You’re never too smart to be scammed

By Chris Lundstrom
Editor/Publisher    
    There are some pretty tricky people out there and they are after your hard-earned money.
    Here at the newspaper we do all we can to not help any of these scurrilous individuals gain access to you and your cash. But sometimes they are even too smart for us.
    Case in point: We recently ran a classified ad for a personal assistant. Now, occasionally ads are emailed to us from questionable sources and we do our due diligence to check them out before we run their ads. This particular person gave eight different credit card numbers before one would go through. We figured if we received payment, the ad would be legitimate. We should have known better. 
    The ad was a scam. A local who responded in good faith to the ad was suspicious when the prospective “employer” asked her to open a PayPal account and give them the password. A red flag went up and she contacted the Edna Police Department.
    She was able to trace the email to Nigeria. Now there’s a big red flag. Why would someone from Nigeria need a personal assistant all the way in Edna, Texas? 
    So, sneaky me, I set up a fake email account and also responded to the ad. I thought my fake name of Sharon Hornblower was pretty original until Chief Wooldridge told me otherwise. I quickly heard back from our bogus employer, Bradly Gordon, who, in questionable English, told me how easy the job would be and how much it would pay. I would shop for him (one of my personal faves, especially with someone else’s money) and he would pay me up front to do it. His job kept him from home a lot and I would be doing him a great service. I think he even threw in the old “my father just died and I haven’t had access to my computer” excuse. 
    Then he asked for information. Nothing too obtrusive, just name, address, telephone number, email address, age, current occupation... nothing that would set off any warning bells. But, before providing that information I called Chief Wooldridge. After all, I may think I am sneaky and smart, but I certainly am not trained to handle things like that and didn’t want to accidently divulge something that could come back and kick me in the ankle. 
    Chief told me he would be reluctant to give him any information because it sounded like he wanted to send me counterfeit money orders or checks with the hope that I would send him the cash before my bank tells me they aren’t any good.
    Well, geez. I’m thinking of all those trusting readers who need a job that we now have exposed to this piece of scum. Readers that trust us to run legitimate ads about legitimate employment.
    You see, credibility is the core of this newspaper. Our community trusts what they read in it to be true and real and we do our absolute best to not disappoint. So when I learned of this bogus help wanted ad, it just made me mad.
    The thing is, they are so clever and have so much experience trying to fool people. Little clues give them away, though. Things like misusing words are a dead giveaway. However, as smart as we think we are, we still get fooled.
    So I get it when our moms and dads also get taken by these crooks. In last week’s paper we ran a bit in the police beat about someone who lost thousands of dollars because they were told they had won an expensive new car. We can tell them over and over again that you can’t win if you didn’t enter and nothing is free, but the lure of a shiny new car is hard to resist. 
    They come from a generation where people were generally more honest. There was no internet so we didn’t have access to people from all over the world. We weren’t faceless. Now you can be contacted by someone like Frank Collins who says he has free AKC Yorkie puppies because he is relocating and his landlord does not accept animals. Free puppies. How sweet (said with sarcasm). I emailed him back and asked for his address and he tells me 602 Suzanne St. in Edna. Wow. He is brave enough to give me an address IN THE TOWN WHERE I LIVE! Like I am not gonna check this out or something.
    Our parents didn’t try to steal from people and a handshake and your word were as good as a contract. People entered contests and won lights that looked like ladies’ legs. We didn’t lock our doors because, well, there was no need. Besides, someone might want to leave you something. When the bank called for information over the phone you gave it to them because, well, they are the bank. 
    It is a new world, folks, and unfortunately we have to be more clever than the crooks. Don’t ever give out personal or financial information on the phone unless you actually initiated the phone call to your bank or credit card company. Lock your doors to your house and your car because nobody is going to leave you anything. 
    Don’t hesitate to call the sheriff’s office or police department if you have any concerns over whether something – or somebody – is legitimate. And finally, don’t send money if someone tells you that you won a car. If you really win something, and again, you have to enter to win, it shouldn’t cost you money to claim it. 
    That’s my little bit of wisdom for this week. Hopefully we will all be a little bit smarter so the next time one of those scurvy dogs tries to get something they aren’t entitled to they will come back empty handed.