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LotusLover Asked June 2020

Person who calls is controlling my mother. What can we do?

We are taking care of my mother in our home and a person calls her who incites her to think and believe things that aren't true. It looks like this caller wants to get control of her for financial gain but we've been told that until my mother is willing to admit this person is dishonest, or until the caller overtly breaks the law, there's nothing we can do about it. My mother would be upset if we told her she couldn't talk to the caller because she says the caller is her friend. The caller calls from different phones so we really can't block the calls anyway, even if my mother agreed to it.

JoAnn29 Jun 2020
According to the info I have thru Comcast...

From your landline you dial *72 and a prompt will tell you to put in your forwarding number. To reverse this you dial *73.

Geaton777 Jun 2020
Since it's your landline, you can have all calls to it automatically routed to your mobile, just call your provider. Your mom can still call out, but all incoming calls will go to you. You can tell her friends this is the new arrangement and your mom can return any of their calls. The scammers will give up knowing the jig's up. Good luck!

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Midkid58 Jun 2020
"a person?" you don't know who it is? That's creepy.

While I don't personally know my mother's friends, I do hear all about their lives and their dramas. Do you not even know who this person is? This is elder abuse and should be treated as such.
Yeah, mom will be mad when you cut the cord, so to speak, but she can't protect herself, so you'll need to.

pamzimmrrt Jun 2020
So you tell Mom the land line is no longer working,, and shut it down. If she does not have their number, she cant call them, and since they call from various numbers she should not. Its your home...

Mysteryshopper Jun 2020
I agree with previous posts completely. If your mom is upset in the short term, then so be it. It sounds like you will be the one to straighten out the mess if something happens with this strange caller, so I believe that gives you the option to do whatever you can to prevent it - even if it causes some upset.

JoAnn29 Jun 2020
Dementia was mentioned in your other post but your profile says nothing to thatveffect. Does Mom have Dementia? Our answers will be better answered if we knew.

Hopefully, you have POA. As such you are Moms representative and responsible for her finances and health. I will assume here she suffers from a Dementia maybe in early stages. Even so, you need to protect her. Even in early stages, reasoning goes out the door.

If Mom has a cell phone, there should be a feature that only those on her contact list can ring thru. The ones that don't go to VMail. You can then see the number used and block it then delete the VM.
Landline, get Caller ID. If the name or number is not familiar allow to go to VM. Try to get Mom to understand not to pick up the phone.

Mom lives with you. Hopefully if he/she calls on your the landline you pick up first. Let your husband do it. Tell the person that they are not to call again. Maybe tell a fib and say the phone is wired.

I know you realize this is a scammer since they call from different numbers. You may want to tell them that you are now in charge of Moms finances so they are beating a dead horse. Bet they don't call again.

Geaton777 Jun 2020
Are they calling on her mobile? If not, you control the land line. Help your mother change her phone number. Maybe spend a day securing your mom's sensitive info, alert her bank, etc. Put credit alerts on her accounts. Manage her passwords, etc. Open up online banking for her accounts so you can monitor them. It is imperative that this predator gets blocked. This person will drain her of her money and then you will be left dealing with the ensuing mess, and she will suffer. Are you her financial PoA?
LotusLover Jun 2020
Yes, we are told Mom has early stage dementia. That's why she would become so upset if we cut the cord. Thank you for your suggestions. We will consider them all. Thank you!!

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