Scams: Hook, Line and Sinker

A couple of Bedford residents recently found themselves to be victims of fraud. They were contacted by phone and told they were the winners of large sums of money (hundreds of thousands of dollars). They were told they would receive a check for 10 % which they were to cash and send most of it to the sweepstakes office to cover accounting fees so they could receive their money. One resident was lucky when a clerk at Bedford Federal realized the check the resident was cashing was fraudulent and stopped the process. Another resident wasn't so lucky and is out 7,000.00.

You may be sitting there shaking your head and wondering how anyone could fall for such a trick, but don't be so hasty to judge. When we are in dire straits, sometimes such an offer can seem like a gift from the Almighty and we fall for it hook, line and sinker. Today I got in my email a note from a Deacon of a church I have never heard of saying that God had told him he was to share his earthly wealth with me. Now I certainly could use the income, but I didn't even respond to this character. Maybe he is on the up and up and maybe God is shaking his head and me, but I prefer to be safe than sorry and even an email back to this person would have raised me up a notch in the 'sucker' category.

Be careful out there! There are people who spend all their time trying to figure out how to get your money!