An 89-year-old woman lost over $10,000 and sold her life insurance plan before realizing she had fallen victim to a scam.
Earlier this year, Marcie Blume received a phone call with what she thought was an exciting announcement.
“It was a phone call that said I had won big on Mega Millions,” explained Blume, who has seven grandchildren. “I wanted it to be true so bad so I could help my kids."
The caller told her she had won over $800,000, but she would first need to pay off taxes on the prize as well as attorney fees.
“He just kept asking for money, money, money,” she explained. “There was always an excuse why they had to have more money."
Blume said the caller reached out to her many times and seemed genuine.
During the calls, she said she even shared personal details about her life and why winning the money was important to her.
“He was very convincing. He called me constantly,” she explained. “He was wanting to know how I was and acted like he was really sincere. I just can't believe how convincing he was."
Despite fees piling up and having to continue shelling out money into a new account she opened with the caller, Blume kept up on what she allegedly owed.
“By that time, we were getting in so deep it felt like I had to go on with it,” she explained.
After calling the bank one day to see if her prize money was in the account, she learned shocking news.
“They said, 'You don't have a balance. There's no money in here,’” she explained. “I cried and I cried and I cried."
The scam resulted in Blume losing thousands of dollars and selling off her life insurance plan.
After losing so much, she said the scam had left her with mounting issues.
“I couldn't even buy my medicine,” she said, through tears. “I lost everything I had."
Blume added that her husband also lost a large amount of money after helping to pay off the fake fees and falling for a similar scam with a caller afterward.
“Right now, I don't know what to do,” she explained. “I don't know which way to turn."
The heartbreaking financial loss has left Blume with having to possibly sell her home.
“I wanted to go to my grave knowing all my kids were taken care of good,” she explained. “For the last years of my life, I'm just making things worse."
Scams against senior citizens sadly happen all too often.
The crimes continue to be a very tough to track and often leave victims without justice.
“We get calls all the time. People get phished in by scammers online,” explained Jim Keeley, owner of PC Solutions. “It's prevalent everywhere. There are people everywhere trying to take your money."
Suspects involved the scams can often be tough to find due to their methods.
“You can't track anything down,” Keeley said. “The people change numbers every day."
According to Blume’s family, police tracked phone calls tied to the scam to various areas around the US and to Jamaica.
The suspects still remain on the loose.
Following the scam, Blume’s family started a GoFundMe page for donations to help her recover.
Moving forward, Blume hoped telling her story could help prevent others from experiencing heartbreak similar to her own.
“I just hope and pray that the people out there will just hang up on them,” she said.
