Help! Mom W/ Alzheimers Taking Risks On Computer

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by whitequeen96, Nov 25, 2015.

?

Is this a scam?

  1. Yes

    7 vote(s)
    100.0%
  2. No

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  1. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    I just found out my 85 yr. old mother wants to cancel Geek Squad because she just signed up with some man in India who has been helping her with problems by accessing her computer and fixing them. She doesn't remember how she "met" him (maybe he contacted her?), but she says he has been very helpful over the last few months and he's been doing it for free. She just paid him with her credit card a few days ago, and she doesn't remember how much it was for, maybe $200. She feels that he has been so nice and patient with her, more so than Geek Squad, and she owes this "lovely man!" He is supposedly a one-man company - what a perfect scam for older folks!

    Some strange things have popped up in her e-mail and today there was a message on her desktop saying that she was missing out on her million dollar chance because her Internet Explorer wasn't working. (She's hooked on Publisher's Clearing House, so she thought it was related to them, but apparently not.) Despite this, she was able to open her e-mail (not sure if she accessed other websites). She's freaking me out!

    I need info, so any help would be appreciated!
     
  2. Spad

    Spad MajorGeek

    Who has Power of Attorney for your mother, if her condition has reached that point? If that has not been established yet you should look into it, perhaps? Speak with her primary care physician about it. You must be cognizant of her rights as well as your concerns for her.

    If it were my mother, I'd explain to her that someone is probably taking advantage of her, and she needs to stop interaction with this individual. Try and determine what personal information she has given out, but of course she might not remember. Try and convince her not to give out personal and financial information on the internet or over the phone, to anybody. Make a large note on her computer desktop saying such, to remind her . . . worth a try. Run some anti-malware program like Malwarebytes: http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/malwarebytes_anti_malware.html and remove what it finds. Also make sure whatever antivirus she is using is updated and run it as well.

    --Contact her credit card company and see what charges have been made to get an idea of what transactions have already taken place.

    --Also check her banking information for unusual transactions. The financial records might be difficult to check if she has not been deemed unable to look after her own affairs . . . in that case it is up to her to follow your instructions.

    If you find anything that looks shady or out of the ordinary contact your local law enforcement agency and make a complaint. At all the financial institutions you speak too, explain to them your fears and they can perhaps provide advice on how to proceed; the same with law enforcement . . . see what they advise on how to proceed from this point.

    Short of preventing access to the internet there is not a lot else you can do. If she allows it, you can set up a limited account on her computer that would be some small help in prevent her account from being compromised by installing malware or extortion ware. The most proactive thing you can do is a consultation with her doctor. Seek his advice as well.

    Nothing about this is going to be easy. Hopefully someone else will chime in with more useful suggestions. Good luck with it. I'm sorry your family is facing this.
     
    Kestrel13! and Eldon like this.
  3. Eldon

    Eldon Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Spad gave you the best advice possibly.
    Please adhere to it. For the sake of you and your mom.
     
  4. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Completely agree with Spad and one more thing...I would highly recommend you set up a limited User Account on her computer for her to use and password protect the admin account.
     
    Major Attitude likes this.
  5. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    Spad has given you very good advice. Getting Power of Attorney is top priority and a MUST. ASAP! I have been through this with a parent so I understand what you are facing and as Spad said it will not be easy but is necessary. If she is unwilling to give you control and she has Alzheimers or even Dementia you need to talk to her doctor and get a statement from the doctor to take with you to an attorney.

    In my experience some banks and credit card companies would not talk to me without her consent or until I had Power of Attorney. Once you can have all account numbers changed and even cancel as many credit cards as you can. Does she even really need a credit card now? If so have a very low limit on it. At her age you need not worry that canceling credit cards hurts her credit. Ask her to surrender her cards to you and her checkbook also. Also check and life insurance policies to make sure they have not been altered.
    If charges against her credit cards are recent you may be able to get help stopping payment from the credit card company. You need to review her bank account also.
    Understand that if you have Power of Attorney you will be taking over ALL her finances.
    Good luck!
     
  6. Anon-9aee479f8f

    Anon-9aee479f8f Anonymized

    I'll just add if you have siblings you can get Co-Power of Attorney where both of you have to sign all legal papers. Takes some of the stress off of you and that way everyone knows what is going on and there will be no questions later.
     
  7. DOA

    DOA MG's Loki

    Spad is right, my Mom is like this also.
    She can do her email, facebook, surf the net, etc. But we do not trust her with money.
    On the computer side, she has a user account and does not know the Admin password. Even with these precautions she manages to mess up Windows.
    I have an image of her HDD and never bother to try a fix her Windows. Her photos and movies are on an NAS which I add to often. The computer has no anti-virus or anti malware, I just keep an extra HDD with her install. She lives with Sis and I can drive over and swap it out when she sleeps. I do have to set up a few parameters that change. Back home in an hour. I wipe and image the old drive when I have time, ready for the next problem. This happens about every two months.
    I cannot count the number of email accounts I have made for her. As soon as one is compromised I make another, usually when I restore to get rid of malware. I forward myself her recent email and send to her new acct. This takes a little time, but still less time than trying to block unwanted emails.
     
  8. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Thank you, everyone, for your replies! So much good advice; I really appreciate it!

    First, I need to find a way to "close the door" on her computer, because she tells me that if she calls him, he just accesses her computer from India and fixes it right on her screen. I'd also like to make it so *I* can access her computer from my home and help her with problems. I'm not the most computer-savvy person, but I will be going to her house tomorrow and I'd like to set that up. Can you tell me how to do that or point me in the right direction please?

    Then I need to find a company like Geek Squad who can handle her problems if I can't. I want someone in the U.S. who we can trust, so I probably want a big company so we can sue if they steal her info. Any suggestions?

    As for power of attorney, we're going to handle that on Monday after her doctor visit. Then I'll continue with your other suggestions. (I want to cancel her payment to this guy, but she is adamant that I don't, and I wouldn't want her to feel as if she's out of control of her life.)
     
  9. Just Playin

    Just Playin MajorGeek

    She is already out of control of her life or you wouldn't be at this point and there will never be a time when she won't feel as if she's out of control of her life if you step in. Sooner or later, you will have to take action and the longer you put it off to spare her feelings and avoid an inevitable confrontation ,the worse the mess will be.
     
    Mimsy likes this.
  10. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    Adding to this: My father assumed Power of Attorney for his mother a couple of years ago (with the full knowledge and consent of his siblings - he makes a point of keeping them all fully informed at all times), and she is actually less stressed and anxious since he did. Throughout her marriage she was the person in charge of the household budget and paying the bills, and as her Alzheimer progressed she became increasingly more anxious and frightened about the things she knew she was supposed to remember that she knew were important. She was genuinely relieved that a person she trusted and knew was honest, was stepping in and taking over the stressful duties. Now, every time she starts to fret, the nurse or orderly will remind her that her eldest son is taking care of it, as she asked him to do, and she simply nods and says something about how nice it is to have good children who are so willing to help her.

    whitequeen96, I completely understand why you don't want to go against something your mother is directly asking you to do, and as someone who once worked as an orderly's assistant in a nursing home and saw the opposite too many time, it's nice to see someone genuinely care about preserving the dignity and self-respect of someone who has Alzheimers. It's a brutal disease in many ways.

    However, if you have to choose between protecting her feelings, or protecting her from having her identity stolen and her bank accounts emptied, then I hope you have a more callous and pragmatic sibling who is willing to play the Bad Cop for you.
     
  11. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    Team Viewer
     
  12. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Thanks again for your recommendations. The first thing I want to do is to prevent this guy from "remote accessing" her computer. If he gets the credit card payment she agreed to pay him and it makes her feel better, so be it, although she doesn't have much money at all. I will then cancel that card and get her a replacement, and will carefully check the charges on her bill. I'm also going to cancel all her other credit cards, just to be safe.
     
  13. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    You will need power of attorney to do that.
     
  14. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    I'll either have her give her consent to the credit card companies for me to talk to them while I'm at her house, or have a power of attorney next week. Any other ideas on what I should do?
     
  15. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    Unplug her modem.

    No, not being sarcastic.
     
  16. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Wait, isn't there a way to prevent remote accessing? I planned to read up on it before going to her house tomorrow. Can't I take care of that part of the problem this way?
     
  17. ChuckPasadena

    ChuckPasadena Private E-2

    When I first read your post I wondered just how she managed to make the change to allow remote access in the first place.

    You'll find it by going to the System and Security section of the control panel under the System sub section.

    I understand your trepidation about taking control over your mother's affairs as I had to do the same, myself for my mother the last 3 years of her life. My mother fought me over it tooth and nail but within 2 months she found out how much she enjoyed her newfound freedom even more and took that time to reconnect with friends from decades ago she'd lost touch with. By the 1st year she told everyone how much she appreciated it and I'm sure your mother will see it that way as well.

    Good luck
     
  18. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Thank you for your encouraging words; I appreciate them.
    I'm sure this man in India who is "helping" her told her over the phone how to set up remote access for him to "fix" her computer. Apparently this was done several months ago when she would have been able to follow the directions. I'm not sure she could manage that now; she seems much more confused recently.
     
  19. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    You never said what kind of computer this was:

    If you go into your Control Panel, try searching the word remote and see what comes up. In Windows 8, RemoteApp and Desktop Connections will pop up. See if there is anything showing in there. It could be software he had her install as well, so I would go into her Control Panel again and go into Uninstall a Program (or Add Remove) and go through all the installed programs. Look for any that look like they should be uninstalled. You can do a search if you don't know what it is.
     
  20. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Thank you, LauraR, for taking the time on Thanksgiving to send this info! I would never have thought of him having her install a program. This is exactly the stuff I need to know before I go over there in 2 hours.

    Happy Thanksgiving!
     
  21. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    If you mother has dementia/alzheimer's you need to cancel her credit cards. (I'm sure you probably need power of attorney to do this butin might be worthwhile to call the credit card companies ahead of time to see if you can get alerts to strange charges). If she has no way to use a credit card, the scammers will be uninterested.
    My mother was of sound mind and lived to be 92. She never had a credit card and managed fine without one.
     
    DavidGP likes this.
  22. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi Whitequeen

    Sorry to hear this sad story as its hearbreaking to know that family members can be sucked into these "cons" You need to uninstall any unknown software and maybe a malware scan and follow our malware forum scans and post the logs in the malware forum for the experts to review is a fist start.

    Then make sure her bank cards and account are not haemorrhaging funds, follow what Laura mentions in blocking remote access in Windows. This remote guy s not helping her and please try and stress that as help in general can be free, if someone asks for payment then check it!! I hope you have this sorted and if not please really do post back to us as we can help, especially if you are in front of the PC.
     
  23. whitequeen96

    whitequeen96 Private First Class

    Thank you, everyone! I spent 4 hours on my mother's computer on Thanksgiving (after dealing with her credit card company) combing thru it as best I could. (I'm not all that computer savvy.) First I closed Remote Access, then installed Malwarebytes, Advance SystemCare, and CCleaner, ran all of them (lots of crap!), and removed anything suspicious from her downloads and programs. I changed her email password. After checking that everything still worked, I erased all System Restore points and set up a new one. And guess what? The guy called her the day after, wanting to know what was going on and was very unhappy. She told him that I was taking over her computer care, and then offered him my telephone number. He hung up while she was getting it.

    I didn't have time to look up everything on Task Manager or all her programs (my kid was falling apart), so I hope it's OK. I'll have to do that in a week or so, so I'm kind of nervous about how I left things. I'll follow your advice, DavidGP, about the malware forum scan, etc. We pasted a big note on her computer that she is NOT to talk to this guy again!

    I want to thank everyone here for all your suggestions and help! I'm especially grateful because this came up during the holiday and yet you still took time out of what surely was a busy time to help me. You are all good guys/gals!!
     
    Kestrel13!, LauraR and Mimsy like this.
  24. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Glad you were able to clear some stuff up for her. It sickens me that these people are out there taking advantage of people.
     
  25. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    I had a "tech" scam call on Thanksgiving day from an Indian sounding person who told me there was problems with my computer. He didn't get far.....but I have a strange Phone Number> 88482668
     
  26. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Just want to follow up and are things OK with your moms PC?
    Check again with malware scans as I do this with my moms laptop, I always scan and scan again as she like yours uses PC for online shopping etc.
     
  27. Shadowchaser

    Shadowchaser A Really Great Guy

    Unfortunately if he has installed a RAT (Remote Access Trojan) or other backdoor programs a simple search for them in LauraR's and the others posts won't find them. Get a hold of a good virus removal person to check the system entirely. If you don't have the funds or the ability to do so you can always re-install. My prayers are with you as my wife and I are also struggling with dealings with this horrible disease (her mom has it).

    Jack
     
  28. Kestrel13!

    Kestrel13! Super Malware Fighter - Major Dilemma Staff Member

    You'd be welcome to run through the Read and Run Me First procedures here:
    READ & RUN ME FIRST - Malware Removal Guide
     

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