Residents beware of those scammers

It happened to me again. In fact, it seems to happen to me every week. This time some guy called to inform me that he was driving around in his truck trying to locate me in order to give me a sizable amount of money and a new car.

I supposedly had won some kind of lottery or game and he was excited about giving me a prize. Of course, I immediately recognized that it was a hoax, especially since I do not play the lottery nor any of the raffles different companies promote, and informed him that I was sorry but that I didn't handle anything like this over the phone; but if he had something to give me, I would be home for the next couple of hours and would be glad to receive it.

Then, for the first time one of these con artists called me and began to cuss me out over the phone. I won't tell you what he said, but it was bad--and apparently I did not receive the money and new car. I could have used both, but as the old adage goes: You never receive anything for nothing.

Let me explain something. The reason why I don't gamble, play the lottery, take part in sweepstakes and raffles is not because of religious reasons. I haven't gotten that far along in my assessment of their value. The cold, hard fact is I am extremely unlucky.

When one of our local banks opened a new branch, they had a little pond in its entrance with some little ducks swimming around in it. When I caught one, everyone did a little dance while excitedly informing me that I may have won a free weekend at Branson.

I asked how many other people had also won such a chance and was informed it wasn't many. That did it. I would much rather have had a sleeve of golf balls in last place than an empty promise.

Which reminds me of the time I won a putting contest with everyone rejoicing about my winning a prize. It turned out that two other people also made the putt, so of course I came in third.

Or, if that isn't enough, consider the time I won the longest drive in golf for the first and only time in my life. I was really on high until I found out that the prize was two dozen golf balls -- not just any golf balls; these were special. They were seconds made by cheap companies and x-out ones designed for use on driving ranges (I found out later you could purchase all of them for around $10 at Wal-Mart).

Need I point out that I went from an extreme high that day to an extreme low! Since most of the balls were women's balls anyway, I gave them away. Did I say I was unlucky?

I'm not really complaining about my luck, for God has blessed me immeasurably while living here in Bella Vista. However, I do take umbrage with people who feel they can take advantage of my shortcomings by trying to con me out what little money I have.

We have con artists of every kind who love to communicate via our communication media. Too many older people have received a call supposedly from a grandson (or granddaughter) in jail asking for money to get out. Too many people have fallen for the old sweepstakes winning game thinking that they have finally struck it rich. Or, consider the tech sites on the web that propose they are one thing while actually being someone who wants access to your computer to both mess it up and charge you for the discourtesy.

I also remember an older gentleman who an officer and I visited after he called saying that the man he had hired to fix his roof apparently did not do the job. He had paid the man several thousands dollars up front to fix a slight leak in his roof, but the officer and I could not find any evidence of either the leak or anything having been done to the roof.

Yep, you guessed it. He had been taken in by a con artist who had already left town.

I have discovered that many of the con artists who use the telephone actually are not in the United States at all. They are usually calling from some Central America country and routing their calls through a machine in Las Vegas. They're actually pretty safe since local authorities have no jurisdiction over such activity.

They can only be reported through the federal government, and frankly those people are so busy they don't have enough time to chase after these con artists. Your local police will support you, but there is not much they can do.

You really don't get something for nothing, so when you recognize that someone is trying to take advantage of you, your best response is to simply hang up. Don't talk with them. They are the experts in the swindling game, not you.

But sometimes, I just like to have a little fun of my own with them. I allow them to set themselves up for a big haul and then listen to them struggle when they find out I knew they were scammers all along. Frankly, I don't recommend this kind of response, but it was fun while it lasted. Your best response is to hang up, and you may always "block" their future calls on your smart phone.

Take care of yourself and those you care about. You're far more important than any con artist, and your resources are yours, not his.

If you question such activity, give our police department a call. While they cannot really arrest the person, they can at least inform you whether or not the call is legitimate. They really do care for you.

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Box is the chaplain for the Bella Vista Police and Fire departments. The opinions expressed in this column don't necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.

Editorial on 11/25/2015