US woman Patricia Taylor loses $20,000 to scammer pretending to be news anchor – Times of India

A 73-year-old woman from Seattle, US, was deceived into sending at least $20,000 to a scammer pretending to be Ari Melber, an Emmy-winning MSNBC news anchor, the New York Post reported.
The incident began earlier this year when the woman, Patricia Taylor, a former Boeing employee, started communicating on Facebook with someone posing as Melber.
The scammer convinced Taylor that they were in a relationship. They asked her to send money and gift cards, claiming it was to treat a sick dog named Penny. The fraudster also sent Taylor an engagement ring to make her believe they were getting married.
By November 1, Taylor had sent the scammer at least $20,000. On Monday, she attempted to fly to New York to meet the person she believed was Melber. Her daughter, Meri Taylor, intercepted her during a layover in Portland by tracking her phone. Meri feared that if her mother had reached New York, the scammer might have taken her hostage and demanded ransom.
When Patricia Taylor began suspecting she was being scammed, the fraudster texted her saying, “When did Ari Melber turn into a scammer?” They also used an AI-generated voice message to imitate the MSNBC host, saying, “You’re reading my messages and not responding. I’d never (scam) you. Have you found someone else?”
Meri shared that her family held two interventions to convince Patricia she was being deceived. “Our mother is not a dumb person. How did she fall for this? How did she not see what was going on? You try to explain the logic and it doesn’t sink in,” she said.
In a Facebook post, Meri expressed concerns about her mother’s mental and physical health. “She is not in her right mind, missing medication and cancelling doctors appointments. She is not taking care of herself with the food she eats (she is diabetic) and sometimes not changing her clothes for days at a time.” She also worried that her mother might still try to meet the scammer.