Update

Thank you all for your kind words on my last post. The past week and a half has felt like 10 years and my brain is still in a fog. I finally sat down on Tuesday to catch my breath, only to get a phone call from my dentist asking where I was as I was then 20 minutes late for my appointment.

Anyway, the update on the wire fraud. He got nowhere with the bank. The account which received the money has been closed and the bank will not identify the owners without a subpoena. My son was told he had to start by filing a report with the police department in the town where he lives (even though the wire transfer took place at a bank in another town and the closing was in yet another town). He met with an officer on Sunday and shared copies of all the email exchanges. The officer then gave the information to the fraud department and my son did have a phone conversation with the detective. As we presumed, both gave him little hope that the money would be recovered or that the perpetrators would be caught ...

Next step was to file with the FBI, which he did this week. No word from them yet.

And, finally, we've decided to go after the lending company as it was there that the unsecured emails with financial information originated (despite the fact that this scam has been widely known among lending companies for more than a year and a half). This is in the early stages and will likely take some time, but we are told by others in the industry that companies such as theirs carry cyber insurance that would come into play here. We will see. At this point, all we want to do is recoup my son's money. We know that it is possible we will have to get a lawyer involved, but we are going to see if we get anywhere on our own.

This ordeal will likely go on for some time. I will post updates as I can.

Meantime, DS moved into his new home last weekend and we had a family gathering on Labor Day. It was nice to see him smiling again.

Sarah
 

Living a nightmare

This was supposed to be a great week. Our oldest son was closing on his first house Tuesday. He has been saving for years and making all the right choices in order to make this happen. He took off work, went to closing, signed all the papers and handed over confirmation of the wire transfer the lender required with his downpayment/closing costs balance.

While he and his Realtor were celebrating, the attorney came back in the room with the news that the account he sent the money to was not theirs.

My son was scammed.

Someone hacked into an email exchange between him and his lender, cloned the lender's email and sent him the info he was waiting for: account number and instructions for wiring. In looking at the exchange and the emails, I'm not sure I would have caught it either. This was a sophisticated scam.

I have since googled it and found this is a new and increasingly common scam. These thieves are good. They're efficient. And they hit the buyer when there is a flurry of activity close to closing.

The bank has confirmed that the money is gone. He lost more than $25,000. We are blessed that his grandfather stepped in and offered to loan him a chunk of that money. We pooled funds for the rest and he was able to close yesterday. But the joy of purchasing his first home was stolen from him along with the money. He said this has been the worst week of his life.

My heart is absolutely broken for him and I have not slept in 3 days. I am working now to stock his pantry for when he moves in tomorrow. I've been doing a lot of talking, telling him how fortunate he is that his family was able to help him in his darkest hour and that he is able to finish what he started (he built this house). He doesn't feel like it's his anymore, so I've been doing my best to dispel that notion. He is young (26), has a great job, is in line for a BIG raise in November and has no one else depending on him financially. Going into this, he was debt free. Now he owes his grandfather, but at no interest and with no timeline. I have told him he will earn more money and soon enough that will be behind him, too.

I don't understand people who just reach in and take everything from someone else's pockets. I just don't.

Sarah
 

The boost I needed

I've written before about the student loans on my debt roll. These are loans for our kids' educations. Loan A and B are actually in DD's name. We told the kids that if they finished college in four years, we would pay off those loans - DS1 did not and he paid off his own loan. (For the record, I would not offer this deal now, but I was dumber back then.) At any rate, we are sticking with our agreement and we took on her debt.

Yesterday, her application for teacher loan forgiveness ($5,000) was approved and processed. She has spent six years teaching in a low-income school which met the requirements for the program.

So our debt has now dropped into another "decade."

We are going to do this. We are.

Sarah
 

I guess he was paying attention

I went furniture shopping with DS for his new house on Saturday. He bought a sofa fit for a bachelor (cup holders, recliners, USB port) and a bed bigger than my house. He paid cash.

When we were walking through the house with his Realtor on Sunday, he mentioned what he had bought and the Realtor went white. "Didn't your lender advise you on that?" DS looked at her blankly. I stepped in and pointed out that he paid cash. The Realtor breathed a sigh of relief and explained to DS that financing furniture would have dinged his credit report this close to closing.

On the ride home, DS wanted to know who in their right mind would finance furniture??

Proud Mom moment.

Sarah
 

Thanks for the kick

Thanks to those of you who encouraged me to keep going when all I really want to do is curl up and pull the covers over my head. I will get back to it. I promise.

On the sort of good news front, DH went for his final $$$ dental visit. The bill had ballooned to $1,600, and since he had already used up his insurance allowance for the year, it was on us. But when he went to check out, the receptionist (who is also the wife of the dentist) told him that they knew he had had some pricey procedures this year so they were extending a professional courtesy and discounting his bill by half. So he got an $800 break, for which I am so very thankful. It really does pay to cultivate relationships with ongoing providers.

I went out once today - for a taste test at the local university (they pay me in Target cards for a 10-minute tasting). I have $150 in Target cards saved up - I will probably just hold on to them for Christmas gifts.

Otherwise, I was a slug. It is SO hot here. Ninety-five and 100% humidity. It's downright hard to breathe and truly dangerous for DS. Thank the good Lord for air conditioning.

DS1 has asked me to go with him furniture shopping on Saturday. He is building his first house and scheduled to move in next month. As he is currently without a significant other, Mom's on deck. This is the kind of shopping I like - helping pick out fun pieces and letting someone else pay for them!

We're having salad for dinner. No way am I turning on the oven ...

Sarah
 

Of teeth and chairs

When I wasn't looking, the calendar flipped to July. Time just passes too quickly.

It's been a low-key summer. I watch my granddaughter during the school year while my daughter teaches, but I have the summer off. I'm not sure I could do it if she didn't have the teacher's schedule. There's a reason why God gives us babies when we're young!

The bills have been coming fast and furious the past month. I blame DH for the worst of them. When he was in his 30s and 40s, he never took time to go see a dentist. At all. He's finally going again, but now he is paying the price. Well, we are paying the price. He has had to have one tooth extracted, a root canal and a crown, and that's just in June. He will eventually have to have an implant, but for now is making do with a flipper that he hates. Too bad, bud. The out of pocket price for all his dental work this spring/summer has now surpassed $3,000.

On the upside, DS's wheelchair was finally approved by insurance!!! It's been a year in the making and the chair we originally ordered isn't even available anymore. Had to bump it to the newest model. If all goes well, he should be in it by the end of the month. Meantime, I've been buying foam in bulk to try to make his seat comfortable enough for him to manage until the new chair comes. I'm not sure what our out-of-pocket expense will be for this, but whatever it is it will be worth it.

I think I have debt payoff burnout. I'm just so tired of it. I need a kick in the pants to get back to it. Anyone want to take a shot?

Sarah
 

Still here

Contrary to popular belief, I am still here and still plugging along. The past month and a half has been a blur. DS's broken hip, 11-day hospital stay and subsequent recuperation have taken their toll.

DS is doing well. His pain is improving and he is able to tolerate water therapy sessions, which are great for him. The hospital bills are starting to come in - we're at $33,000 so far. Insurance should cover the bulk of it, but we shall see.

I received a letter from the attorney for the insurance company this week asking questions about the "accident" that landed DS in the hospital. I filled a form out and in not-so-subtle big letters, pointed out that he fell from a manual lift because the much SAFER option of a battery lift or a ceiling lift are not covered by insurance. Yeah, that decision cost the insurance company about $25,000. How's that working for you?

Meantime, still battling for a much-needed replacement wheelchair. The latest denial came two weeks ago. Approved are a seatbelt, armrests and a footplate. Not quite sure where those are supposed to go since the actual chair is denied.

Also on the insurance front, we are trying to get approval for the first-ever treatment for DS's disease. For 22 years, we've been working to raise money, raise awareness and find a treatment. It's finally, miraculously here and we can't get it. His neurologist emailed yesterday and said insurance is asking for another blood test, so we will get that done today. When I run the world, medical decisions will be made by doctors and not insurance suits.

I saw a lightning bug last night. And I had to turn on the A/C this week. Summer is here.

Sarah