On Sunday, the 249th birthday of the United States Marine Corps, Boundary County attorney Tim Wilson’s phone rang. He was being arrested, the caller said, for not showing up for federal jury duty. The retired Marine, a top gun fighter pilot, the elite of the elite of the nation’s combat aviators, listened incredulously.
The caller spoke to him by name and knew his address as if he were reading straight off a federal warrant, dropped the names of local peace officers. But before you get too worried, Mr. Wilson, we can take care of this quietly, I’ll just need a valid credit card number or, if you’d rather, to have you pick up gift cards from your local grocery.
“No sir,” Wilson replied, rummaging through his desk for the harmonica he kept for just such eventualities. “I’m a loyal American and I take my civic duties seriously. I’m on my way to the sheriff’s office to turn myself in …”
The caller suddenly hung up …
Of course it was yet another scammer trying yet another variant to separate a citizen from their hard earned money and so spare themselves the necessity of having to work at all.
If you suspect you’re on the hook with a scammer, do not divulge any personal information, no matter how much they seem to already know. Get their phone number if it comes up on caller ID and hang up.
Wilson did call the sheriff’s and learned that they had received several similar complaints. Even though action to apprehend or stop the culprit, who could be sitting in his grimy underwear in a dank basement anywhere in the world, his harried old mom telling him he’s 46, get a job, get married, every time she brings him a fresh bag of Cheetos, those who receive scam calls should always contact local law enforcement to file a complaint.
They should also file reports with the federal agencies tasked with finding and prosecuting the scammers. If it’s a phone scam, contact the Federal Trade Commission online at ReportFraud.ftc.gov or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP. The FTC uses reports to investigate scams and bring cases against them. If the scam arrives via the internet, the report should go to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3, at www.ic3.gov.