6 hours Ago By Eric Johnson
Published 5:50 pm Friday, December 13, 2024 By Eric Johnson A Mower County woman is hoping her experience with fending off a potential scammer can help others avoid falling for a scam. The 87-year-old woman, who didn’t wish to be identified, said Friday morning that the her experience started in October when somebody claiming to be the CEO of Publishers Clearing House, Andrew Goldberg, called to tell her she had won a Dodge Ram truck and $5.9 million dollars in its sweepstakes, however, to claim the prize, the woman would have had to get gift cards at Walgreens for $1,000 and $200 with instructions to read off the numbers on the back of the card when the scammer called back.
“It was to pay for the documentation of the $5.9 million,” the woman said she was told. “There’s a lot of people that would have fallen for this.
” The woman contacted the Mower County Sheriff’s Office and reported the scam and has not lost any money in the attempted scam. “The best thing people can do is hang up immediately,” said Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik. “Don’t use any media they give.
” On the Publishers Clearing house website, its information page states as its first warning of possible fraud that people should not send money in order to claim a prize, as well as another tip urging people to be suspicious of people calling to say they’ve won, but asking money to be sent. “At Publishers Clearing House we do not notify our contest winners by phone,” the page reads. The Mower County woman said she had an idea that something was wrong almost from the start, but that each time the man called back, he sounded authentic.
When calling her initially, the scammer had special codes she was to use to further add to the authentic-sounding nature of the call. “A lot of people would have fallen for this smooth talker,” she said. Sandvik said that scams like this one are nothing new and is part of an ever-evolving group of scams that includes coming across several different modes of communication.
He also reiterated that organizations, like Publishers Clearing House, law enforcement, etc. will not contact people asking for money to get money. “Probably the newest thing is the amount of texts, Facebook and social media addresses with links,” Sandvik said.
“Any time something requires immediate reaction, that should raise alarms.” He also urged people to look at when messages come in from businesses, understanding that most will not send messages at random points outside of business hours. Check emails and never give personal information over the phone or by clicking on provided links.
“Don’t use any media they give,” he said. The Mower County woman also urged people to be careful with these types of calls. “Everybody be aware,” she said, adding that if she can help somebody avoid losing money through her own efforts then the work is worth it.
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