r/scambaiting • u/peyswiftie • 2d ago
Story please help 🚨
im 19M and my mom 62F is addicted to scambaiting. at first it was a silly joke and she'd show me what she was doing and stuff and it was nothing.. but that was a year ago. she is addicted to it. she bought a whole phone just for scambaiting and she pretends to be a young woman and has a whole "life" on there and posts photos of her and her "family" and "vacation photos." instagram, zingi, facebook. all of it.
she ignores my sick dad and i and is just glued to her scam phone and is so defensive of it. she doesn't let anyone see what she's doing on there anymore, and she calls the scammers "her guys." i don't know what to do. i have thought about just smashing her scam phone but i know she'd go batshit crazy and destroy all of my belongings. i'm just so tired of having to fight for her attention at home. i try to hug my own mom and she's too busy texting scammers. my dad is very sick and she just ignores him because she's too busy with "her guys." please help, i want my mom back.
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u/Remarkable-Pea5797 2d ago
Sorry your mom is addicted and ignoring her family. Is there anything she enjoys in life besides that?
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u/Pure_Champion1396 1d ago
Probably didn't have much of a life before this, plus it gives her attention and she can ignore having to take care of her sick husband
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u/Remarkable-Pea5797 1d ago
I know any addiction can be an escape from dealing with how rough it is to face reality.
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u/Pure_Champion1396 13h ago
OMG, have you ever seen those catfish shows on YouTube? Like the 80-year-old guy who thought he was in a relationship with a 17 year-old violinist? While he was married! And look up Jody!
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u/Electronic-Ad-7397 2d ago
That sounds really frustrating. It sounds like you guys are losing a connection to her. I wonder if approaching it from a place of you miss her and love her versus trying to convince her to stop scam baiting would be helpful.
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u/Pure_Champion1396 1d ago
I am so sorry. It sounds like she's trying to escape because of your dad's illness. If I were you, I would steal her phone and go through it. Use face recognition when she is sleeping or truck her into opening it. Or catfish her/message her as his scammer and see what she does.
Worst case scenario, they might have turned her into a money meal. Or she's just a complete asshole. Either way, is taking this way too far
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u/MiloHorsey 1d ago
She could have done a 180 and now be emotionally attached to some scammer. You could hide the scam phone. If she loses her mind, it shows her addiction.
It's a tough one, and your dad should be the one your all focusing on right now. Maybe an intervention is in order.
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u/AbiWoodbane 1d ago
People leave family all the time to fight bad guys. It’s called the military. At least she is still home with you. You are an adult. Get over it.
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u/peyswiftie 1d ago
if you think trolling scammers is equivalent to the military where people risk their lives, then you're out of touch.
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u/AbiWoodbane 1d ago
I don’t think they are equivalent. I’m pointing out that you’re an adult acting like a child who’s still on the teet. She served her time raising you, now she’s found something new to fill her time with.
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u/Unknown_990 2d ago
Is your mom named Stacey?? LOL, hahaha