Asked to wire money for a lost item? You're about to get scammed
I got a call from an old college friend the other day. Jeff wanted me to know that he had almost been hooked by a con artist.
Jeff was fishing in Sun Valley when lost his favorite rod and reel. So he ran lost and found ads in the local papers and on the Craigsist website.
About two weeks later Jeff got a call from a guy named Grant who sounded like he found the rod.
"When he said to me 'where'd you lose it?' I said 'the Big Wood River. Whereabouts on the river?' And I tell him, 'under the Cold Springs Bridge. What kinds of rod and reel was that?' and sure enough it's the same rod and reel."
Jeff was so excited.
"And then he said, 'do you have a Walmart near you?'"
Grant wanted my friend to wire him the $100 reward and $42 to ship the rod. He wouldn't take a check. It had to be a wire transfer. That's when Jeff realized he was dealing with a shark.
Jeff said it was easy to get drawn into the scam.
"The only give-away for me was the Western Union," he said.
This same sort of scam is used to rip off people who advertise a lost dog or cat. The crooks always demand that you wire them money.That's the tip-off to the rip-off.
Jeff was fishing in Sun Valley when lost his favorite rod and reel. So he ran lost and found ads in the local papers and on the Craigsist website.
About two weeks later Jeff got a call from a guy named Grant who sounded like he found the rod.
"When he said to me 'where'd you lose it?' I said 'the Big Wood River. Whereabouts on the river?' And I tell him, 'under the Cold Springs Bridge. What kinds of rod and reel was that?' and sure enough it's the same rod and reel."
Jeff was so excited.
"And then he said, 'do you have a Walmart near you?'"
Grant wanted my friend to wire him the $100 reward and $42 to ship the rod. He wouldn't take a check. It had to be a wire transfer. That's when Jeff realized he was dealing with a shark.
Jeff said it was easy to get drawn into the scam.
"The only give-away for me was the Western Union," he said.
This same sort of scam is used to rip off people who advertise a lost dog or cat. The crooks always demand that you wire them money.That's the tip-off to the rip-off.