Beware of Scams – Woman Falls Prey to Threats to Family
In a recent spate of attempted phone frauds, one victim felt forced to turn over money when the caller made threats of harming her family.
A number of different kinds of phone scams have been reported recently, and in one case a victim gave in to the caller out of fear for her family's safety. The frightened Brookfield woman called police Jan. 16 to say that a man had called her claiming to be from a collection agency, and he gave her a number she should call to speak to his supervisor. When she did, she said, he demanded that she go to a Walmart store and buy a $1,000 Green Dot money card and then call him back and give him the card number. When she hesitated, feeling that it probably was a fraud, he told her he would harm her family if she hung up on him. She stayed on the line and, after further bullying, she gave in and did as he asked, signing over $1,000 to him. But she…
Michael Dwells
1:28 am on Sunday, January 27, 2013
Another scam people should be cautious about is the Kidnapped Relative scam. Based on the complaints posted at http://www.callercenter.com , the scammers call and demand money from the victim or the relative who was held hostage will be harmed. There have been several cases where the victims actually wired money to the scammers out of fear for their loved one's safety, until the victim realized … more ›