My first thought too. Then I wondered how long it would be before scammers used a similar approach to try and get free hacking services from unsuspecting people. Sigh.
There will always be parasites. That should not be the reason we don't help each other, or we'd lose something even more valuable than what the parasites take.
I already thought this was... steal a server from somebody, can't get into it past a certain point, get somebody else to help pretending it's a family server gone bad.
Cynical yes but scammer numbers likely outweigh genuine requests these days. Besides, some of those people offering to "help" may be people looking to score some personal data... reverse scamming :D
In this specific case people helping will require physical access for the family member they are helping.
If they don't, big red flag (self hosters should be able to recognize a scammer), and if they actually have physical access to a stolen server, they won't need help, or won't be able to create such a scam.