Nov 10, 2012
Oh how low these scammers will go! My story is EXACTLY the same as all of the above/below (whatever??)! Got a phone call stating I was miraculously receiving a $7500 GRANT from some government grant agency located in Washington DC (They even called with a cell phone using the DC area code....how clever, lol.). The man, with the horrible Indian accent that was worse than the local 7-11 Indians (who are, BTW, very nice Indians...), gave me some official (lol) tracking ID number to give to 'Ms. Tracy Ross' after calling this 202-684-6935 phone #. So, I called the number, knowing d*mn right well that it was a scam.... but I needed to be amused because it was a boring Saturday morning. They preceded to tell me that I needed to go to Western Union to put a deposit of $280 down in order to receive my miraculous $7500. I began to ask a million questions... but in a respectful, victimizing demeanor as to NOT set off any alarms. Like I said, I needed to be amused and, also, needed to get as much info out of them as possible to turn over to the authorities. So, I agreed to do as they instructed and hung up the phone... immediately dialing the number to Western Union! I asked Western Union if this was a common scam and they told me "Yes, do not, repeat DO NOT give any1 any money or bank info because it was/is a very known scam. It is, actually, illegal in the USA to receive/request money for ANY type of free money being given, ie, Grant $$$, winnings, certain lotteries, gifts, raffles winnings, and even a $10 survey compensation." I was instructed to hang up the phone and contact the authorities (which was my evil and ingenious plan...[dun dun dun music in the backround] from the very gate of this scam!). So, what did I do? I contacted the authorities, D*MNIT! The police told me a SAD, BUT VERY TRUE STORY ABOUT THESE SCAMMERS. They told me that these EXACT scammers, 'Trish from the Grant Department in Washington DC,' managed to get $80,000 (YES $80k...) out of the pockets of an elderly 80 year old man. smh. How dare them. When I had my ingenious plan to contact the authorities I knew that they would tell me that this was a very well known scam but I DID NOT expect to hear a sad story about an elderly man being taken for every single penny he was/is worth. If I would of known that Officer Fleet was going to tell me this true story I would of NEVER called. Anyways, the police took all of my info and told me that they were going to immediately contact the FBI and hand it over to them because this was the first call since this elderly man had gotten robbed about these exact scammers, and that my info would be VERY helpful (I can only PRAY that my info was what they needed to hang these people by their own ropes of deceit and lies...). I talked to the officer and asked him if they could do a CSI-type sting operation and send out a female officer to the local Western Union, make the transaction, and catch these spineless fools. He laughed at me and told me that it wasn't that simple. He preceded to tell me what these scammers REALLY did. They have fake ID's. They (scammers) get random, innocent people off the streets of their country (India, for example) and tell them to go to Western Union to pick up some money. Keep in mind, these innocent bystanders are doing this at the EXACT time that we are supposed to be on the phone with them filling out the Western Union forms and giving them our $280! They then tell these innocent bystanders they will collect a certain percentage of the money they collect from us at Western Union. So, the whole point of Officer Fleet telling me this was to let me know that even if they do/when they do track down these fools in their country getting the money (in real time) they are not actually getting the real people. They are only arresting and tracking down an innocent bystander who was bribed to pick up the money. It is all a very orchestrated plan that has been/is being carefully put together. Please, for the love of God, do NOT fall for this scam. If you are reading this, it already means that you have taken the first steps into guarding your financial well being. Please listen to these stories and KNOW that you are not going to be some 1% miracle chance-person that isn't going to be robbed, and will be given money, and that these thieves and life-destroyers will have/are having a change of heart. I pray, and hope all of you pray, for this 80 year old elderly man who was stripped of his life savings and retirement money. I pray that this elderly man will have something very great happen to him, like he will win the lottery, or these scammers will be found and the remains of their scam money will be sent to this man in one huge, big, fat, enormous, pretty CHECK. That would be wonderful. BUT O NO, THE STORY DOES NOT STOP HERE, GUYS...
So, after I got off the phone with Officer Fleet I decided to give 'Fake Tracy Ross' a call. I called her (which was a different Indian girl, by the way...) and asked for Tracy, and low-and-behold it just happened to be Tracy (one of them...)! I told her that I was in the store at the Western Union Papers. She put me on hold, and preceded to talk really sow, and even threw in some 'casual conversation.' This was, obviously, to give her enough time to send one of her/their innocent bystanders to the store, with their fake ID, to pick up the money. After talking to her and getting her to repeat the whole process, I told her a sob story: I told her that this better not be a scam, booooo. I told her that this was my rent money and that if I did get robbed of it I would be homeless and kicked out for not paying my rent. This evil girl (NOT woman) told me: "Oh, I would never do that to you, Kristina. We are here to help you, not hurt you. You can trust me...." That, right there, was/is enough to wish the worst possible infliction of pain on them. Anyways, after telling me to trust her I pulled a good one on her: I said "Tracy, I have to tell you that this phone call is being recorded by the authorities, who are listening in, and thank you for giving me enough time with your bulls*** talk because her location was being traced by the FBI. Thank you very much, Tracy, for putting hate in my heart and I hope you rot in hell. Have a good day!" Before I could even finish telling her to have a good day she hung up on me. I laughed the rest of the day... but I AM NOT LAUGHING FOR THAT POOR OLD MAN. Please say your prayers for this old man, please.