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View Full Version : Donors replace $43,000 lost by World War II veteran to scam



Artful
06-04-2016, 02:08 AM
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/06/02/donors-replace-43000-lost-by-world-war-ii-veteran-to-scam.html?intcmp=hpbt3


Three months ago, Jack Holder, a Pearl Harbor survivor who flew combat missions over Midway and the English Channel during World War II, lost $43,000 in a sweepstakes scam (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/31/world-war-ii-vet-falls-victim-to-43000-scam.html). This week, he got it all back and then some.

A GoFundMe page (https://www.gofundme.com/jackholder) created in Holder's name had raised more than $54,500 as of Thursday morning, surpassing its goal of $50,000.

"I’m at a loss for words," Holder told the Arizona Republic. "How in the world will I ever repay people for their graciousness?"

In March, Holder, 94, received a phone call telling him he had won the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes and would receive $4.7 million and a new Mercedes-Benz. All he needed to do was provide some personal information and open up a new bank account.

Days later, the theives made off with the money, which represented nearly all of Holder and his fiancee's life savings.

"I faced almost five years in combat during the war and made it out alive," Holder told KSAZ last week. "This is the worst tragedy I've ever experienced."

The creator of the GoFundMe page was Shana Schwarz, a 33-year-old mother-of-three who said she had been moved by Holder's story.

"I’m out of work right now,” she told the Republic. “I only donated $25. But I knew I was good with fundraising and I am good with social media. So that’s what I did."

Schwarz set the page up on Friday and kept it up through Memorial Day weekend. The paper reported that Schwarz met Holder for the first time Monday and presented him with a check for the first $19,000. The next day, she handed control of the page to the non-profit Greatest Generations Foundation.

"We don’t want to see anyone go through what Jack did," foundation executive officer Tim Davis told the Republic. "If we can raise a little bit more and help him out, well do it."


I just found this - I'm proud of all the donor's and hope they catch the perp's

Mica_Hiebert
06-04-2016, 08:44 AM
Most of these scams are ran outside of the country.

Echo
06-04-2016, 09:04 AM
The perps ought to simply be shot, and left to rot...

MrWolf
06-04-2016, 09:35 AM
Can't stand the low life that prey on others, especially the elderly. Did you notice he is 94 and has a fiancée?

elk hunter
06-04-2016, 10:35 AM
Can't stand the low life that prey on others, especially the elderly. Did you notice he is 94 and has a fiancée?

That's a real man in more ways than one.

fatelk
06-04-2016, 01:39 PM
It's great that he got help. All too often they don't.

A similar thing happened to a friend of the family 20+ years ago. Eugene Cotton was a disabled WWII vet who left a leg in the Pacific Theater. He was an elderly widower who had saved up for many years, only to have his life savings swindled by dirtbags. Whenever he would come by to visit he would talk about how he was going to win a bunch of money, or had already won all these sweepstakes. He would also talk about how he'd read in the newspaper about how they'd recently caught the Loch Ness Monster, or found Elvis, or Aliens on the moon or some such. (He would buy the "newspapers" at the check-out line and believe them, so he was a little gullible.)

Long story short, my dad finally got suspicious and asked him details. He got really embarrassed and said that he thought he was being scammed. They would call him and excitedly tell him he'd won this or that, send him boxes of cheap junk to get him going, then want money to cover the taxes or shipping on his winnings, promising him millions of dollars, or a new car or something. He always wanted a brand new car but could never afford one. I believe they took him for something like $50,000; all he had.

My dad promptly called the state AG, who went after the thieves. As I recall they were able to seize some accounts or something and get him back about $20k, but I don't remember that they actually caught any of the bad guys. People like this that prey on the weak and the elderly are the lowest of the low, scum of the earth that should be lined up against a wall.

Blackwater
06-04-2016, 02:36 PM
The power of real charity, given in love, is always a very humbling thing to see in action. Thanks for a great post.

MaryB
06-04-2016, 11:03 PM
They tried that Publishers Clearing house scam on me. They wanted a check for $500. I told them sure come by the house to pick it up... they never showed, local deputy was waiting around the corner...

Taylor
06-05-2016, 08:20 AM
I got the same phone call some months ago.I strung him along for a full week.He was in Jamaica.You get to do things like that when you're retired.

I was to send the money to someone (I forget the name),in Lawrenceburg,Tn. The person receiving the money order was real. Just a little bit dead though.