KGVY Radio, Monday, October 29, 2007

Green Valley Sheriff’s Auxiliary Volunteers

Bill Roskey

While the story of a government official from a Third World county who wants to send several million dollars to an American citizen is an old scam, it nevertheless seems to still work, because it’s still out there and still being used. Last week, a Green Valley resident reported to SAV that she had received an e-mail from an individual who claimed to be a special advisor to the President of Nigeria. He said that $4.5 million in cash would be delivered directly to her home via a special diplomatic courier as soon as she provided certain information about herself to supposedly “verify” her identity. Fortunately, the Green Valley resident immediately saw through the scam so no harm was done, but it serves as a reminder that those people are still out there.

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While vandalism isn’t a major problem in Green Valley, it still happens. Last week a Green Valley resident reported some vandalism done to his house when he was in Montana, and he told SAV that there had been some damage to some of his neighbors’ property as well. It’s important to report instances of vandalism promptly for two reasons. First, your insurance company will most likely want a police report number to process your claim, and second because it will help the sheriff’s department to identify patterns of vandalism.

A relatively new scam is a message left on your answering machine telling you that someone has something very important to tell you. They may say that a family member has died or been injured or that you’ve won a lottery. In any case, you’ll be told to call a number quickly and the area code will be 809. Don’t call any number with this area code. It’s located in the Bahamas, and you’ll be kept on the phone with a recorded message or anything else to keep you connected as long as possible, because you may be billed for as much as $2,000 per minute.