Kind of gives you hope that not everyone is out for all that they can get
Company saves scam victim $2k
By KRIS REILLY
Posted Nov. 26, 2015 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 26, 2015 at 9:19 PM
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I started writing this column, it’s that a scam victim is usually out of luck when it comes to getting their money back.
They should report the crime to authorities, but they shouldn’t count on justice for the crook. Once they’ve been swindled by someone in a faraway land, their chances of ever seeing their money again, or seeing the scammer punished, are slim and none. That’s why the best way to stop scams is to prevent them from ever happening.
Education is one weapon we can use to fight these scoundrels, and that’s what that column is all about: Letting folks know what’s out there so they’ll be prepared for it. But I recently heard about a rare case when someone coughed up a large sum of money and actually got it back before the swindlers were able to get their grimy hands on it.
A 81-year-old Apple Valley woman called me recently and said she and her 85-year-old husband got a series of calls from someone claiming to represent a popular company that regularly awards money in sweepstakes.
They had supposedly won $3 million, and all they had to do to get the money was wire $200 cash to a person in Florida. The woman — we’ll call her Mary because she was too embarrassed to have her real name used in the paper — agreed to send the money.
If you read this column often, you already know that Mary was getting bilked and she’ll never see that $200 again.
But the scammers weren’t through with her. After receiving the first payment they called again and said she needed to make another payment, this one for $2,000. Mary said scammers claimed they needed this sum for a federal “gold stamp” to send the money — whatever the heck that’s supposed to mean.
She went back to the Wal-Mart in Apple Valley to wire the money from the MoneyGram counter inside the store. A while later she got a call.
“Wal-Mart called and said we needed to pick up our money,” Mary said. “They felt it was a scam. I was surprised that they would do that.”
The initial $200 is gone, but the folks at MoneyGram saved Mary $2,000. That’s a lot of Christmas gifts.
“We made a fools of ourselves,” Mary said. “We felt like idiots after the fact. You read so much about this stuff, and then you fall for it. There’s no easy street. I can’t believe I forgot that.”
I was unable to get anyone from MoneyGram on the phone to talk about their policies when it comes to scams, and my email to a Wal-Mart spokesperson was also unsuccessful earlier this week. Employees at the store said they were not allowed to talk to the media. I did find online that MoneyGram is a founding member of something called the Scam Awareness Alliance, and they have a page on their website devoted to common scams.
The site warns customers to avoid supposed lottery or sweepstakes that require a payment to get your winnings, and MoneyGram warns that you should never wire money to anyone you don’t know.
The folks at MoneyGram or other money-wiring services may not always be able to spot a scam and stop it from happening, but it’s nice to know they’re making an effort to help.
It’s easy to think of big companies as faceless money-making machines. But don’t forget that these companies are made up of people, our friends and neighbors, and like most people, they endeavor to do the right thing. Whoever it was in the chain of command at MoneyGram or Wal-Mart that spotted this scam deserves a pat on the back. And a raise, if you ask me.
City Editor Kris Reilly can be reached at kreilly@vvdailypress.com or at 760-813-6139.
