My dad is a little mentally ill... and he likes to go through spam mail 24/7 and answer them. Well he's hadd his Social security number stolen, and his bank accounts robbed.
Yet there's nothing the police can do to catch the criminals, since they use false identities so no one knows their identity. Then they toss the card somewhere...
Does anyone know of anything he should look into to not only protect himself (without having to change his Social security #) or any ways to help catch the crook?
ID:276772
 Mar 15 2006, 9:47 am
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Mar 15 2006, 10:16 am
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Sniper Joe
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Change his email password, don't let him use the PC.
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Install a client such as Eudora, and have it filter out spam and immediatly throw it away?
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Jon I am sorry to hear this. As you may or may not already know, I had some mail fraud problems that happened online this past month or so.
Luckily we had the last known shipping address from the guy who had performed the fraud in the first place. After awhile they did find out who the guy was and where he lived.. Now the bad news, the man was hit with 12 different counts of internet fraud, but because it happened in a different state, unless we pay to have him brought back into the state it happened, there is nothing we can do. Your father on the other hand has it especally bad. ID theft is not something to take lightly. How exactly did he have his ID stolen? If it was online through a web site, I suggest you contact your local govenor and talk to them about it. Last year, I paid some money for a web site that was offering a job (yes I know, stupid.) and it was just a site telling me how to rip other people off how they just ripped me off. I contacted my local gonvernor with an e-mail and now that website is under investagtion. | |
it's not that simple, the guy is mentally ill for sure... but not in the sense that he's a child. In the sense that he has dimensia (or however you spell it), parkinsons, and a bunch of other diseases that just mess with his mind.
So he's still very well an "adult" and still "father figure" in his mind and he's not about to listen to any of his kids and let them take control over his life like that. | |
he uses several e-mail address's, yahoo, msn, outlook... he uses a bunch lol...
he has nothing better to do as well, because he's disabled so he can't go out of the house really due to his feet. So, instead of watching tv he goes online and fills out spam mail... because his mind can't register the difference between fraud and reality. When he sees, "You've won a million dollars!" He thinks he really won something. So when I have put internet blockers on his computer (without him knowing) he freaked out and went crazy... hehe | |
Jon Snow wrote:
Yet there's nothing the police can do to catch the criminals, since they use false identities so no one knows their identity. Then they toss the card somewhere... If the criminals are stupid enough to have something delivered to their house, that's one way to catch them. Another is by simply going to whatever place they used the card at and ask around. Perhaps somebody might know who it was, especially if they're a frequent buyer of expensive items. | |
"dementia". But it's usually used to dscribe the loss of mental capacities with increased age... oh, well.
--Vito | |
Tell him... The internet is down. The little 200 mhz processer that registers everything is now broken, and he cant use it anymore.
[edit] Or hell, take out the power supply, and tell him its broken. | |
he'd just buy a new one? he's obsessively compulsive about it... he'd work at it until we found a way, because it's his life. It's all he ever does.
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yes and 10 years down the road he will be that bad... but now it's just a gradual decline, it's like a grey area where he's not bad enough to be put in a home, but he's not safe enough to be left alone.
If it does in fact get worst in the next year or so, I will have to apply for guardianship and put him in a home... but for now I can take care of him just fine, just looking for some advice on this area. | |
I don't know what to tell you. Even if it upsets him because his spam mail is missing, if it causes trouble.. it is something you have to do..
Sometimes you need to do stuff you don't want to do, or something that will upset someone else, but for their own good you need to do it anyways. You need to start setting up the computer so this stuff dosen't keep happening. Yeah, he might get upset and rant and rave, but if you are like, watching him, its your responsiblity to make sure he dosen't get into any trouble. I am going to sit here and assume you have already tried to just talk to him. But that didn't work. And I can honestly not think of any other way, then to either just cut his internet activity, or start cracking down on his e-mail. Here is another thought for you. You do relize there there are a lot of online web pages that offer small rewards, sometimes even money, for filling out on-line web surveys or completeing tasks online. Perhaps you should filter out all of his crap e-mail one day, and then at the same time, sign him up for a bunch of spam that may actully pay off some day in the future. That way, hes still doing it, but he might actually get something back in return. | |
I'd say now is a good time to put him in a home but thats a bit harsh. Just buy him WoW or go the cheaper route with Maplestory and Runescape.
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Well the concern isn't the spam mail, the concern right now is getting the fraud problem taken care of. One step at a time, slowly transitioning...
It'll take time :) Just asking for advice against fraud, I know what I need to do with him, and plan to get around to that... but cutting it off during a stressful time (such as identity theft) isn't my priority. he's freaking out/stressed out enough as is. | |
Get a good spam blocker for his email, if possible. Perhaps put some sort of a buffer in there so that if an email wasn't on the whitelist, it has to go though you first. He doesn't have to know about it, just tell him that the emails are getting delayed. Get strong adblockers if you haven't already, FireFox with the Adblock and adblock filter updater extentions does this very well.
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I recommend reporting the card as stolen, this will lock it down, and flag any usage. If they use it at any online vendor, they should be able to provide an address, or at least an IP. The IP could give you an ISP. The ISP would know who had what IP when. Tada, you have found your ID thief.
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You're local police department should be able to set you up with an anti-fraud group.
Odds are there's nothing that can really be done to set things straight but they'll be able to give you lots of information. Mainly things on what to do to avoid fraud, but also some things on what to do after you've been a victim of fraud (to make sure that it doesn't get any worse). | |
Dual accounts, clearly he is not responsible enough to take care of his own accounting so another should be in charge.
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Im obsessive compulsive about things though Im learning to control it, but my problems aren't in comprehension, they are social and emotional. Still I believe I share in some of your fathers pain.. I suggest that you somehow prove he is unfit to maintain a bank account and have it so someone in your direct family or you controls what he can and can not do.. This way he has to check with people who actually know if something is total bull.
At first he may be angry, maybe even act violently but eventually he will accept it as a way of life, he will still be able to do most of the things he likes, just dont let him give the information to questionable organizations and let him know that if he truly won money they would be knocking on the door, and phoning him.. not using email, they never use email. | |