Mississippi Detective Security Service owner Norman Cote warns that callers claiming to be agents of the FBI or other agencies are making telephone calls and using threats of fines and prosecution to intimidate gullible people.
We posted this story on The Panolian’s Facebook page Friday. By Monday it had reached 2,765 viewers. We can only hope that somehow — with that posting and this publication — someone will be more leery when they get these kinds of calls.
The stories vary, but the callers always end up trying to get the recipient to send money — usually with a “green card.”
“Don’t do it,” Cote warns. Neither the FBI, the IRS nor any government agency will contact you by phone demanding money. “Beware of anyone who calls and demands immediate payment by green card or any means that is not traceable once the caller learns the information on the card,” Cote warns.
The problem is that if you are reading this on Facebook or through other Internet media, you are not as likely to fall for the telephone scam. However, it is important that you make sure to warn those you know who might be vulnerable, especially the elderly.
Most older people developed such courteous habits in the use of the telephone that they can’t bring themselves to tell a scam caller to “Get lost.” They are also less skeptical of voices speaking with authority claiming to represent the federal government.
Another version of a telephone scam targets elderly people who live alone. A skillful scammer can sense if the person they call is lonely and anxious to talk with someone and soon works his or her way into the victim’s confidence. Once they have won the that confidence they can talk their victim into sharing personal financial information that be used to deplete the victim’s bank account, run up charges on their credit cards.
From those 2,765 views on the Facebook posting, Bobby Jefcoat chose to comment: “I had one call me last week with a deep, deep Indian accent from the Dept. of IRS saying I owed money etc etc, I carried them on a little until she got mad and said I would be arrested within 2 hours. I asked for an extra 15 minutes to pack a suitcase.”