Thieves Scam Sherman Oaks Senior Out of Nearly All Her Life Savings
SHERMAN OAKS (CBSLA.com) — For nearly three decades, Christine Paterson has lived in her rent-controlled apartment in Sherman Oaks. Now, she is in jeopardy of losing her place to live.
In March, a scammer called the 76-year-old on her home phone and threatened her. "This is from the IRS. There's a $75,000 lawsuit against you. Then he said: 'You could be put in jail, take your car away. And you could lose everything.' " she recalled.
She did lose everything. Over two days, the widow transferred more than $20,000, almost her entire savings, to what she thought was someone working for the Internal Revenue Service.
"The first one (transaction) I think went to Texas. And then they wanted more from me. And that went to Hong Kong," Paterson added.
The thieves kept the former nanny and housekeeper on the phone for hours on end, she said.
She told CBS2/KCAL9's Kristine Lazar she did become suspicious at one point "but I was still so nervous about it, and I didn't know what to do about it," Paterson remembered. "I said: 'You know, if it's the IRS, I could even be deported.'"
Her two neighbors, Justin Newsome and Bryan Redzinski, are the closest thing to family Paterson has in the U.S. She is from Scotland.
Newsome ran into Paterson on her way to make her final withdrawal. "She can barely speak. She was clearly upset. It was just not her normal demeanor at all," he recalled.
He immediately stopped the retiree, who lives off her social security money, and figured out she had been scammed.
Redzinski stepped in to help. "Initially, it seemed like we were on the right track. Then quickly, it kind of fell apart."
Over the past two months, the three had been making phone calls and sending emails. But the banks and law enforcement told them there was nothing they could do.
Both Wells Fargo and Citibank have closed their cases, saying they could not do anything because Paterson gave them permission for her money to be transferred.
Her neighbors have set up a GoFundMe page to raise money to help her stay in her apartment. She figured she has only about two months' worth of rent left.
"I've been working for 50 years. And I have lost all that in just two days," she lamented.
