<p>My 80yo Father got scammed by something similar last year. Once the money was sent by Western Union I thought it was a lost cause. But, my brother (who works in internet security) knew better. Money was being wired to London from Boston and he knew the WU offices hadn’t opened yet in London. So later that night he was able to get WU to put a hold on the money transfer and we were able to recover it back. After this, my Father started getting all kinds of phone calls from folks looking for information/money etc. We had to change my Fathers phone number. </p>
<p>The other scam that is common in my neck of the woods is people knocking on doors claiming they are from the town/city/local utility and need to look at something inside/outside etc. While they have the homeowner distracted a second person steals money/jewlery etc. </p>
<p>A few months ago, my Father was also contacted by a lawyer looking for his homeowners info because someone had “slipped and fell” on his property. We had a relative who is a lawyer contact the first lawyer who promptly stopped calling and writing looking for info. Unfortunately, my experience is insurance companies are too quick to pay out relatively small amounts of moneyfor these types of cases. </p>
<p>I keep wondering how people fall for this, but they do. Despite telling him not to let strangers into to his house, I keep waiting for my Father to fall for the city worker telling him they need to get into the house. :(</p>