<prompt> Human: Im posting this quickly at work, so please forgive any formatting errors. Ill gladly respond to questions if you need more detail.Last night I got a call from the State Police informing me that my mother was the victim of a NigerianJamaican scam run over the phone and through the postal service. It had been going on for 12-14 months. I am an adult, F32, and have lived approx 4 hrs from home for 10 years. Apparently she was led to believe that she won the lottery, but was told by the scammers that she needed to send some money so they could free up funds...or whatever. You hear about these all the time, so at first I thought, ok, she lost maybe a few thousand. Live and learn. But no. The State Trooper goes on to say that she sent them money in pre-paid cards to the tune of 194k. and THEN she took out a home equity loan on the home shes owned outright for 20 years, and mailed the scammers another 100k in cash. If I hadnt initially screened the call from the State Police and had to go through dispatch to connect with the Trooper, I would have thought the entire thing was an awful joke. Im going home tomorrow to talk to my mother and figure out what the hell is going on. My question for you fine folks is, because Im absolutely shocked by the scope of this issue- I am pretty scattered right now. I need to cover my bases with her, figure out what money she has, what else might be going on. The 295k is gone, but shes got to live somehow. I am hoping for some advice on things I must remember to ask and points I might not have thought of.The case is with the USPS and the FBI now, but the police felt that it was 100 no chance any money would be recovered, and I believe them. My mom is 66 and has a history of being pretty frugal, so the idea of her doing all of this is just wayyy out there. Im going to insist on a medical evaluation- but she does work full time, so Im not sure that dementia, exactly, is a factor. Ill answer questions if you need clarification. Any help would be appreciated. My mind is just reeling. Thanks.EDIT: Thank you everyone for your help!! Im both amazed and sad that so many others have similar stories about their parents or grandparents being scammed, but seeing several people talk about how they eventually got through it has been really reassuring, even if the stories arent exactly happy ones. I have an action plan for things I need to do and questions I need to ask tomorrow. Thank you so much. Assistant: If your mother is determined to be mentally incapable there may be a way to make the bank responsible for the loan that they gave to someone not in their right mind. Generally you have to be of sound mind to create legal documents, right?Human: I dont know. At this point in time I am hoping- emphasis on hope- that she will let me take the reins without requiring a legal takeover. I know Im her POA in her will, but I imagine thats more for hospital-bed-vegetative-state type decisions and not you-gave-away-295k-to-a-nigerian-prince decisions.  <response>: Definitely speak to a lawyer soon and dont throw out any options 