“Forced at 14 to Be a Parent to My Out-of-Control Brothers”

“We Think Our Mother and Her Husband Are Being Duped by Her Online Boyfriend”

Marcy and Todd say their 71-year-old mother, Renee, may be married to their stepfather, Harold, but that hasn’t stopped her from giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to an online scammer who Renee says she is in love with. Renee, a retired mortgage banker, says her children live in another state and don’t have the first clue about her relationship with “Thomas" or “Tom Nunez Hughs,” who is handsome and wealthy but unfortunately is stuck in South Africa. Renee says her boyfriend is the most romantic man she has ever met, even more so than her husband, who she plans to divorce once “Thomas Hughs” returns to the U.S. Marcy and Todd say their mother’s obsession has escalated to frightening proportions. Now, Marcy has disinvited her mother to her wedding because Renee is completely absorbed in her relationship with this catfish. And, Todd says he has not spoken to his mother in two years because she only wants money from him to give to her online lover. As Dr. Phil investigates Renee’s love life, she learns essential information about “Thomas Nunez Hughs.”