Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Online Chat Spawns Scam Attempt
An online “chat” in which a local man recently participated has led to him being targeted in an apparent scam attempt.
On Tuesday a resident of Oak Street in Summertown reported to Lawrence County Sheriff’s Deputies that he had become engaged in the “chat” session with a woman who identified herself as “Sarah Mills.” The woman told the resident that she worked for “Elite Insurance Company” based in the United Kingdom.
During their chat, the resident told deputies he did give the woman his telephone number. Since that time he said, he has received several telephone calls from the UK.
The caller informed the resident that if he would send them $875, they would then send him two boxes filled with $75,000.
The man told deputies that he had made an attempt to “catch” the scammers. He told them he could only pay them $300, but that he would get the remainder of the money to them at a later date. He was then instructed to wire the money to them.
The victim said that he contacted the Fraud Department at Western Union, inquiring about sending a “fake money order” so that they could catch the scam artists.
The victim was advised to report the incident through his local law enforcement agency before proceeding further.
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