A Greenbrier woman reported a scam that nearly happened to her involving a person posing as a Publisher's Clearing House representative.
The scam, which has already claimed a woman in Russellville, involves a phone call from a Kingston, Jamaica area code. The caller informs the person that they are winners of the Publisher's Clearing House and in order to avoid paying taxes, a purchase needs to be made of a debit card at a local pharmacy.
The Greenbrier woman said that was as far as it had gotten with her. "I know it seems strange, but many people can fall for this," she said. When she asked the caller why the phone number was coming from Jamaica, the caller responded that he purchased the phone in that area since he travelled around the world for the company.
Recently, a woman in Russellville was scammed out of $16,000 by the same process.
"I just want to make sure people know that this is happening in this neighborhood," the Greenbrier woman said.
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Scams involve getting someting for doing nothing and notice the way this is reported "in order to NOT pay taxes" so I feel anyone who gets burnt on this deserves it for trying to cheat on paying taxes.
If everyone one paid a flat tax on every dollar they profitted we wouldn't need the IRS and if the started @ a 10% rate they would have too much money and would be able to cut that back.
on a related note
For $19.95, I will tell you of some ways to avoid getting scammed in the future.
WARNING - DON'T FALL FOR THIS TRICK...
...I paid $19.95 for the first information packet; $29.95 for the second information packet; and $12,999.95 for the third packet. Each one of them was only one page with the warning to not trust a clownhat.
What really ticks me off is that it took almost 4 weeks after ordering packets #2 and #3 for them to arrive in the mail. :-(
sigh
Ok, for $24.95 I will send all three packets at once.
This is a limited-time offer.
Can I...
...still use the same website for credit card purchases?
Let me see, was that website address www.IAmAnIdiot.com or www.HowStupidCanIBe.com?
Either way, I'm placing my order now!
no
You have to give me your credit card number.
Just type it here. Backwards, for security purposes.
Wait...
...I just remembered, I maxed out all my credit cards the last time I purchased those.
Can I just mail cash to the P.O. Box instead? Or go to the bank drive-thru and make a deposit for Boosta?
You may use the bank drive-thru
only if you have a Pontiac Sunfire..
I thought...
...that only ninjas were allowed to drive Pontiac Sunfires.
This happened to my aunt...
About a month ago. A person called saying they were with Publishers clearing house and 30 mins from her home...and gave a number and name for her to call, and she didn't and the caller id said JAMAICA plain as day.
I called PCH, they said They NEVER EVER called and told someone they were on the way and to call a number, they surprise you w/ flowers and a huge check if you win.
IF you do get a call from a person claiming to be from PCH, hang-up or don't answer it, I think it cost my aunt 5 dollars for that call being answered. Which is probably how the scam works.
They'll even mention names of towns nearby and fool you that way into calling another number which probably costs more than 5 dollars if you do...SO DON'T.
PCH WILL NEVER CALL BEFOREHAND TELLING YOU. IT RUINS THE SURPRISE IF YOU ARE A WINNER.