Police Warn Local Residents of Overseas Telephone Scam

[genealogynut]

Winfield Courier
Thursday, March 22, 2007

By Tyler Gaskill

A Winfield resident was recently targeted in an age-old scam, according to a press release from the Winfield Police Department.

The unnamed citizen reported that on the morning of March 19, they received three telephone calls from 5 to 5:13. The caller indicated that all three calls had a foreign voice or dialect.

They said that the caller informed them that their son had been severely injured and supplied a telephone number for them to call for further information.  The number that was given had an area code of 876.

According to the release, the citizen made contact with their child and found out that they were fine, therefore raising suspicion.

The following day, after visiting with coworkers, the citizen learned the calls are originating outside the United States.  They advised that the scammers are calling people telling them that a family member is either severely injured or deceased or that they have just won a prize.  They then supply a telephone number for the person to call for further information about the prize or family member.

The citizen reported that if a person should call the number with one of the three mentioned area codes, the person is billed over $20 per minutefor the telephone call.  The caller will then get into a very lengthy conversation or be put on hold for as long as possible, causing a very large telephone bill.

Possible area codes for the scam telephone numbers are 809, 284, and 876.  It is possible not every number with these area codes is involved in the scam.

Police recommend that some research be done on different numbers or organizations to verify that they are legitimate before becoming involved with them.

Please inform yourselves and try to verify a telephone number if you are not familiar with it.

According to Sgt. Gordon of the Winfield Police Department, this is the only call he has received in reference to the scam, but more than likely there have been more than one scam call in the area.

"There is usually one or two who report it, and many more that don't," Gordon said.

When they researched the problem, police discovered that the scam has been around for several years and has reached the computer age as well.  Scammers are now using e-mail to deliver messages encouraging victims to contact them through the telephone.

In addition to this scam, the police department reminds the community about other scams that are experienced daily.

Police are asking all Winfield residents not to supply any personal information, such as full names, date of birth, social security numbers, banking information or credit card information to parties with whom you don't do regular business.  Chances are they should already have this information in their records.

Also, police ask that you remember the "golden rule"  when receiving prize announcements.  "If it's too good to be true, it probably is."

[genealogynut]

For the past couple of weeks or so, Don and I have been plagued with these telephone calls, as well.  And we live in southeastern Kansas.  The first time they called, I had a hard time understanding this person, but I did understand that she was wanting me to call a long distance number, and I immediately "smelled a rat," and hung up on her.  I noted who was calling on our caller ID, so therefore, we no longer answer the phone. But that not all.......they even went as far to send us a phony official notice thru the snail mail, telling us they had been trying to reach us by phone, and wanted us to call a "toll free" long distance number, something about entering the sweepstakes, and being a possible winner.  We didn't buy into that either.......we tore that phony thing to shreds.  Meanwhile, they keep trying to call us, and we don't answer.

[Marty Hunter]

     There are a lot of scams going right now.   We have seen 8-10 customers come in telling us that they have won a Canadian lottery.   A "check" is included with the notification that you are to deposit, and then return a portion of to them to pay the taxes-and then you will receive the bulk of the lottery for deposit.   It does not seem to matter to most people that they did not buy a ticket for the lottery, or that Canadian lottery tickets can not be sold in the US.   I had one lady who demanded that I accept the check sent by the scam artists, because "what if I really did win and did not claim it".   I sent the check on collection to a Canadian bank and it came back bogus, and they also charged a $100 fee for the attempt to collect it.   I keep asking folks why a lottery is going to ask you to send money for taxes rather than to just deduct them from the winnings.
     We are seeing variants of the Nigerian scam, where you receive a message (generally by mail or email) from someone purporting to be a government official who is trying to sneak money out of his country.   If you will allow your account to be used as a depository, you will receive a large share of the funds.   This one has been around so long that it is hard to believe any one falls for it, but it does happen on a regular basis.
     There is also the scam that has developed since the internet, and in particular ebay, has become prevalent.   A bidder will buy an item from a seller, generally at a price that is above market.  They will generally be from another country and will say that they have someone who is picking up purchases for them.   They wonder if you would be so kind as to deposit a large check from an item that they have sold into your account.    Wait as long as you want to feel comfortable that the deposit is good, and then send them the balance above the purchase price.   US banks can place a hold on a large deposit for 5 business days, and after that we generally have to release all of the funds to the depositer.   These checks that have been deposited are generally either bogus or they are altered.   This is generally not discovered within 5 days.   It is virtually impossible to prosecute someone in a foreign country for this type of fraud, and you as the depositer will lose.
     I believe that it was PT Barnum who said that you can't cheat an honest man.   These scams work off of the greed factor of the victim believing they are receiving something for nothing.     

[Wilma]

Thank you, Marty.  It is good to hear that the bank is trying to look out for us old people.  I don't fall for anything that is going to get me something for nothing or cost me anything.  I don't have enough money to risk losing any of it.

[Marty Hunter]

     The first time I saw the Canadian Lottery scam it was one of my friends, probably 35 years old.   It sure has nothing to do with age.   Most of the scams are pretty convincing.   I keep wanting to win the Lotto, but Joanna says I have to buy a ticket.   It may take a while.