Senior citizens are targeted by a wide variety of scams, but this is the most heartless, scummy con we’ve heard about yet: Scammers tricked this elderly woman into buying the Cleveland Browns.
Absolutely disgusting. What a truly evil thing to do to anyone, let alone some poor, unsuspecting old lady.
Last week, Beverly Flath, 78, of Sarasota, FL, was hoodwinked into purchasing one of the NFL’s worst franchises by phone scammers offering “a low risk, high return investment opportunity” that ultimately cleared out her teachers’ pension and left her in possession of a completely worthless football team. After Beverly told family members she now held a majority ownership stake in the Cleveland Browns, they immediately realized Beverly had been the victim of a fraud scheme and attempted to contact the scammers, but it was too late: The number had been disconnected and $30,000 had been drained from Beverly’s bank account to pay for a historically junk NFL team that may as well be worth pennies.
With the scammers gone without a trace, police investigators told Beverly there was not much they could do other than recommend she hang up on anyone offering to sell her an NFL team that relies on a quarterback room consisting of Deshaun Watson and a 40 year-old Joe Flacco.
Unfortunately for Beverly, she’s learned a valuable lesson at a steep price, with a football organization destined to wallow in mediocrity forever to show for it. While Beverly should be enjoying a carefree retirement, she’s instead spending her days negotiating player contracts under the Cleveland Browns’ precarious cap space situation. To watch an elderly person spend their golden years defending the Browns’ decision to pay Deshaun Watson $230 million is soul-crushingly sad, and our lawmakers need to make sure this can never, ever happen again.
Ugh. Whatever scam artist offloaded the arguably most embarrassing franchise to root for onto this sweet old woman…we hope they rot in hell.
We are equally heartbroken and infuriated for Beverly. You have to be one sick piece of crap to dupe a senior into buying a team as hopeless as the Cleveland Browns. Let’s hope these fraudsters are brought to justice ASAP!
