A parent who almost fell for a Medicare call. A grandfather who keeps mentioning a Facebook friend you’ve never met. A mother who hung up on someone last week and won’t say who. You came here because something is off, and you don’t want to wait for the call where the money is already gone.
Below are six interactive case files — each one a real Connecticut scam pattern, dramatized as a 12-minute story where the listener makes the choices the victim made. Pick the one that feels closest to what you’re worried about. Send it. Print it. Sit with them while they watch. Whichever they’ll actually do.
If they were already scammed — call first.
Better Business Bureau Connecticut walks families through recovery — bank fraud line, FBI IC3, state AG, all from one call. They have heard every pattern that’s active in CT this year. Their advice for the family member is different from their advice for the victim, and they know the difference.
Weekdays 9 AM – 5 PM ET. After hours and money has moved, see If this has happened to you — it has the rail-by-rail playbook.
Six case files for someone you love
Print → opens a paper-formatted single sheet for the parent who reads paper better than screens. Send by text → opens your phone’s share sheet with a pre-written message you can edit. Each case file is twelve minutes long; the listener makes the choices and sees what happens.
Before you say anything.
The single biggest predictor of whether a scam victim ever calls for help is whether the first person they tell makes them feel like a fool. Shame is the scammer’s second product, and silence is what they sell. Three sentences that help:
- “I’m glad you told me.” First, before anything else. It changes the rest of the call.
- “This is happening to a lot of people right now. You’re not stupid. They’re very good.” Specific. Not generic reassurance. The story they’re running through their head is “I should have known” — your job is to interrupt it with the truth, which is that thousands of careful people in this state lost money to this exact script this year.
- “Let’s call someone together. Right now.” Then call BBB CT at 860-740-4500 with them on speakerphone. The hardest call to make alone becomes a much easier call to be on with someone who loves you.
Three sentences that don’t help, even though they come from love:
- “Why didn’t you call me first?”
- “I told you about this. Remember last Thanksgiving?”
- “Give me your laptop / your phone / your bank login. I’ll handle it.” Taking over their accounts without asking is the same loss of agency the scammer just inflicted. Sit with them. Help them do it.
If they were just scammed — the playbook.
The order of calls matters and depends on which payment rail moved (wire / Zelle / ACH and card recall windows are hours, not days, and only the bank can act). The full playbook lives one page over.