A recent caller to “The Ramsey Show” revealed a heartbreaking story of financial devastation after her husband fell victim to a crypto scam. Mary, a 75-year-old woman from Salt Lake City, told co-hosts Rachel Cruze and Jade Warshaw that the scam not only wiped out their retirement savings but pushed her husband to borrow hundreds of thousands more in a desperate attempt to recover the losses.
Struggling With Uncertainty In Retirement
“About a year and a half ago, my husband got involved with some online investment deal which turned out to be a scam,” Mary explained. “He gave away all our retirement. And then he borrowed another about $250,000 more to get out of it.”
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Mary and her husband are both in their seventies and are now working two jobs each to stay afloat. Despite the massive setback, she said they've managed to pay off about half of the debt and are continuing to chip away at the rest.
They also took out a reverse mortgage to help cover some of the borrowed money.
“I’m 75. He’s 72,” she added. “I wake up every day worried.”
Mary called the show mainly out of concern for how this mess might affect their taxes going forward. “We paid last year’s taxes. We were able to pay our federal taxes, I think, and then we got a refund, a federal refund, which we used to pay our state taxes,” she said. “But I just keep worrying the other shoe’s going to drop.”
When asked if they were working with a tax professional, Mary said no. Warshaw and Cruze immediately arranged for Mary to receive free help from a Ramsey Trusted tax expert and a financial coach.
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Crypto Scam Preyed On Trust
Mary said the entire ordeal began when a man her husband used to work with reached out about a crypto opportunity. “‘Hey, I’ve got this great thing going on. Do you want to get in on it? And I’ll have my girl call you,’ which she did, and he started investing,” Mary said.
The scam escalated quickly. Mary's husband believed he was paying fees and taxes required to withdraw the investment, but in reality, he was just sending more money to scammers.
“He borrowed $88,000 from our son. He took personal loans. He ran up charge cards,” Mary said.
They've reported the fraud to federal authorities, including the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department, but Mary said she doesn't think they'll be able to recover the money or catch those responsible.
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Fighting To Stay Afloat
In the meantime, Mary and her husband are doing everything they can to stay solvent. She said they bring in about $5,000 a month from Social Security, plus an additional $500 to $1,000 from various part-time jobs.
“In the winter, when the resorts start opening, we have a job there which pays well and so we’ll be making more money,” Mary said. “I had a garage sale today. I just got $218 this morning. So all of that goes to paying charge cards, bills.”
Warshaw praised Mary for her hustle. “Listen, Mary, you are a gangster,” she said. “Your attitude in all this is stellar. The fact that you’re willing to go back to work, you’re doing garage sales, you’re doing a lot. I am proud of you.”
Cruze wrapped up the segment with a warning to other listeners: “If something sounds too good to be true, it is. Please, just be boring. Slow and steady wins the race.”
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