Posted on 07/09/2012 8:47:37 AM PDT by listenhillary
SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. —
The Better Business Bureau and Georgia Power are warning people about a scam, promising that President Barack Obama will pay utility bills with a new federal grant.
Channel 2's Tony Thomas spoke to a Griffin woman who fell for the scam. Loneiyce Washington even introduced her friends to what she thought was a legitimate offer. They ended up getting scammed, too.
Washington said she thought Obama passed a law that provided credits to help her and others pay their utility bills, she told Thomas.
Investigators said the scammers ask for people's Social Security numbers and bank routing numbers. The victims are then given a fake routing number to a bank and the money routed will go toward paying their utility bills. Washington thought after the money had been routed, her bills had been paid. But that wasn't the case and she said she didn't have to give out her private information.
"I didn't think it was a scam because they are not asking for personal information," Washington said.
After falling for the scheme, she called her friends to tell them about it.
"I'm just apologizing about it. I hope they understand it was a mistake," Washington said.
Georgia Power also hopes their customers did not make the same mistake, according to a recording.
Georgia Power warns customers to hang up and call the phone number on their utility bill if they receive a call from someone claiming to be their utility company.
“No such thing as free”
I humbly disagree. She probably gets lots of free stuff from the various governments already: Fed, state and local. She was so accustomed to free stuff from the government that one more thing didn’t cause here any alarm. Same with her friends.
"I didn't think it was a scam because they are not asking for personal information," Washington said.
Dear God,
Please please please remove the stupid people from the earth.
Thank you.
Amen.
Horse hockey.
Given the numerous government handouts that exist already (food stamps, child care credits, heating assistance, etc...) and the fact that we've got a president who seems determined to create as many new government handouts as possible, it seems perfectly reasonable to believe the government has a rent assistance/handout program.
Should she have checked this out more thoroughly? Yes.
Should she have thought twice about giving her SSN and bank account info out? Hell yes.
Should she have thought "there's no way the government is going to give me money to help with my rent"? No, because that isn't the world we live in. Like it or not, we live in a world where the government hands out money for just about any and everything.
I have a feeling the scammers are on the right target.
In order to get her “free money” from the gov, she had to go somewhere to give her sob story and sign up for it.
This time she didn’t. Also, this moocher did NOT get her money stolen. She got OUR money stolen, stolen from us by the USSA gov., then given to her.
You are right. Not much surprises me anymore.
What I thought was ridiculous and unthinkable 10 years ago often is today’s reality.
TANSTAAFL!
So let me get this straight, these people have enough money in the bank to be scammed by scam artists, but not enough to pay their own damn utility bills? Sorry, but if that is the case, she got what she deserved.
If you’re targeting people like these folks for your “scam”, you’re going to need to scam A LOT of them because I doubt their bank accounts are very hefty.
What does that mean???
It took me a second, but it appears to mean "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch."
"TANSTAAFL!" is an acronym ("There ain't no such thing as a free lunch!") coined by Robert Heinlein in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. It became the motto of Free Luna.
Ahhhhh, thank you! Ain’t that the truth.
The scammers are gathering info to commit identity theft.
The next shoe to drop will be the opening of credit cards, bank accounts, loans, etc... in these people’s names. An entire fake credit history will be built for them.
Then a few months from now bill collectors will start coming after them asking why they aren’t making payments on their credit cards and trying to reposes the cars they recently bought.
They’re complaining now about being scammed, they have no idea how bad it is about to become.
Washington said she thought Obama passed a law that provided credits to help her and others pay their utility bills... the scammers ask for people's Social Security numbers and bank routing numbers... "I didn't think it was a scam because they are not asking for personal information," Washington said.The difference between her head and a pumpkin? The latter will eventually have a light in it.
Probably not ... he's only half white, remember?
Is anyone sure that it wasn't Obama raising campaign funds, after all he has been BEGGING for all the wedding and shower money intended for gifts. He isn't above this scam either, or someone associated with him.
Nothing would suprise me about obama and his ilk, nothing.
“You can’t cheat an honest man”. —W.C. Fields.
The converse is also true. It is supremely easy to cheat somebody who wants something for nothing.
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