“Congratulations, you’ve just won a free vacation!” “Act now so your offer doesn’t expire!”
Tempting, right?
A lot of times, it’s too good to be true.
This past weekend, we spoke with a woman who had sent tens of thousands of dollars to an individual under the pretense that she had won a prize from Publisher’s Clearing House. The money she was sending, she was told, was to pay for the taxes on the prize.
While some of the woman’s money was recovered thanks to the watchful eye of a delivery service, the woman still unfortunately lost several thousand dollars.
Please be aware that unfortunately, some calls aren’t what they seem. What sounds like a great offer or an incredible prize is, more often than not, a scam.
Help protect yourself by never sending or wiring money to a person or an address. Never give anyone access to your bank account. If you think the call is a scam, take down the phone number and report it to us. You can also report these kinds of scams to the FBI at this link: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.
Be safe, Mountain View!
