Elderly Dad falling for romance scams, should I take away his phone?
My Dad is 83 and bedridden in long-term care with cancer. Long story short he probably has between months and maybe a year to live.
He has been getting increasingly confused and scammed by supposed women who are messaging him with companionship but are getting increasingly bold in asking for money. He has sent thousands of $ so far even though I have tried to limit him to $500 a month, he blows past it and some months is sending $1,500 or more. He doesn't have much money and I'm afraid of what happens if he runs out as I can't afford to support him myself (the place he is in is $5k/month for example.
I am seriously considering taking his phone away and replacing it with an iPad mini where I can put parental controls on and stop him from adding his bank account and sending money. My hope is he can still go online and have some entertainment, without draining his funds. But I know he will get upset by this and he has basically no family besides me to serve as a lifeline. And the scammers will probably stop messaging him when they realize the gravy train is over.
What are the ethics here? On the one hand it's his money. On the other these are clear scams and fake profiles that he is falling for. I'm just struggling with what to do and trying to protect his limited funds in case he survives longer.