Monday, April 29, 2013
Scam Artist Threatens Life Of Unobliging Mark
The target of a wide-spread scam reported to authorities Friday that the perpetrator made threats against her life when she refused to cooperate.
The victim, age 79, reported the crime to deputies with the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department. She said that she had received several calls throughout the previous week from individuals who claimed she was a winner in a sweepstakes.
The caller told her that she would receive a check through the mail and instructed her to deposit it into her bank account.
The victim reported that she did receive a check in the amount of $2,550 from a Praxir, Inc. in Montreal. A letter was enclosed, informing her that she was the winner of a $100,000 prize.
It identified her Claims Agent as Doris Golson and provided contact numbers as well as addresses in Danbury, Connecticut.
The victim told deputies that she had believed the check to be fake and had planned to ignore it altogether. She only opted to file a police report after receiving the threatening call on Friday.
The caller requested the victim’s bank account information so that the company, “Could deposit her winnings into her account.”
The victim said she refused to provide the information, telling the caller that she was not going to do anything with the check until she had it inspected by authorities.
The caller informed her that, if she had no plans to deposit the check, she was required to return it to him.
When she emphasized that she was going to have it analyzed by authorities the caller became irate, stating that, “If she didn’t return the check he was going to kill her.”
The victim told deputies that she had become fed up with the harassment and decided to speak with an officer about the matter. Investigation is underway at the current time.
