Scam Alert! My Mom Almost Fell For This One
There is a new phone scam that is going around that sounds too good to be true, well, because it is. This one was pretty believable and my mom was almost a victim. Be aware of this latest scam.Yesterday around noon, I got a call from my mom and she seemed very suspicious about a phone call she just received. At first when the caller said is this Nancy (last name), my mom asked first who it was. When they said a name of a law firm, my mom said yes. She was thinking it may have something to do with my grandmother who had recently passed away.
They then told her that they were calling on behalf of the Publisher' Clearing House Sweepstakes and she won the second prize. She listened and they asked if the address on file was correct. She said yes. They then asked if she was home. She said no and then they asked when she would be home. (When she told me this, it made me nervous). She asked, "Why? Are you coming to my house with balloons and a big check?" She said she would be home later in the afternoon.
I quickly said to my mom that I thought it was a scam and that she gave them WAY too much information. I told her I would look into it so I searched Google for "2nd Prize Publisher's Clearing House" and saw that it wasn't legit. I also called the number back and it didn't exist.
Nothing came of the scam and my mom is fine but a word to the wise, DO NOT give out ANY information. Anyone can find your address online, it's public record. In the future, I told my mom just to hang up. My mom wound up going to her local police department because she felt uneasy. I contacted someone from the Better Business Bureau and they told me this scam is becoming more common.