A daughter's alarm bells went off when her mother's online "affair" with a supposed U.K. pilot turned into secret requests for money.
What started with a plea to borrow $700 escalated into a demand for Apple gift card codes, which is a classic sign that a romance scam may already be draining a family's savings and trust.
Here's what to know
Writing in a Reddit thread, the poster said her mother, who is in her late 60s, had been acting strangely for months and eventually disclosed an emotional relationship with "a pilot from the UK."
The daughter told the r/Scams subreddit she quickly suspected a scam, particularly because her mother first asked for money in secret and later requested a gift-card payment that involved photographing the uncovered code.
Another major red flag was the insistence on secrecy. The mother asked her daughter not to tell her husband or stepfather about the money, even though the family had access to funds and the request "did not make sense."
The mom's own words also showed how strong the emotional pull had become: "Everyone tells me not to trust him, but there's just something about him I can't get off my mind."
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Commenters were nearly unanimous that the situation fit the pattern of a romance scam.
A commenter assessed it: "Definitely a scam. They have addicted her to the love bombs. It is a psychological technique that they have perfected. No real person can compete with the unrealistic expectations that are established."
More background
People in the thread also warned that the harm might go far beyond one payment.
"Of course it's the scammer," one said. "You need to make sure your finances are not mixed up with hers because she will blow all of her and her husband's money on this."
Another aspect of the situation was the original poster's mother's behavior. While she claimed to have broken off contact, her more recent request for money had the telltale signs.
As the original poster shared, the request to send money to a friend on an Apple gift card was "scammer 101."
What can be done?
When a relative becomes secretive, suddenly asks to borrow money, grows emotionally attached to someone no one has met, and is told to pay with gift cards, it calls for immediate attention. It can also help to separate finances where possible.
The original Reddit thread also pointed readers to the National Elder Fraud Hotline at the Office for Victims of Crime's Stop Elder Fraud page, as well as the Federal Trade Commission's fraud reporting site.
Redditors were adamant that the OP should be more direct.
"You should speak with your stepdad," one wrote. "He needs to protect himself."
That also extended to how they handled the situation with their mother.
"I know you want to save the relationship so maybe the best start is 'Mom needs help and it's bad,'" one suggested.
Where can I learn more?
Scammers are using a broad set of tools to target victims, including artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and tried-and-true phone scams.
• In Massachusetts, an AI-fueled scam boom helped "Eliza" steal $400,000 from one man.
• In the UK, a cryptocurrency ad led scammers to seize devices and drain £250,000.
• After a fake bank call, a courier took one woman's life savings.
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