As we head towards a new year, as the holidays slip by, as we face another dreary winter ahead, it’s not a bad time to suggest that we get what we pay for.
If we pay for someone to fleece us, we will get that, as an incident elsewhere in Kansas recently showed.
It was reported this week that police in Manhattan were investigating a scam the rooked an elderly lady out of a LOT of money.
According to the Associated Press report: “Manhattan police say an 84-year-old woman has been scammed out of $80,000 from a company claiming she had won a prize.”
It noted the lady — who really doesn’t need to be identified here, it could have happened to almost anyone — “was told by a company calling itself the Global International Sweepstakes and Lottery Co. that in order to get the prize, she needed to give the company money first.”
Yeah, we see it coming, don’t we? But then we aren’t in the position of someone suggesting that we are about to become millionaires.
Frankly, we don’t know what we would do until we get in that position.
And this happened in steps, with a logical scam. Manhattan cops reported the money was stolen in several steps from last June through this month.
This wasn’t a one-time crank call.
This was a well-orchestrated con job and it is certainly to be hoped that the police will get whatever help they need and be able to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.
In the mean time, we can all learn from this sad affair.
Just because there is new technology out there, some things never change.
Anyone who uses the fast talk and the hard sell should never be trusted.
Legitimate business people will allow you time to discuss an issue and to get experts involved — even the police — to make sure you are not getting scammed.
If you are not sure, tell them “no thanks” and send them on their way.
Always remember this elemental truth: If it seems too good to be true — it probably is.
— Chuck Smith