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Police urge residents to beware of money scam
From staff reports
Published: Saturday, July 14, 2012 5:06 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Recently a Michigan City resident received a telephone call from a man claiming to represent Readers Digest and informed the resident they had just won $180,000. The resident was instructed to go to a local CVS Drug Store and purchase two $600 pre-loaded money cards and was given the name and phone number of a person to call back. That person would then come to the resident’s home and exchange the $180,000 check for the pre-loaded money cards.
The Michigan City Police Department advises any consumer receiving similar telephone calls not to give or send any money. Be wary of phone calls that say you have won any prize. The real Reader’s Digest notifies all winners by mail, not by phone, and its notification letter includes a toll-free number for their headquarters. You should always check with Better Business Bureau (BBB) before claiming any kind of prize to be certain it is legitimate.
Be suspicious if people ask you for money to claim a prize. Common scams include asking winners to prepay taxes, to pay shipping and handling charges, to send a deposit or other bogus expenses.
Also, never send money to someone you do not know.
Con artists ask you to wire money, send it by overnight courier, or provide bank account information so they can debit your account.
From staff reports
Published: Saturday, July 14, 2012 5:06 PM CDT
MICHIGAN CITY — Recently a Michigan City resident received a telephone call from a man claiming to represent Readers Digest and informed the resident they had just won $180,000. The resident was instructed to go to a local CVS Drug Store and purchase two $600 pre-loaded money cards and was given the name and phone number of a person to call back. That person would then come to the resident’s home and exchange the $180,000 check for the pre-loaded money cards.
The Michigan City Police Department advises any consumer receiving similar telephone calls not to give or send any money. Be wary of phone calls that say you have won any prize. The real Reader’s Digest notifies all winners by mail, not by phone, and its notification letter includes a toll-free number for their headquarters. You should always check with Better Business Bureau (BBB) before claiming any kind of prize to be certain it is legitimate.
Be suspicious if people ask you for money to claim a prize. Common scams include asking winners to prepay taxes, to pay shipping and handling charges, to send a deposit or other bogus expenses.
Also, never send money to someone you do not know.
Con artists ask you to wire money, send it by overnight courier, or provide bank account information so they can debit your account.