I have a question...
My Dad has given over 80,00.00 to this lottery phone scam.
What do you do when your have tried talking to him, showing him on paper,the police, his doctor, family members, a few friends, elder abuse line, and your Dad still continues to send money to a phone scam? The gift card lottery scams. I can not just change his phone number - MY DAD CALLS THEM!!!!! leaves messages when they do not answer.
I live out in a different state and have made 5 trip to his home in 2020, I have straighten his money out he says I will not ever do it again. But does.
In November I stayed till the 4th of December to watch him do his bills and show him again that what hehad left had to get him through the month. I felt he was listening and done with the scam. Two days after I left he sent the money he had in 2 gift cards. Leaving him 35.00 for the month, I asked why, his answer, I am in this far and if I quit it is all gone. I say it is all gone.
If your Father is not suffering from dementia then you can do nothing. Do assure him that he will be on relying on the kindness of strangers for his future care, as he has flushed his money down the toilet.
If the Federal Government understood how much they spend on Seniors who threw away their money in this manner they might care more; as it is they see to care not at all. AARP is the only ones out there trying to make Seniors understand, and I am afraid at this point this all seems hopeless. Our elders suspect every housekeeping of stealing their 20.00 bills while they invest 1,000s in scams because someone will talk nice to them on the phone. It's a great tragedy.
I watched a shows on this. Its an addiction. Perfectly normal, intelligent people get dragged in.
If Dad has Dementia and you have POA you need to use it. My SIL went thru Hell with her Mom. Same thing, she called them. She had put Mom in an IL after her husband died. She had SS and his pension and 50K in insurance. The 50k was to offset what the pension and SS didn't cover. She spent the 50k on scams. My SIL programed her phone like a childs. Mom would borrow a neighbors. She at one point took it away. When the house sold, SIL put it in an acct that her Mom could not get to. She was able to clear the Credit Card debt. Her Mom died debit free because of SIL but there was some Dementia there.
If you are his financial PoA (or durable) and, depending on the language in the legal document, now would be the time to put your legal authority into action. If you are not his PoA, you may want to consider guardianship or conservatorship through the courts. Caregiving out of state does become onerous. I'm in MN and have 2 in FL.
You are at the juncture where you need to make some big decisions. Are you willing/able to continue to become a more active caregiver? He is obviously a hazard to himself and you going there to review how to do things is a waste of time. He either is just yes-ing you to get you off his back or he genuinely forgets and is obsessed with the GC scam because his ability to reason is now permanently compromised. Being taken in by scammers is a very common symptom/phase of dementia. If you are going to help him and he has burned through all his own money, he may not even qualify for Medicaid because he was giving his money away. The look-back period for Medicaid can be between 2.5 and 5 years, depending on what state he's in, or what state you're in, if you move him close to you. This is all so stressful and I'm sorry you have to deal with this. You need to decide where you're going with his caregiving and that will dictate your next steps. I wish you all the best and success in helping him.