Scam?

July 10, 2012

When you've been unemployed for over three months, it’s easy to get lazy and not do any physical exercise for days at a time. It started out as one of those days, but I finally got myself out of the house on a walk around the neighborhood. It really is a nice area, with a lake big enough to host wildlife but small enough to walk around in a half hour or so. I completed the loop and continued exploring the edges of the neighborhood when my Mother called. She’s a retired trainer, and still does some limited training from home, so I sometimes help her with paperwork. She wanted me to help her fax a copy of her business card. I explained that I don’t have a home phone to fax from, but if she had an email address she could scan the card and send a copy to them.

I questioned her about the project and found out she had received a phone call from “Brandy”, soliciting advertising to be placed on the back of t-shirts. These would be sold as a fund raiser for the local fire department. I confirmed that she had not talked to anyone at the fire department about this, and that she only knew of it from this phone call. The caller had told her she would charge the credit card in three monthly installments and send her two of the t-shirts. She just needed to fax a copy of her business card to the phone number she gave. My Mother gave her the credit card info, and needed to send a copy of her business card. That’s when I got worried.

It was when I started calling “Brandy” a SCAMMER that my Mother got very irritated with me. I tried to explain that you NEVER give your credit card number to a caller without properly verifying their identity, preferably by calling a documented phone number and confirming that they are who they claim. Finally, my Mother agreed to call the city and see whether this was a real fund raiser or just a scam.

I looked up the fire department’s phone number and called it to find someone in authority. In my mind, there was definitely one of three problems:  1) the fire department was authorizing someone or a company to make unethical calls to raise money or 2) the company the fire department hired was taking an unethical approach to completing an authorized job or 3) she was being scammed. Call after call to listed numbers at the fire department went to voicemail or to a menu. Following the menu went to voicemail, but pressing zero got me the city receptionist/operator. I talked to the sweet lady who answered, and was told that she just talked to my Mother. She had told her that the city did not authorize such things, and that she believed it was a scam. She had suggested to my Mother that she file a police report and call her bank to alert them.

I thanked her, and called my Mother back.

Did my Mother follow her advice? Of course not. By now my Mother had called “Brandy” back and had been assured that this was not a scam. She gave my Mother another phone number for someone else who, when she called him, told her that this was authorized by the city fire department and there was nothing to worry about. She was convinced. I was not.

I explained to her that unless she could independently confirm that this was authorized by the city, it was a scam; unless she could call a city phone number to verify the fund raiser, her credit card was at risk. I then called the fire department again and reached the same receptionist/operator. After I discussed the situation with her (it’s a small city) she transferred me to the police dispatch desk. I explained what I knew of the situation with the dispatcher, and she created a report with my Mother’s address and phone number. I clarified that either someone at the fire department needed some training or the city needed to use public media to alert its citizens to the scam quickly. She said she would send someone to her house to collect the information.

I got a call later from the officer after visiting with my Mother. “Everything’s all right,” she said. Then she let me know my Mother had cancelled the order and there was nothing to worry about. No laws had been broken by anyone, and now that it won’t cost her anything. She was wrong, of course. I explained that she still needed to follow up with the fire department (in person—they don’t answer the phone) and find out whether they had, indeed, authorized this unethical approach to raise funds. If so, they needed some instruction to protect the local citizens. If they did not authorize it, someone needs to quickly alert the others in the community to the telephone scam going on. She assured me that she would take care of it. I’m not relieved.

First, the company still has her credit card number. Second, someone is calling people and asking for their credit card information. It occurs to me that the officer, indeed, others may not know the problem with a company asking for credit card information over the phone. The trouble is this:  If we allow even reputable companies to call and collect credit information, we never know whether we are talking to someone we can trust. We cannot assume that a caller is who she says, or that our credit card number will be protected from misuse. Anyone can call and identify themselves to us and ask for private information. Unless we insist on proper verification, we are unprotected.

My Mother called back to let me know she talked to the officer, and that she wouldn't give her credit card number to anyone over the phone again without talking to me first. She sounded hurt.

It’s for her own good, I tell myself. I don’t like being the parent to her. I know she needs me to sometimes, but it’s difficult to take away any freedoms she has.

I should go on another walk, but the hot afternoon sun is more than I care to face.