Worst of All Cons–Mystery Question

Patricia Bradley Mystery Question 40 Comments

Psalm 29:2

Worst of All Cons is this week’s Mystery Question. I think these are the most diabolical con of all. In 2019, people reported losing 201 million dollars to cons involving romance. This is more than victims lost to fake lotteries and sweepstakes, impostor frauds, or tech support phishing.

But first the photo and verse. I somehow accidentally captured the picture on my phone, but have no idea where it came from. But I do know where the verse came from. It is one of my favorite verses and songs. See the link at the bottom of the page.

Now for last week’s More Diabolical Cons–Mystery Question. Three of these cons are true. Can you guess which one I made up?
  1. This isn’t exactly a con, but if it’s too good to be true…you can bet it is, especially in the case of a warehouse selling items for a tenth of what the items cost elsewhere, things like a case of toilet paper for $15. The owners were recently arrested for selling items stolen by shoplifters to the tune of over six million dollars.
  2. The letter came in an email, promising the receiver, not millions, but a thousand dollars. Since it was written in perfect English and came from what looked like a legitimate bank email address, the recipient bit and provided his banking information…unfortunately three days later his checks started bouncing because his bank account was empty. As stated earlier, if it sounds too good to be true…
  3. He fell in love with the beautiful heiress who seemed so perfect. He asked her to marry him and then helped her gain access to over a million and a half dollars from a loan to start a restaurant. She put up her ‘trust’ as collateral, but the trust turned out to be as fraudulent as she was and she skipped out with most of the million and a half. he did finally catch up with her–she’d blown through the money and was living in her car.
  4. The musician was acclaimed the world over as a new Beethoven for composing great works, even though he was deaf. But it turns out he was not deaf and he never wrote much of the music accreted to him.

And the answer is…#2. I’m telling you, it’s hard to make up a con that matches what these terrible people do. Always…if it sounds too good to be true, 99 times out of a hundred, it is.

Now for The Worst Cons of All–this week’s Mystery Question. Three of these cons are true. Can you guess which one I made up?
  1. A 76-year-old widow transferred more than $660,000 to bank accounts she thought belonged to a U.S. Army general in Afghanistan. The “general” wooed her online and convinced her to refinance her home, sell property, and withdraw savings, sending the money to accounts supposedly held by the general, but in fact, belonged to members of a conspiracy.
  2. A man contacted a 67-year-old woman through a neighborhood online group and began wooing her. He worked in another city, but he made arrangements to see her when he traveled to her city on business. Unfortunately, he got in too late to make the dinner date. When he suddenly had to go out of the country on a job, he called her from the airport, telling her his Netflix card had expired and would she go to Walmart and buy him a $100 Netflix card? She did, and it wasn’t long before he called again, hysterical, saying he’d left his $4,000 tools in a cab but that he’d found some he could buy for just $2600. Could she send him the money? That’s when she smelled a mouse … or a rat and hung up on him.
  3. The wedding was set. The sixty-something couple had met online at a Christian dating service and communicated back and forth for several months, exchanging photos and information about each other. He asked her to marry him and she quickly accepted, but then she called him crying because she’d found the perfect wedding dress but she didn’t have the $10,000 to pay for it. He agreed and sent the money to an account he thought belonged to a bridal boutique, but in fact, did not. When the facts were finally sorted out, he learned he’d been communicating with a man in prison who’d managed to get access to a computer.
  4. The 68-year-old social worker’s mother was dying when she encountered a man on  a dating site for singles over 50. He claimed to be an Air Force pilot, emailed her gushy poetry, then persuaded her to wire $1,200 to a location in the Middle East, where he was purportedly serving. She never heard from him again.
Okay Mystery Sleuths, which one did I make up? Leave your answer in the comments and I’ll enter you in a November drawing for a $10 gift card.
Worst of All Cons is the Mystery Question this week. As usual, three cons are true, and I made up one. Can you guess which one? Leave an answer and I'll enter you in a November drawing for a $10 gift card. Share on X

Below is one of my favorite songs and think it goes so well with Psalm 29:2.


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Comments 40

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  1. Tim Johnson

    I love that Psalm, Pat. The photo has a familiar look to it.

    Good job last week on the one you made up. It really seemed legit to me. For this week’s made up con, I’m going with #3. These are all despicable. Playing on a victim’s romantic emotions is a double whammy.

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  2. Delores Topliff

    I think #3 is true. I once got what turned out to be a prison call saying loved ones were in a serious car crash and needed…
    I’ll go w/ #4 this week, partly because he would have asked for more. We all love these. Thanks!

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  3. Paula Shreckhise

    I’ll go with three.
    Unfortunately this happened to a friend of mine.
    Fortunately, a few of us talked her out of getting married!
    She didn’t lose anything but her promised her a house in Spain etc, etc. He loved her but she never met him. He told her he went to church in a town up the highway but I contacted the church and they never heard of him. He conveniently never met her in person. Why ? because he was in Russia and in a scam law enforcement was trying to break!

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  4. Barbara Diggs

    #4
    Being a retired social worker myself, I hope she listened to the warning in her gut about a scam about to unfold. These poor, dear people get caught all the time.

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  5. Barbara Diggs

    Just had a chance to play the song. What a breath of worship to the King of Kings right in the middle of my afternoon. Thanks so much much for sharing, Pat. Also one of my favorites.

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  6. Edward Arrington

    That’s an intriguing picture. I like the clouds. I’m still trying to figure out all those “stars.” Except for the ones above the clouds, the others should be hidden behind the clouds. Very unusual. I like the Psalm and the song.

    Now for those cons, I have one thought. Some people are simply too desperate for a mate. I always thought it was very unfortunate and sad when desperate people married the first one to come along and soon regretted it. They may be the fortunate ones, especially compared to the woman who gave away $660,000. If that one is true, that woman needed to be put away somewhere for her own protection. I’m choosing that one as made up. I don’t understand a financial institution refinancing a home for a 76-year-old widow.

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      Patricia Bradley

      Edward, as always, I love your logic…and for the most part, agree with you…however, we will see next week if that’s the correct incorrect answer. 😉 Thanks so much for stopping by!

  7. Trixi

    Are you sure you even made one up Patricia? LOL….they all sound true to me 🙂 I’m guessing maybe #1 is it this week because of the atrocious dollar amount. Who has $660,000 to give away? Not me, that’s for sure!

    Love the picture! A lot of times I can’t see the night sky that clear to gaze at all those stars. Beautiful!!

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      Patricia Bradley

      Trixi, I’ve about decided that photo was on my phone when I bought it as a background. But it’s really pretty and I thought the scripture verse fit very well. We’ll see next week if it’s #1.

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  8. MS Barb

    I hope #1 is false–well, actually, I would like to hope that all 4 scenarios are false, but, unfortunately, that is not the case…

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