I don’t know about you, but my ability to think rationally has had highs and lows during 2020. It’s scary how low it can go. Not quite like complete full on dementia, but on a scale of low to high functioning, I’m coming in at a medium level of bat-sh*t crazy.
It’s not due to lack of fresh air and freedom. There’s that, of course.
Walking around masked or not, the lockdown and COVID-19 has had added stress to my fluctuating levels of sanity.
Perhaps my brain is foggy from all of my head shaking at the bizarre treatment of each other that our fellow human beings have been exhibiting during an election year?
Yeah, that has something to do with it.
Or maybe it’s the extra glasses of wine I’ve enjoyed from home instead of going off to visit a winery. I admit that does have something to do with it.
Perhaps I have perpetual COVID-19? Recently, another symptom has been identified for COVID-19.
Delirium.
This week, I was hit with a situation that seriously messed with my brain’s function. It happened when I answered the phone. I answered just because it was from the county in our state where our youngest lives.
At first thought, I surmised it may have been contact tracer or something like that? She’s asymptomatically on quarantine since her roommate had been exposed to a positive case. It was either that or an election call.
I hesitantly answered the call.
“Hello.”
What happened next was beyond belief, yet for about 10 minutes I believed it was real.
“Mom, mom, mom…”
“Who is this?”
“Mom, mom, it’s me, listen … mom, mom, (sounds of sobbing) I’ve been in a car accident and people were hurt.”
“Who is this?”
“Mom, mom, I’ve been arrested and can’t talk long.”
“Is this (insert my daughter’s name)?”
“Yes, it’s me, I’ve been arrested and my nose is broke and I need you to call the attorney.”
“OMG … you don’t sound the same at all?”
“Mom … please help. I don’t have any of my stuff, my phone, all of it isn’t here, so I can’t call the attorney.”
“Okay, what’s his name and number?”
“Do you have a pen?”
“Yes.”
“Please call as soon as possible, he’ll tell you all the details. Please hurry.”
“Okay, we will, what’s the number?”
“866-945-0996, ext. 3. Please hurry, I love you guys. I gotta go.”
“Bye honey, we love you too.”
Not thinking straight, Mr. and I both freaked out. Our baby needed our help. I dialed the number.
“Attorney Borgen’s Office, if you know your party’s extension, press it now.”
#3
“Attorney David Borgen speaking.”
“This is, (insert my name) I’ve been given your number by my daughter who is in jail.”
“What is her name, I’m prosecuting a bunch of cases right now.”
I gave him her name.
“Just a moment, I have to put you on hold.”
“Okay.”
“Yes, okay, here are the details. (He rattled them off very fast.) Your daughter was in a minor traffic accident, she was arrested for a DUI. The police report states that she lost control and hit another car with Ms. Stewart in it who had to be taken to the hospital. She’s 6 months pregnant and had a broken arm and collar bone. Your daughter was arrested for DUI level of 0.9 when 0.8 is legal. She is being charged with reckless endangerment as well as the DUI. She told the police that she had drank an energy drink with a tiny amount of alcohol in it, but wasn’t drunk. They were very aggressive with her and I’ve told her to plead not guilty when she gets to see the judge at the court hearing. She’s being held until then which is scheduled for Monday November 16 at 10:00 am. She can be released with a $90,000 bail bond.”
“This all seems so strange, I was talking with my daughter this morning.”
“Just a moment I need to put you on hold to double check on something.”
Our hearts sank as we looked at each other.
And then reality hit me. I shook my head, this can’t be real.
I ran upstairs to my office, and looked at my computer screen. I had been messaging on SLACK with my daughter (aka, the one ‘arrested’), just a short time prior to the call. Had she gotten arrested in that short period of time?
WTF?
I messaged her, “are you home?”
I sighed relief looking at the bouncing “_____ is typing” cloud.
She replied, “Yes, why?”
“We’re on the phone with someone who’s representing someone who claimed to be you. So you haven’t been arrested?”
“No, Mom!”
I hung up the phone line that was on hold and called our local police station. Interestingly, they never called me back.
As soon as I started telling the officer the situation, he stopped me and said, “Yes, that’s an overseas scam that we can’t trace. We’ve had numerous calls about it. You didn’t give them any money did you?”
“No, just my name and my daughter’s.”
“They already had that information, they’re getting it from the internet and putting pieces together. It’s good you just hung up.”
“Okay, thank you officer.” And we both hung up.
Meanwhile, Mr. Googled the number and found this:
I called my daughter and told her about the whole situation. She said, “That was quite the scary scam. You two are such loving parents you just reacted out of love. I may be in COVID jail, but I’m not in real jail!”
It was great to hear her voice and to shake off the messed up feelings I was going through. And to finally have my blood pressure back to ‘normal’.
I sighed as I wondered if 9 am was too early to start drinking?!
I drank a huge glass of water instead of pouring a glass of wine.
It took several days for us to not still be bothered by the call. It was high, not medium, and definitely not low on that scared the h*ll out of me meter.
Post Inspiration Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Medium
PS – Have you ever received a scam call that made you momentarily demented? Do tell. On a side note, we’re doing final finishing touches on the rental unit. I’m getting so excited to be finished with it and to share the big reveal. More later!
OM Gosh! I am sooo glad that your daughter is OK, guys! my jaw dropped… Have a wonderful Sunday!
Thanks, John! Yeah, our jaws dropped too. I hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday too! Don’t answer the phone!!! 😉
You too, and I get too many spam calls already, they go on the Block list.
Our phone rings all day long with spam/political calls. Always different numbers. Sigh.
If it’s a landline, can it be blocked? So easy on a cell phone. I haven’t had a landline in years.
I don’t know if it can be blocked on our landline. We’re on a no-call list, but that doesn’t capture all calls, especially during an election year.
I think that no-call list thing is a joke, it never worked as I recall.
I agree!
9:00 am is not too early to pour a glass of wine – not in this case.
Cheers! That’s exactly what I was thinking. LOL!
What a scary situation! Glad y’all got it straightened out before any more information or money was exchanged. Glad it was just a scam you didn’t fall for, and that your daughter was okay.
Thanks, Barbara, yes, it was. Me too – I can’t believe I fell for it initially. I’m soooooo glad our daughter is okay. I hope you and your family are well!
I’ve heard of that one before. They count on parents reacting in the moment, as one would do. Others have been scammed out of lots of money. Good thinking to go and message her. I’m glad everyone is okay.
I should pay attention to scams people talk about, and maybe I wouldn’t have gotten momentarily sucked into this one. Yes, we’re glad to be ‘okay’!! 😉 Thank you for sharing your thoughts. xx
I had heard about this kind of thing happening, but your detailed account is chilling. Of course the mama emotions took over. And these days we are all getting so used to bad things happening that we never expected, so it’s hard to think straight at first. Glad you are all okay. Wine makes perfect sense.
It was quite chilling to go through. As parents we do have random worried thoughts about our kids out on their own, ‘what-ifs’ can catch you by surprise. You’ve stated it well – these days so many bad things happening, any weird stuff can seem real. Thank you – we’re glad to be okay and the wine later that day was tasty. 😉
You’re welcome and thanks for sharing – you never know…that story might help someone else who gets a call like that.
🙂
Halloween will be child’s play after this! Wait, it is child’s play!
Your experience puts this really common, really seductive scam front and center in our minds, and from us to others, hopefully. I’m just glad it ended so much better for you than so many we hear about!
Such sad and evil child’s play was this scam. I can imagine my mom freaking out at a call like this one. She almost fell for the credit card, SS# one years ago. Thanks for your support, Ellen! xx
Someone tried that scam on my 88 yo mother. She didn’t give them any info but somehow figured out they were lying, yelled at them (LOL) and hung up. So glad you were able to text with your daughter quickly. They must make money off that scam as it seems popular. 😫
Oops…it’s Laurel but it posted me as anonymous. 🤷♀️
Hi Laurel – thank you for sharing your thoughts and for clarifying who shared the previous comment! I hope you and your grandbaby are doing well!!!
I guess anyone who would answer the phone this year might be open to getting the call. I didn’t realize how common it is. That’s awesome that your mom figured it out and yelled at them and hung up. She’s spunky and wise!!
I’m thankful I had been texting with her earlier, that made it easier to double think about the whole conversation. They must make $. I’d like to know why the others who reported on the # were only asked to provide $9k and our call was $90k. Grrr.
We all think we aren’t susceptible to those types of scams, but when we are faced with a loved one in possible danger or in need of our help, we often act before our rational minds can take over. Good for you for questioning it and checking things out with your daughter, There’s a special place in hell for those who prey on others like that.
Yes, well said Janis – that’s exactly how I felt. I didn’t think I’d be naive enough to fall for something like that. I think that I initially did and that’s what made the eerie feelings linger throughout the week.
I’m thankful we wised up and eventually hung up on the monsters!
Like we don’t have enough to worry about.
Exactly, you’re right on target!
Soon as the whole thing started I was a skeptic. ” I don’t have any of my stuff, my phone, all of it isn’t here, so I can’t call the attorney.” My children wouldn’t have any legal details especially when they didn’t have their phone. The broken nose why they sounded different is quite clever though.
Good on you for realising but I would have played them along as I do with most of that sort of scammer. I always get them to hang up first lol
You’re a wise person, and clever, and if I hadn’t gotten so shook up and knew it was indeed a scam, I may have played along to get them to hang up back in the pre-2020 days!
LOL. The broken nose thing was an interesting twist to the call. As soon as I said I had been texting with my daughter earlier, that threw ’em off enough to put me on hold. Next time I get one I’ll put on a “Brian’s Brain” instead of my batsh*t crazy brain!! 🙂
Good idea Shelley 😀 😀
I get calls all the time from the “IRS,” which is a huge scam. They tell you you’re in trouble and want a giftcard for the amount (usually in the thousands of dollars) and give you a drop box to send it to. Most people don’t realize that the IRS always sends a letter through the mail when there’s a question or problem with your taxes and never contact you by phone.
I’ve gotten emails from “relatives” (usually who have had their Yahoo mail hacked) claiming to be stuck in Europe with no money or credit cards who need money like right away if not sooner to pay their hotel bill. Of course it’s BS. Those just go into the spam bucket.
Looking forward to seeing the rental unit “after”!
I’ve seen/heard about the IRS calls. Those are the ones that unfortunately many local seniors had fallen for. You’re right, it would always be a letter, never a call.
I’ve not heard fo the relatives in Europe. Typically any email that the from is some weird URL I know it’s spam. There is plenty of BS out there in the cyberspace, that’s for sure.
Us too, we’re anxious for the after pictures! I just have to get there and take pictures soon.
Oh my, Shelley, how scary! That does sound so very convincing. I wonder how many people are convinced and go through with sending the money. Terrible. And the fact that our police here can’t do anything about it, what a shame. I’m so glad it was all a lie though and your daughter’s fine. This information age sure puts a lot of personal info in the wrong hands! Glad everything turned out OK, but I can understand how you’d feel extra loopy about it, these days.
Thanks for your support Rebecca. Yeah, it was mostly convincing and quite the loopy causing experience. One that even caused nightmares a couple nights after it happened. It’s so weird how our brain wants to believe what we’re hearing so we can help someone we love. I’m very thankful it was all a lie, and I hope we’re on their no-call list now!
What a thing to have happen. I think last week the world fell apart for just about everyone I know. I’m delighted to learn that your daughter is ok. I’ve answered the phone, hesitantly, because of the area code the call is coming from but in my case it was politics, no alleged family emergency.
Yes, it was a strange deal indeed. It is sad to see how much is falling apart. I normally just ignore the phone call #’s I don’t recognize. The county connection to her got me this time though. Most of our calls we think are political. We figure if it is an emergency, the person can leave a message and we’ll call them back. I’m glad you’re doing okay despite the disappointments of the last week.
Oh my gosh Shelley! That is so sickening that people would do that. I’m so glad that all is well with your daughter and that you found out before it was too late. Thanks for the heads up as well!
Thank you for your support! I’m glad to share the info and hopefully it helps someone else not fall for the scam.
“The Father “with Anthony Hopkins and “Drunk” with Mads Mikkelsen could be your next watching movies, I RECOMMEND them both.
Take care and be alive, a pharmacist could only write you back. Alcohol is not a good friend, in the morning or all along the day..
Hi Anne, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I haven’t seen either one of those movies, I’ll have to look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.
I’ll have to mention it to my doctor if/when I get there in January – our local state is in ‘don’t go anywhere if not essential’ mode again. Yes, alcohol is not a good friend.
That is scary and scammers were doing something similar to elderly people and they were calling and saying there were the grandchild on a vacation and needed money to bail them out of jail due to an unfortunate circumstance. Yikes! Luckily, nothing was wrong. I’ve only had one scam pulled on me, but I didn’t bite – a red screen screaming virus appeared in the middle of computer screen and a toll-free number to call (supposedly Microsoft but Googling told me otherwise) how to remove it.
It is scary that people even think doing something like this is a good idea at all. UGH. Yeah, I had a similar screen virus once – Mr. fixed it by Googling how to fix it too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Linda!
People are doing so many scams these days – I am sick of the junk calls and get so many I sometimes turn the ringer off as they ring incessantly 10-12 times.
Same here!
Glad your daughters ok Shelley . These scammers ought to be caught and jailed .The amount of calls coming through landlines as well as mobiles now is unbelievable and relentless. Its really bad in the UK my parents get them daily.
Thank you Julie! Our phone rings every 30 minutes during the day. We’re not answering anymore, we’re letting the answering machine scare the callers off. I hope you’re parents do the same. Take care and stay safe!!