Posted on 07/19/2010 5:04:47 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- It started as a game of phone tag between police and a man in Jamaica who was concerned his father was being scammed.
"I don't know how many phone calls I made to them, but I bet it was probably over 20," said Sgt. Johnny Ransdell. Countless calls and two visits to a man's house later, police realized something wasn't right. "After we figured out that Mr. Gibbs didn't have a son that was named David and that the welfare check was just a way to lure us in and to get us involved in the scam, it became a big game to them, and they started calling continuously," said Ransdell.
Not only was the man being scammed, but the scammers used their victim as bait to scam police as well. Ransdell looked it up on the FCC website and found when officers received a call each time from the 876 number or made one, the department was getting charged $7.49.
"I can't believe that I'm a police officer. I'm not supposed to be scammed, but it shows you how easy people can take advantage of whomever and they don't care who they're taking advantage of at all," said Ransdell.
But the truth is that police are almost the perfect targets. When the phone rings, they answer. "I have to pretty much answer that phone. It wouldn't be right if I didn't answer it because there might be someone out there that needed help," Ransdell said.
Police won't know how much this scam has cost them until they get their next phone bill. The FCC says there are some area codes to beware of. Click here to learn how to protect yourself or what to do if you're the victim of a scam.
I have to pass this on to some LEO’s I know..
There must be a FReeper who needs a new tagline...
Take this last last scam in Clarksville — now they’ll meet you at the station...
I did look up the area code for Jamaica at this link
http://www.bennetyee.org/ucsd-pages/area.html
and sure enough it is 876.
sfl
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