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She has been stuck on scam after scam for over 9 months. She has given over $9k away. She obsesses about winning money everyday from sunup to sundown. This affects her lifestyle and relationships.

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Call moms doctor for calming meds also. She's stuck in loop thinking which is common with dementia. Remove her credit cards, checkbook and means of getting money too.
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MissesJ May 4, 2025
Also, remove her smartphone, iPad, computer, mail—anything that makes it possible for anyone other than her actual friends and family to access her and anything that can store credit card information.
If she asks, you can tell her something like, “Oh, that was made illegal in our state.”
Also, you will need to try to replace the sweepstakes with another activity.
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If she's diagnosed with dementia and is taken advantage of by scammers, she should no longer have control of her finances. Your next step is to find out how to become her money manager.

If you have her POA, not so difficult. If you don't, that's a problem, and you need to figure out how to proceed. Lawyer time!
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You contact PCH by email and tell them to remove Mom of their mailing a call lists, act like her. Any junk mail she gets with a self-address envelope enclosed you put the inserts back in with her address showing. Circle that, and put " take this name and anyother name associated with this address off your mailing list. Other scams I have been able to email. Go online to the do not call list and no junk mail list. Do not buy magazine subscriptions in Her name. No contests where she wins a car or trip. And PCH is big on selling their mailing lists.
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I had this same problem with Mom. At 1st I didn't know she had dementia. Then I noticed there was an awful lot of mail going out to sweepstakes and for donations of support. I had over 1,000 letters she was responding to. I took photos for proof. I started to take the outgoing mail, open it and destroy the checks. I was eventually made her fiduciary for her veterans benefits check. I'm joint owner on her accounts at the credit union. I solved the problem with all the mailings by opening up and writing on the return inserts 'Remove address from mailing list!!!' In big bright letters. I also signed up for informed mail with USPS. I get an email everyday showing me what I'm getting in the mail. I wanted to get a PO Box but getting the mail is one of her daily things she does along with getting the paper. So I just watch and things I dont want her to have I get before her. If I don't get it. She puts on her dresser and I go and take it. She doesn't remember she had it. She's 94, diagnosed with dementia since 2019 but I believe she's had it longer. She's still very active. I keep her busy with exercise at senior center, Planet Fitness and at KPop events. We have a lot of fun together. Love my Mom!
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Can you have her mail forwarded to you?
If she has dementia, you should also think about getting POA for her and managing her bills.
If she questions why she is no longer receiving these sweepstakes offers, you can tell her that it was found to be fraudulent and they are no longer allowed to mail.

Does she have a network of friends or family members whom you could motivate to write letters or cards to her? She may simply be lonely and this fantasy is giving her joy to replace the lack of human interaction.
Prompting her friends and family to call her on a regular basis, or stop by for a visit, or simply mail a fun card or letter may help to ease her feeling of isolation.
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I had the same problem. Mom kept “entering” the sweepstakes by buying all the crap they were selling as her form of entry. Dishtowels, pots & pans-stupid stuff that she then tried to “gift” to me! I found every contact I could for PCH and emailed, phoned and mailed letters telling them to please help me & that my mom had dementia and didn’t know what she was doing. They finally responded and said they would remove her from their list and cease all mailings.
Don’t give up! Contact them non stop until you get a response. It CAN be done.
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I had to go the guardianship route. Some things helped. Change her address to yours. Tell post office the mailbox is vacant to stop junk mail. Cut all credit, take all forms of ID to your home. She cannot open accounts without IDs. Change her phone number to an unlisted one. Do not give her the new number but program her immediate contacts. And notify only her close contacts who will not clue her in She can keep giving away her old number. If she has a land line. You might be able to forward incoming calls to your number but you have to answer her callers quickly to intercept.

Key info is not to tell her what you are doing. My main question with dementia at this level is that she should no longer be alone.
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Patathome01 May 5, 2025
Terrific information! Thank you for sharing this information!!
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Your mother can no longer handle her financial affairs with her dementia, so you must now take her her money management. Follow many readers' advices. Freeze her credit bureaus so she cannot open more credit cards in her name.

It's time to get your mother her doctor's evaluation and yourselves a lawyer. Hope you have POA for your mother who is losing funds needed for her care.

If she requires Medicaid for her care someday, giving away money to these scamming-type PCH's is like gifting, a violation of Medicaid rules to ineligibily. You have to obtain control of her finances now to prevent further losses.

Completely take over your mother's money and mail to your name and Stop all junk mail and block unwanted callers.
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TouchMatters May 6, 2025
Thank you. 200% agree.
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She needs to only use her computer when she is supervised and change her settings on her phone to block everybody except family and known friends.
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TouchMatters May 6, 2025
Thank you. Gena
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