祖母因複雜的騙局而失去了一生

肯塔基州退休人員芭芭拉（Barbara）在一月份陷入了欺詐計劃。

A 74-year-old grandmother had her entire life savings stolen by fraudsters who were posing as federal agents, and they used a sophisticated scam to steal a huge sum.

一位74歲的祖母為擺姿勢的欺詐者偷走了她一生的儲蓄，他們用精緻的騙局竊取了一筆巨款。

Naturally, the victim's grandson is now speaking out to prevent others from falling into a similar trap.

自然，受害人的孫子現在正在大聲疾呼，以防止其他人陷入類似的陷阱。

Barbara, a Kentucky retiree, became entangled in a fraudulent scheme in January.

肯塔基州退休人員芭芭拉（Barbara）在一月份陷入了欺詐計劃。

It began after she began receiving alarming emails from individuals claiming to be from the Social Security Administration and the Inspector General’s Office.

它開始在她開始收到聲稱來自社會保障局和監察長辦公室的個人的令人震驚的電子郵件之後。

Her grandson, Stephen Warner, shared he is "extremely angry that this is even a thing that she has to deal with."

她的孫子史蒂芬·華納（Stephen Warner）分享了他“非常生氣，這甚至是她必須處理的事情。”

The messages, which grew increasingly threatening over time, accused Barbara of fraudulent activity.

隨著時間的流逝，這些信息越來越威脅到芭芭拉（Barbara）進行欺詐活動。

She was threatened with severe legal consequences, including potential prison time.

她受到嚴重法律後果的威脅，包括潛在的監禁時間。

To further manipulate her, the scammers provided a non-disclosure agreement and pressured her into signing it.

為了進一步操縱她，詐騙者提供了一項不披露協議，並向她施加了迫使她簽署。

They also falsely claimed that speaking about the investigation could result in additional legal trouble. Now believing she was under government scrutiny, Barbara unfortunately followed instructions.

他們還錯誤地聲稱，談論調查可能會導致其他法律麻煩。芭芭拉現在認為自己受到政府的審查，不幸的是遵循指示。

The scammers told Barbara that federal authorities would temporarily seize her assets for safekeeping while they "cleared her name."

騙子告訴芭芭拉，聯邦當局在“清除她的名字”時會暫時抓住她的資產進行保管。

They assured her that once the investigation was complete, she would regain access to her funds.

他們向她保證，一旦調查完成，她將重新獲得資金的機會。

But of course, this didn't happen.

但是，當然，這並沒有發生。

As part of this elaborate deception, Barbara was instructed to purchase gold coins, which would be stored in a secure federal facility.

作為這種精心製作的欺騙的一部分，指示芭芭拉購買金幣，該硬幣將存儲在安全的聯邦設施中。

She was then convinced to travel to Lexington, Kentucky, to complete the transaction.

然後，她說服了前往肯塔基州列剋星敦進行交易。

Once there, she withdrew her savings, $179,000 in total.

到達那里後，她撤回了儲蓄，總共179,000美元。

She then purchased gold coins, which she handed over to the fraudster in the parking lot of a Chase Bank at Zandale Center.

然後，她購買了金幣，並將其移交給了Zandale Center一家Chase Bank停車場的欺詐者。

The moment she handed over the coins, the scammer vanished without a trace.

當她交出硬幣的那一刻，騙子消失了，沒有痕跡。

Unusually, the scammer insisted on meeting Barbara in person, which is a bold move that hasn't yet been seen in similar scams.

這位騙子不尋常地堅持親自與芭芭拉見面，這是一個大膽的舉動，尚未出現在類似的騙局中。

Barbara's grandson is working with the FBI, which confirmed that this type of fraud is currently under investigation.

芭芭拉（Barbara）的孫子正在與聯邦調查局（FBI）合作，該公司確認這種欺詐目前正在調查中。

The financial loss was devastating, but the emotional toll was even greater.

財務損失是毀滅性的，但情感上的損失更大。

Feeling hopeless and overwhelmed, Barbara attempted to take her own life. She was later hospitalized at Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center in Danville, where she is recovering.

芭芭拉（Barbara）感到絕望和不知所措，試圖自殺。後來，她在丹維爾的丹維爾（Danville）的以法蓮（Ephraim McDowell）地區醫療中心住院。