My dad is laundering money for the scammers!!! HELP ME!!

My father informed my brother and I on Tuesday that he is involved with a 'project' that involves Gold in Ghana and a woman that he 'loves' named Cassandra or Cassie. He has given away EVERY SINGLE penny to his name -- so much that his account has now overdrawn. He has sent close to $11,000. This is a very very typical scam I know, I have read all about it and know that the money is irretrievable. My bigger concern is that now, even after he is out of money and options, he is still moving money for them. He goes, almost daily, to pick up money from a Western Union then gets on a bus and takes it to a Money Gram. He is laundering their money. I said this to him and he replied that no, that he was just moving money for the project. He says he is in love with 'Cassie' and is doing this to help get her out of Ghana, to pay back the lawyer (that Cassie 'hired' to help them with all of the paperwork of moving the gold) and to be able to live a better life. Brainwashed doesn't even begin to say it.

I should add here that at the end of January I found a Western Union receipt for the first $3k of the total $11k that he sent. We had a huge family meeting, talked about how it was a scam, he agreed, said he cut off all communication, we talked about it again and again and he maintained that he had cut off contact. He is of right mind and has been lying, bold-faced, to both my brother and I for 5 months.

I got into his email account yesterday and have all of the correspondence, the bank accounts that he wired his money to, the number that Cassie still uses, the emails for the lawyer and both that Cassie seem to use. My brother has his phone records and I have printed off all documents that they have sent back and forth (The alleged power of attorney, the certificates of blah blah blah). I know where he does the transfers though Im never sure when because they sometimes co-ordiate through Yahoo Messenger. Please, someone, is there anything that I can do about this??? Because it is still going on is there hope to catch these SOBs?? Do I just cut my dad off of all communication?? Do I have to be the one to just try and convince him that it is all just a scam?? This news, when he finally figures it out for real, is going to crush and maybe kill him. Are there support groups for this stuff?? Please. Please please someone help me. I have no idea where to turn.

For his own protection you should probably notify the authorities before he digs himself in too deep.

Hi Chicago Red,

I am so sorry that this is happening in your family. Romance scammers do horrible things to their victims. I would save all the information you have and make sure your dad can't lock you out of his computer accounts. You can try to reason with him and show him the other scam reports, even better if you can show him the identical form scripts-"Cassie" may have used his email. Your dad will have a hard time with this but the person at the other end of the computer is male and scams for a living.

If he won't believe you, I would definitely notify the banks where he's picking up or sending money and ask law enforcement to have a talk with your dad-what he's doing is a felony. If you're in the US, one of the local Department of Social Services Senior programs may have outreach programs to help-same with your local state or municipality. It's a last resort and I wouldn't advise this but if you're dad's at risk, you may want to petition to become his conservator which would would remove access to his finances. This is a last resort but is necessary in some cases.

Can you pot some of the emails, removing your dad's personal information as well as the headers?

ChicagoRed, you have 2 aspects to deal with here. One, your dad must understand that what he is being asked to do is illegal and he has got to stop it immediately. Please work with people here to help you with reporting it to law enforcement. He will likely not get his money back, most of us don't, but his acting as a money mule must be dealt with. I know in my community you can call the police Desk Sargent- it's a non emergency number. Have someone stop by to explain to him the ramifications of what he is doing.
The hardest part of being scammed is the moment when you have to deal with that fact that you finally know that is the truth. It is harsh. It is like a slap in the face but it is absolutely necessary. I had to come here because I reached a point where I just felt something was not right. And when it was confirmed, I felt lower than any point in my life. But it got better from there because the whirlwind of sending money and all the incredible back and forth details stopped. My guess is your dad has been just in constant motion because that's what the scammers like, keep it going, don't give you time to think, just do it out of "love."
Now comes the hard part. You are looking at the money aspect. You are looking at the money mule part. All hard enough. But do you know what will be even harder? The love aspect. Scammers are pros at getting your mind twisted into love with them. They tell you everything you have ever wanted to hear from someone. They make you feel loved and adored and my guess is this is why your dad was willing to do anything that was asked of him. You go on autopilot. I am a smart person but I ended up sending money to my scammer when I wasn't giving money to my kids for things they may have needed. My mind was into helping him and then he would come home and we would work together. It is all encompassing, it takes over your every thought. You as the scammed become convinced this is the true love of your life and you will be together. I am warning you because he will need help, he may need counseling to pull through that. Because in the end, not only will all his money be gone but his hopes and dreams of a new life with this person.
If you can get your dad to come on here to scamwarners, he needs to be awakened. He needs to see what he is doing is nothing new. It is a scam and it has to end before he can move forward with what will be a shattered life. If there is anything I can say to him, anything I can do to help him have that moment where the lightbulb goes off in his brain, PM me.
My heart goes out to you. When I told my family, it was very hard. Go gentle but be firm with him. He will need you going forward to help with reality versus fantasy

I posted on here last Friday and received a great response from a SW admin. This site has proven to be the best resource so far. When everyone else seems to be judgmental or just tells me to have my dad committed, its nice to be able to read from others that they have been through it and GOT through it.

The story was a typical one, dad is caught up in a Ghana/Gold/Love scam. He is still involved and talking to them and has yet to see the light. Im posting again because I am wondering if there is anything I can do with all of the information that I have. I have their conversations, the phone number she uses (still), all of the documents (obviously fakes) that were sent to him, the photos, the bank account numbers that his money was wired to (same each time) and WUnion numbers that he is STILL using, as well as a phone number for the lawyer that still calls him (I think). Can I do anything with this?? I know the money is gone but is there anyway to find these people that have ruined my dad's life and now my family? Im confident that when he realizes the truth about all of this that it is going to quite literally kill him. Since he is still in contact with the scammers can't SOMEthing be done?? I refuse to believe that this is hopeless.

[AlanJones]

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to identify the individuals behind the scam - even if your dad is sending money to US accounts, it is likely that these belong to mules who are scam victims themselves (either receiving money for an Internet boy/girlfriend or as part of a job they think they've got). The real scammers are safely in Ghana hiding behind fake IDs.

The best thing to do is to post all of the information that you have - it won't get the money back, but it might help others avoid being scammed and help your father believe that he is a victim as well.

If you also PM the bank details to one of the Mods/Admins, they will arrange for them to be passed to the relevant people for investigation.