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Helen approached her mother with a calm and open attitude, hoping to build trust and encourage her to share more about her situation. Dale Richardson, a police officer specializing in fraud protection, advises families to maintain curiosity without being confrontational. He explains that understanding the relationship dynamics by asking simple questions like “How did you meet?” and “What have they said?” can be a useful strategy.
Helen managed to persuade her mum to participate in a video call with the scammer. During the call, she quickly identified signs of deception, noticing the image was blurry and that the voice was not synchronized with the speaker’s lip movements—clear indicators of a deepfake. Despite Helen’s efforts to explain that the person was not genuine, her mother refused to accept this, expressing feelings of disgust and shame toward Helen’s intervention and insisting on maintaining the relationship.
Dr. Lis Carter, a forensic linguist working with the Scam Secrets team, highlights the need for patience and careful communication when trying to support someone caught in such a scam. She notes that from the family member’s perspective, intervening can feel like destroying the victim’s happiness, making the situation especially delicate.
When Helen was unable to convince her mother, she sought help from the bank, leveraging her power of attorney to set up protections for her mum’s finances. Jim Winters, head of economic crime at Nationwide, advises anyone who suspects a loved one is being scammed to contact their bank immediately. Although data privacy can limit what banks can disclose, they can still act to protect accounts and identify fraudulent activity quickly. Thanks to these efforts, Helen’s mother has had £45,000 returned to her account. After multiple changes to her mother’s phone number, which the scammers somehow continued to obtain, Helen eventually provided a basic phone restricted to calls and text messages. Winters also recommends resetting a person’s entire digital footprint by changing phone numbers, email addresses, and social media profiles to reduce visibility and prevent further contact from scammers
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