A concerned son and his wife hoped that Dr. Phil could get through to their senior mother. At the time of this show's taping, Norma was a 74-year-old who had been scammed out of over $250,000. She has wired and mailed money to three different online boyfriends to help them get back to the United States from their respective countries. There's just one problem. Norma doesn't believe she's being scammed.
Norma’s son, Rodney, and his wife, Cindy, have tried to get through to her, with no luck. "She has put money in shoeboxes, wiring the money through, like, Western Union, until they shut her down. Her bank was letting her wire money, and then they shut her down," Rodney says. "She ended up resorting to sending it through mail."
"I was astonished, because Norma has never been very generous with her money," Cindy adds.
Rodney says he obtained power of attorney over Norma’s finances to prevent her from sending any more money. Sadly, that hasn't stopped her from continuing to send money abroad. Rodney and Cindy hope that Dr. Phil can get through to her to put an end to this once and for all.
It won't be easy, however. Dr. Phil's producers dove deep to discover exactly what's happening to Norma's money. She's not alone. The Federal Trade Commission is among many agencies who have issued warnings about "love scams." Scammers appeal to older, lonely people and feign a relationship to see how much they can get out of them. Sadly, these people are then left in dire financial situations and with broken hearts.
