Letter to the Editor

Beware of phone scams

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

To the editor:

Phone scamming is alive and well!

My wife answered a call from a man claiming to represent Reader's Digest, telling her she had won a million dollars and a new Mercedes car. She "baited" the caller and started asking questions like what do I have to do to get the prizes. She was first told "nothing" except to give a bank account number so they could process the money. She told him she didn't have a bank account; then the story began to change.

She was told to go to Walmart to buy a certain envelope, place $671.72 in it. Bring it home and a UPS driver would pick it up. The story got more interesting when he asked her what color car she wanted and a two- or four-door. This was almost funny. He was laying it on thick.

The next call was from a different man claiming to be a UPS driver and he would pick up the money by noon. She told him she knew it was a scam. He tried hard to convince her, then just hung up. Before it was all over, the prize had escalated to over $4 million with $500 in cash. It is hard to believe anyone could fall for this, but we hear that people do. Seniors, if you get a call telling you that you have won a contest you didn't enter, just hang up.

Leonard Medlock
Blytheville