My mother was recently involved in an internet dating scam...

I describe these types of scams in my new book "The Truth About Avoiding Scams." If your mother has given money to the con artist, that money is lost. However, See also:
How do I get my grandmother to stop being scammed by psychics?

See all 55 questions about Scams, Gambling and Other worries they are extremely unlikely to seek her out at this point.

In terms of what to do now to protect your mother, here are a few things to consider:

• If she paid them anything with a credit card or a check, close the accounts and start new ones. Otherwise, they can use that information to steal from her accounts, or steal her identity and ruin her credit.
• Put passwords on your mother's accounts. Her bank and other financial institutions will help her do this.
• Consider getting your mother a credit freeze, which is now available in all states. With a credit freeze, you are able to restrict access to your credit report unless you have specifically authorized access. This will prevent an identity thief who may have personal information about her from getting access to her credit to finance large purchases. Anyone can put a credit freeze on their credit records by contacting the three major credit reporting bureaus.

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