‘Fred’ wins millions every week
The calls come every week. “Fred” has won money. $5.5 million. $3 million. The amount kept changing but it was always big.
Of course, Fred knew the calls were from scammers. At first, he was polite.
“Don’t call anymore, because I know this is a scam,” he said.
But the scammers kept calling. They were men and women, but they always had the same spiel. Fred had a lot of money coming his way.
After a while, the 75-year-old Parkland resident took a different tone with the scammers.
“Okay, I won money. You’ve got my address. Send it to me.”
One scammer said, “No, you have to send me $500 first.”
That wasn’t going to happen.
When Fred was sassy with one scammer, the scammer’s spiel turned nasty.
“Well, big mouth, I’ll send someone out to take care of you,” the scammer threatened.
“Send them out,” replied Fred.
The calls continued. When Fred told one caller not to call back, the phone rang again as soon as he hung up.
One scammer explained how the money would arrive: It would be flown in to the “Farmington International Airport.”
Fred wondered if it would come by a Boeing 747.
The calls have been coming for two months straight. Now he is getting the Social Security card scam calls. He is bored with toying with the callers, so he has stopped responding to them. Next time they call, they just might get an earful of air horn.
One danger of toying with scammers is that they will continue to harass you.
Readers, have you had the same thing happen to you? Please share your story in the comments section of this story.
The Daily Journal has made a commitment to keep readers abreast of scams that hit our area. If someone tries to make you the victim of a scam, submit details at https://www.dailyjournalonline.com/connect (click on the Scam logo) or call us at 431-2010 and tell us what happened.
We will try to include your story in our scam alert series to prepare others who may find themselves in the same situation. The Daily Journal will run Scam Alert stories in the Weekend paper.
