I do think that some of the cruelest scams out there are romance scams, where a scammer fakes falling in love with someone, only to ask them to send money.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Americans lost a total of $1.3 billion dollars to romance scams back in 2023 alone, and many adults over the age of 60 end up as common targets.
The FBI says that last year, in the states of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, over 700 people fell victim to romance scams, losing $20 million dollars just in that region.
This woman works in a hotel, and there is currently an elderly female guest staying with them, whom she’s convinced fell victim to a romance scam.
Their guest has been staying at their hotel for slightly more than three weeks, and she continues to extend her time there. The guest expressed to her that she already sold her childhood house so that she can move to New York to be with her new boyfriend.
The guest told her that her boyfriend’s first name is Andrew, and he’s a radio show host, though she thought perhaps she was referring to a podcast, as radio shows are pretty outdated by now.
Then, the guest informed her that her boyfriend’s last name is Cuomo, and he has three daughters…which does line up with information regarding the former governor of New York, but there’s no way she’s dating him!
She went on this woman’s Facebook profile and found that it’s brimming with links and news clips regarding the politician.
“I did a little bit more digging on her house’s listing, and Andrew M Cuomo shows up as a previous partial owner of the house. [What on earth] is going on here?” she wondered.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
“Is there actually any chance this ~80-year-old lady in Maine is somehow dating that Andrew Cuomo? She said they are getting married on Valentine’s Day.”
“She also said he asked for her mailing address here at the hotel because he is sending her something, but he also asked for her credit card numbers so ‘he can pay them off.'”
She really wants to break the news to the guest that she is totally getting scammed, and she’s sad that she sold her house and moved all to start a new life based on a lie.
Additionally, she’s concerned that this woman will keep on extending her stay at the hotel until she’s penniless, which might happen sooner than anyone anticipates.
She’s clearly a good person for caring so much about this guest at the hotel. I wonder if she can call the police or Adult Protective Services for help. I am not sure if she tells this woman flat-out that she’s being scammed, if she will convince her.
What advice do you have for her?
You can read the original post below.
By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
