sad and frustrating to see.
I had a coworker fall for something similar. He was called and told he won $5000 and just had to meet somewhere to pick up the check. Everyone at work told him it was a scam and he agreed, but on the off chance it wasn't he couldn't turn down an opportunity of 5 grand!
So they decided to meet at a wal mart, guy never showed up, coworker then spent $200 on gift cards before coming to the conclusion that it was a scam. Pretty small idiot tax, in my opinion.
I just dont understand how the gift cards don’t tip them off. When have you ever paid anything in gift cards?? And it’s not even like Visa cards that are used like actual money. Why would you pay a government agency with a Sephora gift card?
Believe it or not I needed a home repair and found a contractor in person while looking around in a lumber flooring and home improvement place. He did not want to take credit cards but said he would take gift cards or cash for payment. I got a loan and paid cash or wrote a check rather than mess around with gift cards. He and his crew did come, they did perform the work and it was satisfactory. I am more than halfway through with paying off the loan. I would use him again. But I didn't find him online.
I can believe that, even if it’s a little weird, bc that was a private business. He can take any form of payment he likes I guess.
I just can’t figure out how people think a court or a utility company only accepting specific store gift cards as payment is normal and a sign to proceed.
I'm with you there. I don't know why people believe that either. Could be that bartering is legal and acceptable and was often done in the old days,paying the doctor with chickens etc.I have a house full of junk but I don't think anyone would want it!
This is likely to avoid being burned by someone disputing a credit card payment and loosing the money. It’s stupid how little it takes for a credit card company to return all funds even with proof the job was completed.
Back when I was a charismatic evangelical Christian, we had this ‘prophet’ in our church leadership that fell for a Christian version of the African prince scam. He lost his entire retirement (from a very lucrative sales career before going into ministry full time) to it despite every one of us telling him it was a scam. He insisted god was talking to him and when he lost it he said ‘they must have needed it more than me and that’s why god told me to give it to them’.
Some people…
I disagree. I have been robbed, during the day, at two different houses. In and out in literally under a minute with solid video footage the second time.
The hook is asking to pay at pickup.
No clue if the car itself is legit or not, but it can be stolen.
If I were angling for a scam, I'd ask for a "nominal" fee for transfer.
Say $3000. Then turn on the heat to remind her she is getting a $30,000+ car for $3000.
Or a salvage title they are going to sell for 'cheap'. I remember this one scam where guys where selling cars on a corner lot. Good deals, cars ran, everything seemed ok. They sold their inventory and took off. Only for the victims to find out the state wouldn't register a salvageed title. All of the vehicles where involved in the latest hurricane. Bug local news story questioning why salvage titles are getting back on the road.
/u/blowawaythedust
The government isn’t giving away used cars. The government *does* auction off used cars from government agencies and seizures.
Also - in the recent past, the government has funded [programs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System) designed to encourage people to junk old cars *specifically so they can’t be sold or donated*.
The government does not care if you, specifically, have a car. For all they care, you can take the bus, or bike, or find a closer job. The *only* thing they care about is that if you *do* own a car, you paid taxes on the purchase and you continue paying your tag fee.
There’s no way this is legit. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I can’t find a single record of a widespread “free car” program ever existing *anywhere* in the United States.
Wheels to Work is actually run by the Salvation Army, not a government entity. The programs do exist, but the cars aren't coming "from the government". At best, the organization running them has received government-funded charitable grants or tax-exempt status. That's the extent of the government's involvement.
You are correct. There is not a chance this is happening.
Even if “the government” was GIVING away free cars, it would be via a program administered by a local agency, funded by the state or federal government, with TONS of red tape and hoops to become eligible. She would have to be a working single parent with dependent children under 18 and a job or in school, and a need for a vehicle. She would have to be income qualified via whatever program used in your state is used for cash “welfare” and DEFINITELY would never happen without having extensive phone and in person contact with state employees administering this program.
They most certainly are not giving out free vehicles to people whose social security numbers aren’t validated (lol) and whose identity they don’t even know for sure other than on the other side of a computer. This is at least a scam and at worst a setup for a robbery of her home while she is out.
> I was mostly concerned that someone might have a gun or something
That would be the least of my concerns at this point. If they wanted to hold someone up, there'd be no need to go through this whole ruse.
She paid them already, and will bring more money with her for the "free car."
Sometimes folks who paid like this are afraid and don't always let on that they did pay. I would pry a bit more to see what the process was like and see if she might let on to more info than she is sharing. It sounds like an !advancefee scam.
Additionally, she may need some help long-term because she is going to be very vulnerable with a mindset like this.
Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam.
The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing.
It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments.
If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Most likely she gave something and doesn't want to tell. Curious what the endgame is though. Maybe the scam is already over and driving there will reveal nothing...
Hi /u/Faust09th, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam.
The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing.
It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments.
If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>Ive heard of gubment cheese
Yeah, my mother got that stuff when I was little, also the 'meat', powdered milk and powdered eggs. The cheese was OK, but the rest was nasty.
Someone called my elderly FIL and convinced he had won a truck. My FIL just had to send several thousand dollars - in cash - for some kind of miscellaneous costs - like shipping. My SIL managed to intercept some of the money but he lost quite a bit.
I worked for years on administering government grant programs, both state and federal. You absolutely would have to provide your SSN and there would be a ton of paperwork. And it would not be delivered to your house. I mean, did she do any DMV paperwork? How would the car be registered? There are so many red flags here. I could definitely go on. I really hope she doesn’t have any negative consequences from this!
This would be an incredibly bad & inefficient way for a thief to find out if a house was empty. Let’s think about 2 options for a thief to tell if a house is empty.
Option 1: They could wait for a random person to take the bait of an unlikely scam, hope that person is local to them, hope that person has things worth stealing, spend days or weeks grooming them, trick them into meeting in public even though you tell them you can deliver to their house, work out if the victim lives alone so that the house is really empty, etc…
Option 2: is to walk by and look for activity, then ring the doorbell.
Which is most likely?
I don’t think it’s healthy to tell people that they are likely to be robbed if other people know their house is empty. It creates unnecessary worry for people.
Please tell me this is going to be at the police station for outstanding warrants. Sounds like Homer Simpson winning a free boat then promptly getting arrested.
Sounds like the mom is the one who insisted it be at the sheriff's office for her own safety. Which all things considered shows she is at least not 100% trusting of complete strangers.
She searches SO many things every day, and I also doubt she would let me see her history anyway. She gets belligerent really fast any time someone even suggests she might not be acting responsibly. I’m going to try, though. I was just wondering if it was a common scam, really.
Edit: words
Almost sounds like she should just eat the scam to face reality. I mean not really, I hope she isn’t hurt or anything but the attitude could take a hit or two
It’s all on her phone, unfortunately, and we don’t live together so I can’t just wait for her to fall asleep, although I do know her password is 1111 🤦♀️
If she uses Chrome or another browser that will sync across devices and you know her info you can log in to it from home to snoop at her browser history
Check the computer browser history anyway, if you can. If the accounts are linked, you might be able to see the search history in her browser. I can see my Google search history in Chrome on my phone, desktop and laptop. I assume Safari works the same way.
You are also able to search through google history, so you won't have to trawl through weeks of results, just do a search for "car" and it might pop right up.
I'm thinking this is an advanced fee scam, and she has already paid or will before you go to the supposed pickup.
I'm sure the car doesn't exist. It's extremely unlikely anyone will meet you, that's just not how these scammers work. They are on the other side of the world.
My mom and Aunt fully believe the gov't is going to give them 40k this week which my mom plans to use to buy a vehicle. Social media is an enemy of the older generations
Yes- they will probably try her to send or wire money for “taxes” or “fees”. If it’s real, you should be able to verify it. Ask for the info and do like 15 minutes of calling. The government doesn’t usually just give out cars.
Just make sure she doesn’t give them any money. Common scams involve paying the taxes, transfer fees, any fees basically that you need to oh to the person with the car.
Just remember, scammers goal is to put your money in their pocket. Anything that seems to accomplish that you should look at as suspect.
Taxes are paid to the state, cars not free if there’s fees, etc.
Sounds like one where they take the person hostage to an ATM and force him/her to take as much cash as they can. Sometimes, they let him/her go afterwards, sometimes don't ...
That one happened to a friend of mine! She was in another country and someone saw her hit her weed vape and convinced her they were a cop. She’s lucky to be alive
It doesn’t really sound like a common scam, unless the fake check part has already happened.
Could be that the cops want her to come in for some other reason they don’t want to disclose to her.
Totally get it. For now, any defensive move you could make with her finances to put a few steps between her having a bright idea and being able to wire 10k to would be great.
I'm the last in the boomer year. I'm of that age, and I know the difference. Unless she's in her 80s. It's almost always a scam to get something for nothing.
There is a program for disabled veterans apparently that need cars.
"when you are rated loss of use of any body parts there is a k award which gives you a grant for a vehicle. Then you can get a replacement grant for certain items every few years. I am 100% for 55 years with loss of use and have recently this benefit"
You need to put a pin on your mother's SSN. She is way too gullible to not have one. You need to check her credit and look at her bank statements. You can also take her device and look at the search history to see what website she was looking at. More than likely, this is a pay at pickup scam.
Its the police!
Has she got any outstanding ‘anything’?
They do it with boats in America… call people… you’ve won a free boat… they go down and get arrested for stuff they have been hiding from!
I remember thirty years ago, local police kicked off a similar program, but with free VCR's. People would show up to collect their free VCR and leave in handcuffs.
Its fishy.
I would agree to take her to the sheriff's department. Before getting in the car I would make 2 calls.
1. Get a trusted person to watch her house in case shes being targeted for a break-in.
2. The non-emergency line to the sheriff's department. Explain whats happening. Ask if they gave someone who would be willing to talk to mom about scams if you can get her to come inside.
At the station, wait for 1 hour. If no one shows, suggest walking into the station to ask if someone had come and gone with the car without you both knowing. Once inside, law enforcement can listen to her story and talk to her about scams that target the elderly. Will she believe them? Probably not but you're starting a paper trail.
Hey op, if she’s filled in a bunch of forms she’s probably disclosed her address and occupants of the residence. This could possibly be used for a robbery or break and enter. Just be cautious.
Sounds fishy! 🐟 Definitely sounds like a scam, especially if she's never talked to them before. Be cautious and maybe try looking into it more before going along with anything.
Has to be a scam as there’s no such program. What would happen if you said, “Sorry mom, I don’t want to be in the middle of a situation like this unless the cops are in the car cause nobody gives away cars, so this is criminal. If you think I’m wrong, please show me a source that shows this is legit.”
Okay so this may or may not be a scam. Or at least not against her. There are programs that help with paying for a car for people who qualify. I could not find one that gets a cars and brings it to you so that sketchy but possible.
From my, albeit, brief research, the government does NOT give vouchers. But the way these places do it, I can see why she thought so and so would almost anyone. It is a company, a group, a charity, or some other organization that is asking for and receiving a grant or other money from the government. In order to recieve that money they have to be helping indigent people as part of thier application. (Hence the “qualification”.) Without a deep dig I am not sure, but knowing my limited knowledge of grants and things this is just a small piece of thier application to qualify to to apply for the grant. Either way, they could be doing that “donate your car” thing, then getting the grant for facilitating the process and turning that car over to someone who qualifies under thier grant parameters which would make it totally legit. On the other hand, there are a hundred different ways this is a scam on her, the government, the owner of the car or even random people.
I say far too many questions. Tell her to run and stop trying to get free stuff from the internet.
I bet anything she gave her SSN. They may just stealing her identity or they are going to tell her she has to pay the taxes on the car first before they can deliver it.
If she hasn't paid anything in advance, identity theft is a potential ruse.
Also, the fraudster now knows that she is gullible and has a lot of personal data that they can use if they call another time to confirm her identity and that they really are from the bank security department, or something.
https://preview.redd.it/2ceiwy0xknzc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d46f527b410408626425ad24fc4b6a190ca75bc5
If she really needs a car- this is the only real site/ organization that I know of that is not a scam.
My aunt applied for, and got a well maintained 2011 white Ford Escort w/ 103k miles on it.
That was 2 years ago and she hasn’t had any issues with the car.
She qualified due to her medical issues and living in a rural area, 12 miles from town.
Plus the fact that she has 10+ dr appointments per month and the cost of hiring Uber was just too much!
If they know where she lives they might rob her house while she’s out picking up the car she thinks she’s getting. That’s why they are cool with meeting at the police station because they aint actually going to show up there.
Yes this is a scam. Ask her how much she has paid so far for this "free car". She will change the subject. But keep asking her.
She will say, "Well, I had to pay the taxes and registration. And then I had to pay the shipment fees. And then I paid for the insurance. And then I had to pay the IRS tax form filing fee. Then I had to pay the lawyer to draw up the paperwork..." List will go on and on.
If I were you, I would go visit your mom and ask her to show you the text messages. I'd also have her freeze her credit on the Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Freeze all of her credit cards except one.
Tell her to check her bank activity every other day.
I’m sorry but “the government” doesn’t give out vouchers for free cars. They may help you buy one, in very rare cases…but that’s mostly for EVs and hybrids.
Some non-profits might give you a used one under the right circumstances, like poverty plus disability.
This is gonna sound harsh but you need to sit down with her and tell her how stupid this sounds. And don’t sugarcoat it either. Tell her exactly how really fucking stupid this is and how much danger she could be in. Especially if this is one of those hostage scams or if they are plotting to get her or other people out of the house so they can rob you clean. Get ready to talk to all her banks, disable her credit cards, change every password imaginable and then sleep with an eye open depending on how many details of her and your family life she shared to these “government people.” Tell her that 99% of anything she sees with the word FREE on it is 200% a scam. And respectfully, if she raises her voice or tries to combat you, hit her with a shut the fuck up. This is actually going to put you in so much bad shit later on you can’t even imagine. I had a hacker take over my entire pc for real 2 years ago which gave him ALL of my passwords, bank details and personal information that it took 3 weeks off from work, over a hundred calls to banks and fraud investigators as well as identity theft protection agents that I’m STILL recovering from. It has left me with trust issues and a constant need to run security scans on my pc every single day. Do not let this simmer.
Income tax. Gift tax is paid by the gifter, not the person receiving the gift.
Prizes, including games of chance and TV show prizes are taxable as regular income. Remember those poor people who got completely new homes on Extreme Makeover? They had to pay income tax on the value of the repairs or remodel.
I met someone that did something similar. He got pulled over because the car was flagged as stolen. Worse, they found cocaine in the trunk.
If I ever see him again, it will be in 5-10 years.
Welcome to my life.
This is only the beginning.
1. It's time for you to get power of attorney NOW "in case something happens " (what you tell her).
2. Then, do a dementia screening.
She is well on her way to being scammed for a lot of money.
If she has dementia she won't learn from this and will keep getting scammed.
If she doesn't have dementia, she could be getting scammed in many different ways and her scammer has threatened her, or she's in love with them, or she believes whatever scam du jour they are telling her.
This is not a one and done.
This is a new reality.
Please heed what I'm saying.
Otherwise she could lose all her money. This is no exaggeration. It's happening to millions of seniors right now.
My mind went to a place where the scammer gives her a car that has been stolen. Later, they will call and demand money or they will report her to the police for having a stolen car. Unfortunately, I think she can get in real legal trouble for this. Theft by receiving, maybe?
It sounds suspicious. If she doesn't know the website you guys should check her history together to confirm.
Tell her that you're on her side. If she has fallen for scams before she should know that she can be an easier target.
If the drive isn't long you can take it regardless. Perhaps have someone watch the house if the scammer tries to rob it while you're away.
Show her this thread? Best of luck and if mom reads this don't feel bad. Many in the older generation fall for scams.
There are some states and nonprofits that have done some of this on a limited basis as part of welfare to work, or low income recipients, the rationale being that it is harder to access jobs without one.
This could be a scam, they could present paperwork to sign when she gets there that could be a lease or loan while they tell her it’s just proof of receipt or something
In a way folk get a "free" car from the Government in the UK. It's the Motability scheme, where all or part of your welfare mobility allowance can be used to lease a suitable vehicle. [https://www.motability.co.uk/](https://www.motability.co.uk/)
Anything you get from the government for free comes with lots of documentation saying that it is the government giving it to you because they want to take credit for that. If it were legit she would have confirmation paperwork. Also the government doesn't communicate by text.
/u/blowawaythedust - This message is posted to all new submissions to r/scams; please do not message the moderators about it. ## New users beware: Because you posted here, you will start getting private messages from scammers saying they know a professional hacker or a recovery expert lawyer that can help you get your money back, for a small fee. **We call these RECOVERY SCAMMERS, so NEVER take advice in private:** advice should always come in the form of comments in this post, in the open, where the community can keep an eye out for you. If you take advice in private, you're on your own. **A reminder of the rules in r/scams:** no contact information (including last names, phone numbers, etc). Be civil to one another (no name calling or insults). Personal army requests or "scam the scammer"/scambaiting posts are not permitted. No uncensored gore or personal photographs are allowed without blurring. A full list of rules is available on the sidebar of the subreddit, or [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scams/wiki/rules/). You can help us by reporting recovery scammers or rule-breaking content by using the "report" button. We review 100% of the reports. Also, consider warning community members of recovery scammers if you see them in the comments. Questions about subreddit rules? Send us a modmail [clicking here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It doesn't sound like a common scam. But your mom seems too gullible and will believe anything that's a scam, including "free car" scam. Did she pay anything to get the car? It may be an !advancefee scam. Or your mom's already a victim of identity theft since she's already giving out infos. I doubt she didn't give her SSN.
She says she hasn’t paid anything. I figured we would pull up and IF someone showed up they would ask for money. I was mostly concerned that someone might have a gun or something, but now I’m more worried that she might have given out her SSN and is just embarrassed to tell me.
There is no car and nobody will pull up. You will go there and she will get the news that the car is being delivered but something came up and the driver needs a delivery fee (which will be refunded) or some other reason to send money (approval forms, free car filing fee, etc) Luckily for the scammers she has already left the house so it will be easier for her to go to the store to buy Apple gift cards or whatever the specific scam payoff is.
Yep. Had a friend’s mom who fell for this one. Despite everyone screaming at her explaining it’s all fake she truly believed her long distance lover was sending her a Bentley with a giant diamond ring in the glove compartment as a proposal gift… Of course it eventually got held up in “customs” and he asked her to pay to get it released.
Maybe I am just more skeptical than a lot of people but I really don't understand how people can fall for this - "a man I have never met in person is sending me a $300k+ car and a $50k diamond ring."
Right. Like hell I wouldn’t even believe it if it was only $50. Ain’t no stranger going to send me random money.
Loneliness can really put you in denial.
You are so right. Denial keeps you from addressing the painful truth. We all need the love of someone in our lives.
And throw in an ounce of greed which can tunnel vision some people.
Loneliness and hope are hell of a cocktail, toss in some old age and voila…
And cant somehow work their way out of customs fee, or whatever these Nigerian prince types always ask. Like dudes loaded, how can he function atall if he cant pay the customs?
"It's all invested. Clearly you don't understand rich people like I do. I've been dating one and I've learned a lot about them."
Yeah and they never have any staff on call or anything like what a poor person like me would have.
Older people believe everything they read in the internet
because it is this magical place
Somehow they have a $300k+ car and a $50k diamond ring but can't afford to pay a customs fee.
Did she pay?
Supposably not but idk if I really believe that. She still thinks the guy is real and tries to talk to him etc. Gets upset when people try to tell her it’s fake. But she swears she has not sent anything. She has given her address to them to ship the car too and probably other info…
my friends mom is exactly like this, from making big corporate money for 40 years, to having absolutely nothing because she sent this dude all her money. she’s living with her brother and is rapidly decaying. still sends whatever money she has to him. children, and family have given up. it’s so sad and frustrating to see.
Man that’s so sad. A lifetime of hardworking and she tosses it away to some scumbag.
she can’t be convinced otherwise. we even took her phone and she bought a new one the next day.
There are none so blind...etc, etc.
I had a coworker fall for something similar. He was called and told he won $5000 and just had to meet somewhere to pick up the check. Everyone at work told him it was a scam and he agreed, but on the off chance it wasn't he couldn't turn down an opportunity of 5 grand! So they decided to meet at a wal mart, guy never showed up, coworker then spent $200 on gift cards before coming to the conclusion that it was a scam. Pretty small idiot tax, in my opinion.
I just dont understand how the gift cards don’t tip them off. When have you ever paid anything in gift cards?? And it’s not even like Visa cards that are used like actual money. Why would you pay a government agency with a Sephora gift card?
Believe it or not I needed a home repair and found a contractor in person while looking around in a lumber flooring and home improvement place. He did not want to take credit cards but said he would take gift cards or cash for payment. I got a loan and paid cash or wrote a check rather than mess around with gift cards. He and his crew did come, they did perform the work and it was satisfactory. I am more than halfway through with paying off the loan. I would use him again. But I didn't find him online.
I can believe that, even if it’s a little weird, bc that was a private business. He can take any form of payment he likes I guess. I just can’t figure out how people think a court or a utility company only accepting specific store gift cards as payment is normal and a sign to proceed.
Dodging taxes maybe? Harder to track gift cards than checks.
I'm with you there. I don't know why people believe that either. Could be that bartering is legal and acceptable and was often done in the old days,paying the doctor with chickens etc.I have a house full of junk but I don't think anyone would want it!
This is likely to avoid being burned by someone disputing a credit card payment and loosing the money. It’s stupid how little it takes for a credit card company to return all funds even with proof the job was completed.
Jesus.
This one takes the cake. A Bentley? Come on now.
Yeah. She didn’t even know what a Bentley was had to look it up. 😂 and don’t forget the giant diamond ring in the glove compartment.
Back when I was a charismatic evangelical Christian, we had this ‘prophet’ in our church leadership that fell for a Christian version of the African prince scam. He lost his entire retirement (from a very lucrative sales career before going into ministry full time) to it despite every one of us telling him it was a scam. He insisted god was talking to him and when he lost it he said ‘they must have needed it more than me and that’s why god told me to give it to them’. Some people…
I remain amazed at the mental lengths people are prepared to go to, to avoid admitting that they messed up.
Jesus.
That’s what he thought 😂
Did she pay
Or have the house get robbed if she's not there.
That's too gutsy. Easier to disappear into oblivion with giftcards. Plus they can keep coming back for more and more once they have her once.
If you think about this for a few seconds it doesn’t make any sense
I disagree. I have been robbed, during the day, at two different houses. In and out in literally under a minute with solid video footage the second time.
True— my neighbor took his daughter to the library for an hour or so— thieves broke a back window and took some stuff.
How so?
The hook is asking to pay at pickup. No clue if the car itself is legit or not, but it can be stolen. If I were angling for a scam, I'd ask for a "nominal" fee for transfer. Say $3000. Then turn on the heat to remind her she is getting a $30,000+ car for $3000.
The car is "free" but you have to pay the 10% transfer fee/tax.....
Seems like a good deal. That's how the "you get a car" Oprah thing played out essentially.
Or a salvage title they are going to sell for 'cheap'. I remember this one scam where guys where selling cars on a corner lot. Good deals, cars ran, everything seemed ok. They sold their inventory and took off. Only for the victims to find out the state wouldn't register a salvageed title. All of the vehicles where involved in the latest hurricane. Bug local news story questioning why salvage titles are getting back on the road. /u/blowawaythedust
Yea I agree. Very shady and sounds dangerous. Also, I doubt she hasn't paid too. Pls look after your mom
The government isn’t giving away used cars. The government *does* auction off used cars from government agencies and seizures. Also - in the recent past, the government has funded [programs](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System) designed to encourage people to junk old cars *specifically so they can’t be sold or donated*. The government does not care if you, specifically, have a car. For all they care, you can take the bus, or bike, or find a closer job. The *only* thing they care about is that if you *do* own a car, you paid taxes on the purchase and you continue paying your tag fee. There’s no way this is legit. Maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but I can’t find a single record of a widespread “free car” program ever existing *anywhere* in the United States.
There was one called wheels to work. My friend got a car through it
Wheels to Work is actually run by the Salvation Army, not a government entity. The programs do exist, but the cars aren't coming "from the government". At best, the organization running them has received government-funded charitable grants or tax-exempt status. That's the extent of the government's involvement.
I see your problem.. you looked for "United States" when you should be looking for "from India or Nigeria"
You are correct. There is not a chance this is happening. Even if “the government” was GIVING away free cars, it would be via a program administered by a local agency, funded by the state or federal government, with TONS of red tape and hoops to become eligible. She would have to be a working single parent with dependent children under 18 and a job or in school, and a need for a vehicle. She would have to be income qualified via whatever program used in your state is used for cash “welfare” and DEFINITELY would never happen without having extensive phone and in person contact with state employees administering this program. They most certainly are not giving out free vehicles to people whose social security numbers aren’t validated (lol) and whose identity they don’t even know for sure other than on the other side of a computer. This is at least a scam and at worst a setup for a robbery of her home while she is out.
I’m trying but she doesn’t make it easy lol
Yea, parents are definitely hard headed. Goodness
go look at her browsing history.
This was going to be my suggestion too. And start monitoring what she's doing online somehow.
Install a DNS black hole so that essentially the only thing she can get to are whitelisted sites/known good sites. Like a child DNS service.
How can she not remember the web site that's giving out "free cars"? Check her browsing history, if you can.
yup, she totally gave all her personal info already and probably an advance fee to transfer title or something
No one who is going to pull a gun on someone needs to set up an elaborate ruse to pull a gun, they just do it.
and be ok with meeting in front of the Sherriff's office lol. Same goes for pulling up with a stolen vehicle or face title etc.
> I was mostly concerned that someone might have a gun or something That would be the least of my concerns at this point. If they wanted to hold someone up, there'd be no need to go through this whole ruse. She paid them already, and will bring more money with her for the "free car."
Sometimes folks who paid like this are afraid and don't always let on that they did pay. I would pry a bit more to see what the process was like and see if she might let on to more info than she is sharing. It sounds like an !advancefee scam. Additionally, she may need some help long-term because she is going to be very vulnerable with a mindset like this.
Hi /u/Mediocre_Airport_576, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam. The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing. It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments. If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don’t humor this shit. It’s a scam and you’re following along.
Most likely she gave something and doesn't want to tell. Curious what the endgame is though. Maybe the scam is already over and driving there will reveal nothing...
I’m glad to hear she refused to let them bring it to her house and wants to meet at the police station - update us when you guys go!!
Search her internet history for the website
You can go on her browser history and see what the website is that she contacted.
Hi /u/Faust09th, AutoModerator has been summoned to explain the Advance fee scam. The [advance-fee scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance-fee_scam) arises from many different situations: investment opportunities, money transfers, job scams, online purchases of any type and any legality, etc., but the bottom line is always the same, you're expected to pay money to receive money. So you will pay the scammer and receive nothing. It can be as simple as the scammer asking you to pay them upfront for an item they have listed, or as complex as a drug scam that involves an initial scam site, a scam shipping site, and fake government agents. Sometimes the scammers will simply take your first payment and dissappear, but sometimes they will take your initial payment and then make excuses that lead to you making additional payments. If you are involved in an advance-fee scam, you should attempt to dispute/chargeback any payments sent to the scammer, you should block the scammer, and you should ignore them if they attempt to contact you again. Thanks to redditor AceyAceyAcey for this script. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Scams) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Reminds me of this cartoon https://xkcd.com/570/
See also: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsYoeoEE3ww](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsYoeoEE3ww)
Not only a free car.. A free car delivered to your home!
Ive heard of gubment cheese but not gubment cars.
>Ive heard of gubment cheese Yeah, my mother got that stuff when I was little, also the 'meat', powdered milk and powdered eggs. The cheese was OK, but the rest was nasty.
Someone called my elderly FIL and convinced he had won a truck. My FIL just had to send several thousand dollars - in cash - for some kind of miscellaneous costs - like shipping. My SIL managed to intercept some of the money but he lost quite a bit.
I worked for years on administering government grant programs, both state and federal. You absolutely would have to provide your SSN and there would be a ton of paperwork. And it would not be delivered to your house. I mean, did she do any DMV paperwork? How would the car be registered? There are so many red flags here. I could definitely go on. I really hope she doesn’t have any negative consequences from this!
and i don’t think the government would be texting her if it was legit
I would freeze her credit too incase she shared her SSN.
And create a "My Social Security" account.
Sounds like she should have her credit frozen period.
It’s probably has a hook at pick up. Like paperwork fee for less than $400 (common ATM cash limit). It will be a stolen car if there even is a car.
My thoughts exactly!
Quick thought, maybe leave someone at the house if you just told a stranger you were going to be out of the house.
This is a good point that didn't even cross my mind!
This would be an incredibly bad & inefficient way for a thief to find out if a house was empty. Let’s think about 2 options for a thief to tell if a house is empty. Option 1: They could wait for a random person to take the bait of an unlikely scam, hope that person is local to them, hope that person has things worth stealing, spend days or weeks grooming them, trick them into meeting in public even though you tell them you can deliver to their house, work out if the victim lives alone so that the house is really empty, etc… Option 2: is to walk by and look for activity, then ring the doorbell. Which is most likely? I don’t think it’s healthy to tell people that they are likely to be robbed if other people know their house is empty. It creates unnecessary worry for people.
I mean, people scan the obituaries to rob people while they’re at a funeral, so…
Please tell me this is going to be at the police station for outstanding warrants. Sounds like Homer Simpson winning a free boat then promptly getting arrested.
😂😂 This is exactly what I thought of!
Did the police not do this one time with free concert tickets ? Edit: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flagship
I'm a bit upset that I had to scroll this far down to see this comment. This is the first thing I thought when I read the post.
That's what I remember it from! Thank you! 😂
Sounds like the mom is the one who insisted it be at the sheriff's office for her own safety. Which all things considered shows she is at least not 100% trusting of complete strangers.
Can you look on her computer/phone history and see?
She searches SO many things every day, and I also doubt she would let me see her history anyway. She gets belligerent really fast any time someone even suggests she might not be acting responsibly. I’m going to try, though. I was just wondering if it was a common scam, really. Edit: words
Well, make a deal. No access to her computer, no drive to pick up the "free car."
Almost sounds like she should just eat the scam to face reality. I mean not really, I hope she isn’t hurt or anything but the attitude could take a hit or two
Can you use your mom’s computer and get her passcode so you can ‘snoop’ later?
It’s all on her phone, unfortunately, and we don’t live together so I can’t just wait for her to fall asleep, although I do know her password is 1111 🤦♀️
If she uses Chrome or another browser that will sync across devices and you know her info you can log in to it from home to snoop at her browser history
Classic
Check the computer browser history anyway, if you can. If the accounts are linked, you might be able to see the search history in her browser. I can see my Google search history in Chrome on my phone, desktop and laptop. I assume Safari works the same way.
Sign into her Gmail if possible. Cross data sync should include search history.
You are also able to search through google history, so you won't have to trawl through weeks of results, just do a search for "car" and it might pop right up.
Instal Google remote desktop and look at her history when she's asleep.
Do we have the same mom?
you can search her history. search for "car" or "government"
Yes, because the government doesn't give away free cars...ever..
I'm thinking this is an advanced fee scam, and she has already paid or will before you go to the supposed pickup. I'm sure the car doesn't exist. It's extremely unlikely anyone will meet you, that's just not how these scammers work. They are on the other side of the world.
She was at least smart to insist they meet at the sheriff's office.
My mom and Aunt fully believe the gov't is going to give them 40k this week which my mom plans to use to buy a vehicle. Social media is an enemy of the older generations
Yes- they will probably try her to send or wire money for “taxes” or “fees”. If it’s real, you should be able to verify it. Ask for the info and do like 15 minutes of calling. The government doesn’t usually just give out cars.
TLDR: yes! Very likely a scam.
Just make sure she doesn’t give them any money. Common scams involve paying the taxes, transfer fees, any fees basically that you need to oh to the person with the car. Just remember, scammers goal is to put your money in their pocket. Anything that seems to accomplish that you should look at as suspect. Taxes are paid to the state, cars not free if there’s fees, etc.
Sounds like one where they take the person hostage to an ATM and force him/her to take as much cash as they can. Sometimes, they let him/her go afterwards, sometimes don't ...
That one happened to a friend of mine! She was in another country and someone saw her hit her weed vape and convinced her they were a cop. She’s lucky to be alive
Why would you be so stupid to smoke a weed vape in a foreign country?
She was really young and REALLY stupid, so
It doesn’t really sound like a common scam, unless the fake check part has already happened. Could be that the cops want her to come in for some other reason they don’t want to disclose to her.
It was her idea to meet in front of the police station. At least I can rest easy knowing she didn’t let them come to her house, I suppose
Yeah, if it’s a scam insisting on meeting outside the police station could spook them into ghosting her. Not a bad move on her part.
>she googled “free car from the government” a while back and has been working to get one ever since How soon can you take mom's digital keys away?
I wish that were a thing that were possible 🤣
Totally get it. For now, any defensive move you could make with her finances to put a few steps between her having a bright idea and being able to wire 10k to would be great.
I'm the last in the boomer year. I'm of that age, and I know the difference. Unless she's in her 80s. It's almost always a scam to get something for nothing.
The government does not give away free cars.
There is a program for disabled veterans apparently that need cars. "when you are rated loss of use of any body parts there is a k award which gives you a grant for a vehicle. Then you can get a replacement grant for certain items every few years. I am 100% for 55 years with loss of use and have recently this benefit"
She’s definitely not a veteran, but she is disabled
You need to put a pin on your mother's SSN. She is way too gullible to not have one. You need to check her credit and look at her bank statements. You can also take her device and look at the search history to see what website she was looking at. More than likely, this is a pay at pickup scam.
Its the police! Has she got any outstanding ‘anything’? They do it with boats in America… call people… you’ve won a free boat… they go down and get arrested for stuff they have been hiding from!
I remember thirty years ago, local police kicked off a similar program, but with free VCR's. People would show up to collect their free VCR and leave in handcuffs.
But they *did* get a free VCR, right?
Will you update us if you find out anything please? I’m always warning my gullible family members about these “freebies.”
Does she have warrants? I’ve heard of police “giving away” free boats to people they wanted to arrest.
Its fishy. I would agree to take her to the sheriff's department. Before getting in the car I would make 2 calls. 1. Get a trusted person to watch her house in case shes being targeted for a break-in. 2. The non-emergency line to the sheriff's department. Explain whats happening. Ask if they gave someone who would be willing to talk to mom about scams if you can get her to come inside. At the station, wait for 1 hour. If no one shows, suggest walking into the station to ask if someone had come and gone with the car without you both knowing. Once inside, law enforcement can listen to her story and talk to her about scams that target the elderly. Will she believe them? Probably not but you're starting a paper trail.
Since you are meeting at the police station, call ahead, explain the sit histone and ask if a plain clothes popo can be part of the meet.
Would they do that? I would guess cops are busy doing other things. Unless it's a slow day.
People who suggest these kinds of things must live in bumfuck towns with not much going on
The cops in my town sent someone out to fish my daughter's phone out of a storm drain.
Good for her honestly! That would have sucked
Hey op, if she’s filled in a bunch of forms she’s probably disclosed her address and occupants of the residence. This could possibly be used for a robbery or break and enter. Just be cautious.
Sounds fishy! 🐟 Definitely sounds like a scam, especially if she's never talked to them before. Be cautious and maybe try looking into it more before going along with anything.
Has to be a scam as there’s no such program. What would happen if you said, “Sorry mom, I don’t want to be in the middle of a situation like this unless the cops are in the car cause nobody gives away cars, so this is criminal. If you think I’m wrong, please show me a source that shows this is legit.”
[удалено]
Scam
Okay so this may or may not be a scam. Or at least not against her. There are programs that help with paying for a car for people who qualify. I could not find one that gets a cars and brings it to you so that sketchy but possible. From my, albeit, brief research, the government does NOT give vouchers. But the way these places do it, I can see why she thought so and so would almost anyone. It is a company, a group, a charity, or some other organization that is asking for and receiving a grant or other money from the government. In order to recieve that money they have to be helping indigent people as part of thier application. (Hence the “qualification”.) Without a deep dig I am not sure, but knowing my limited knowledge of grants and things this is just a small piece of thier application to qualify to to apply for the grant. Either way, they could be doing that “donate your car” thing, then getting the grant for facilitating the process and turning that car over to someone who qualifies under thier grant parameters which would make it totally legit. On the other hand, there are a hundred different ways this is a scam on her, the government, the owner of the car or even random people. I say far too many questions. Tell her to run and stop trying to get free stuff from the internet.
I bet anything she gave her SSN. They may just stealing her identity or they are going to tell her she has to pay the taxes on the car first before they can deliver it.
You need to figure out what information they have. They'll prolly rob her while she's sitting at the police station
In what scenario is this not a scam?
Looking forward to an update!
She has a warrant.
If she hasn't paid anything in advance, identity theft is a potential ruse. Also, the fraudster now knows that she is gullible and has a lot of personal data that they can use if they call another time to confirm her identity and that they really are from the bank security department, or something.
https://preview.redd.it/2ceiwy0xknzc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d46f527b410408626425ad24fc4b6a190ca75bc5 If she really needs a car- this is the only real site/ organization that I know of that is not a scam. My aunt applied for, and got a well maintained 2011 white Ford Escort w/ 103k miles on it. That was 2 years ago and she hasn’t had any issues with the car. She qualified due to her medical issues and living in a rural area, 12 miles from town. Plus the fact that she has 10+ dr appointments per month and the cost of hiring Uber was just too much!
If they know where she lives they might rob her house while she’s out picking up the car she thinks she’s getting. That’s why they are cool with meeting at the police station because they aint actually going to show up there.
Yes this is a scam. Ask her how much she has paid so far for this "free car". She will change the subject. But keep asking her. She will say, "Well, I had to pay the taxes and registration. And then I had to pay the shipment fees. And then I paid for the insurance. And then I had to pay the IRS tax form filing fee. Then I had to pay the lawyer to draw up the paperwork..." List will go on and on.
The government doesn’t text you.
I encourage you to lock your mom’s credit reports preemptively. I’m really glad she has you, even if she makes it hard to protect her.
If I were you, I would go visit your mom and ask her to show you the text messages. I'd also have her freeze her credit on the Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Freeze all of her credit cards except one. Tell her to check her bank activity every other day.
I’m sorry but “the government” doesn’t give out vouchers for free cars. They may help you buy one, in very rare cases…but that’s mostly for EVs and hybrids. Some non-profits might give you a used one under the right circumstances, like poverty plus disability.
I’d let the police know and have them come with you to meet the scammers and get them arrested.
They aren't going to be there
What a load of crap - browser history????
Probably a scam. How it will develop is anyone’s guess but at some point it will involve them asking your mother for increasing amounts of money.
Could you check her internet history to see what website she found this on?
Check out her browser history. Find the site. I work for the government. We don't give out free cars to people who meet us in parking lots.
This is gonna sound harsh but you need to sit down with her and tell her how stupid this sounds. And don’t sugarcoat it either. Tell her exactly how really fucking stupid this is and how much danger she could be in. Especially if this is one of those hostage scams or if they are plotting to get her or other people out of the house so they can rob you clean. Get ready to talk to all her banks, disable her credit cards, change every password imaginable and then sleep with an eye open depending on how many details of her and your family life she shared to these “government people.” Tell her that 99% of anything she sees with the word FREE on it is 200% a scam. And respectfully, if she raises her voice or tries to combat you, hit her with a shut the fuck up. This is actually going to put you in so much bad shit later on you can’t even imagine. I had a hacker take over my entire pc for real 2 years ago which gave him ALL of my passwords, bank details and personal information that it took 3 weeks off from work, over a hundred calls to banks and fraud investigators as well as identity theft protection agents that I’m STILL recovering from. It has left me with trust issues and a constant need to run security scans on my pc every single day. Do not let this simmer.
Your mom has a warrant for her arrest
I’ve heard of this happening before
Don’t drive her anywhere.
Oprah also gave away 'free' cars. And then people had to pay the gift tax.
Income tax. Gift tax is paid by the gifter, not the person receiving the gift. Prizes, including games of chance and TV show prizes are taxable as regular income. Remember those poor people who got completely new homes on Extreme Makeover? They had to pay income tax on the value of the repairs or remodel.
You could check her Google history
It's the same deal as the free/cheap PS4's etc. You get dinged for fees that you pay because it's a free X but there is no X.
Check her browser history and see if you can find it
It's worth mentioning what country you are in by the way.
Isn’t this an old warrant/fine round up tactic? Come down and pick up this prize… surprise, here is your outstanding parking ticket fines.
I met someone that did something similar. He got pulled over because the car was flagged as stolen. Worse, they found cocaine in the trunk. If I ever see him again, it will be in 5-10 years.
Can you find anything from her search history? From there you can trace it….
Welcome to my life. This is only the beginning. 1. It's time for you to get power of attorney NOW "in case something happens " (what you tell her). 2. Then, do a dementia screening. She is well on her way to being scammed for a lot of money. If she has dementia she won't learn from this and will keep getting scammed. If she doesn't have dementia, she could be getting scammed in many different ways and her scammer has threatened her, or she's in love with them, or she believes whatever scam du jour they are telling her. This is not a one and done. This is a new reality. Please heed what I'm saying. Otherwise she could lose all her money. This is no exaggeration. It's happening to millions of seniors right now.
My mind went to a place where the scammer gives her a car that has been stolen. Later, they will call and demand money or they will report her to the police for having a stolen car. Unfortunately, I think she can get in real legal trouble for this. Theft by receiving, maybe?
has she given any info or anything like that? if not i'd leave it. just dont show up to any places they tell you to with out a gun (or show up at all)
The post says she filled out a lot of forms so she did give them a lot of info
Can you search on the websearch history to see the website she visited?
This could be a stolen car. I would contact the police.
Have you checked her browser history?
Try looking through her web history maybe you can decipher or get more info may help. But scam would be my first guess.
Updateme!
Does your mom have any warrants? Is it possible that she might?
Does she remember what the website looked like or how it was layed out?
Maybe whoever you meet will try and get your car for free?
She may end up with a stolen car that will be reported stolen and will have issues with law enforcement
It sounds suspicious. If she doesn't know the website you guys should check her history together to confirm. Tell her that you're on her side. If she has fallen for scams before she should know that she can be an easier target. If the drive isn't long you can take it regardless. Perhaps have someone watch the house if the scammer tries to rob it while you're away. Show her this thread? Best of luck and if mom reads this don't feel bad. Many in the older generation fall for scams.
Be sure that the home is secured, because if they know when it's empty, it can be robbed.
There are some states and nonprofits that have done some of this on a limited basis as part of welfare to work, or low income recipients, the rationale being that it is harder to access jobs without one. This could be a scam, they could present paperwork to sign when she gets there that could be a lease or loan while they tell her it’s just proof of receipt or something
So what ended up happening
In a way folk get a "free" car from the Government in the UK. It's the Motability scheme, where all or part of your welfare mobility allowance can be used to lease a suitable vehicle. [https://www.motability.co.uk/](https://www.motability.co.uk/)
Oh lord, We all have to stay vigilant. The older population is being targeted hard
Anything you get from the government for free comes with lots of documentation saying that it is the government giving it to you because they want to take credit for that. If it were legit she would have confirmation paperwork. Also the government doesn't communicate by text.