Why people keep scammers in business

Money, money, money. Many victims of consumer fraud are lured into the scammer’s web by the promise of quick, easy and unearned money.

“You’ve won second prize in the PCH Sweepstakes,” (even though you never entered the contest), or “You’re due a substantial refund,” (even though you know you didn’t ever buy anything from that company).

These catchphrases, and many more, are specifically crafted to get your attention, turn off critical thinking on your part, and spur you into immediate and reckless action.

Readers will remember “John Peterson,” who called me at 6:19 a.m., informing me that I was a “weener” in the PCH Sweepstakes and was about to be awarded $3.1 million, a new Mercedes and a whole bunch of other stuff. All I had to do was pay a small “delivery fee” and the PCH staff would be knocking on my door. (By the way, the audio of the call can be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/5iH8kFTL_Lo.)

Fear. Fear of loss will motivate people to engage in some very bizarre, self-destructive behaviors. The loss of personal freedom is a powerful motivator behind variations on the theme “They’re coming to take me away.”

Some examples are the IRS scam, the “you missed jury duty” scam or the “there’s a warrant out for your immediate arrest” scam.

Recently a woman, a senior manager at a local corporation, received the “missed jury duty” scam call. Her caller ID showed the call was coming from our area code and the name displayed was “Idaho Courts Administration.” Of course, as all faithful readers of this column are aware, both the area code and the displayed name were lies. In fact, the call actually came from Savannah, Ga., from a 54-year-old man sitting at a card table in his underwear, finishing his fifth beer of the morning (OK, I made up the visual, but you get the idea).

By the time the lady came to her senses, she had run all over town trying to buy $2,000 in gift cards to pay the caller her “fine” for missing jury duty. Before she called the scammer back, though, she called me. We foiled the thief.

The desire to be important. “After investigating your background, including your professional achievements, you’ve been selected to join our exclusive ...” A line like this is often the opening of a letter or the first words of a would-be scammer.

Recently a rash of letters have been showing up in mailboxes around our area. The letters inform the recipient that they have been secretly investigated (how creepy is that?), specially selected and invited to join a secret society of wealthy and successful people who can’t wait to share the secrets of wealth, fame and fortune with you.

The letter is about seven pages long. The recipient’s first name is liberally sprinkled throughout the letter. I actually got the letter addressed to me. In some records my name is “R. William Brooks.” Of course the scammers turn out thousands of these letters per day and don’t look at them, just stuff them in an envelope. Instead of starting out with the salutation “Dear Bill,” my letter said “Dear R,” and went on to say “R, we’d like to personally invite you to join our secret society.”

Ask yourself, do you know who William Wheeler was? He was the 19th Vice President of the United States, from 1877 to 1881. He was, by many measures, the second most important politician in American at the time, yet his name and his accomplishments are almost completely forgotten. Don’t be misled by crooks offering to recognize you in the upcoming book of famous Americans merely by paying a small administrative fee of $499.99.

Compassion for others. People lose money daily to callers claiming to be collecting money for the less fortunate. These victims care about others and the scammers take full advantage of their caring and compassionate nature. Children, homeless, wounded, starving, and veterans are among the many words that are used to conjure up images that tug at our heartstrings while turning off our critical thinking.

SUGGESTIONS: Be suspicious of incoming telephone calls from people you don’t know. NEVER give out personal information regardless of what the caller is telling you. Don’t let callers “stampede” you into action. Talk with family and friends about suspicious phone calls before taking any action.

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SMOKE ALARM RECALL: The company that makes Kidde smoke alarms has just recalled almost 500,000 smoke alarms that were sold in this country. The recall applies to models PI2010 and PI9010. Specifically, a small yellow plastic cap that appears inside the alarm actually covers the smoke alarm sensor, preventing the alarm from working. The smoke alarms were sold online and at stores such as Lowe’s and Home Depot from September 2016 to January 2018.

Anyone who owns one of the alarms is asked to look through its sides for a visible yellow plastic cap. For more information or replacement, contact Kidde at 833-551-7739. REMEMBER: Change your smoke detector batteries every year. A good time to do it is in the spring during the change to Daylight Saving Time. If you haven’t done it yet this year, do it now.

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TAKE A MESSAGE TO GARCIA: I can’t tell you the number of times a reader of this column has asked me to tell the editor to do a story about this or that. Just to let you know, that’s not how it works — otherwise the Coeur d‘Alene Press would be nothing more than an unorganized bulletin board on newsprint.

Editors consider the various events and issues of the day and an assignment editor — at The Press it’s City Editor Maureen Dolan — assigns reporters and photographers to cover the selected items. Those who write for the paper, in my opinion, actually have less power to influence what stories the newspaper covers. Non-newspaper staff are more likely to influence what stories the paper covers by sending information, including a press release, to the paper. Letters to the Editor are always a good way to cover a topic.

We are lucky here to have a newspaper that actually welcomes the public to participate in our newspaper. So next time someone tells me to get a story written about thus and so on, I’ll just tell them to write a letter.

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REMEMBER BILL BROOKS: “He’s On Your Side”

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I have many more tips and interesting cases that I’m working on. Call me at (208) 699-0506, or email me at BillBrooksAdvocate@gmail.com or fax me at (866) 362-9266. (#GoGetEmBillBrooks) You can follow me at www.billbrooksconsumeradvocate.com. I am available to speak about consumerism to schools, and local and civic groups. Bill Brooks is a consumer advocate and the Broker and Owner of Bill Brooks Real Estate in Coeur d’Alene.