Citizens of southwest Georgia are being urged to stay alert to a recent string of phone scams.
According to one southwest Georgia woman, a man called to inform her that her phone number had been selected as a winner of the second prize from the Publisher’s Clearinghouse – a prize of $1.2 million!! When the elderly lady asked for more details, the caller immediately became defensive. According to the “winner” she was told he was calling her from Jakin, Ga, a town of 157 residents in rural Early County, and all she had to do to collect her prize money was to send him $238. When the woman asked for more information, and eventually a supervisor, the caller ended the call.
However, one minute later, the phone rang again. This time it was the same caller, with the same hard to understand accent, but with a different name. The alert woman again began pestering the would be scam artist with questions: Where are you calling from? What’s your name? Can you meet me at the bank to exchange checks? How do you spell Bainbridge? None of which the caller could or would answer. Eventually, the caller ended the call again.
Needless to say, residents of southwest Georgia should be on high alert. This is the latest in a string of phone scams attempting to lure naive victims into sending money to a stranger. So far in 2016, Sowegalive has been told of callers claiming to be the IRS, Georgia Power, and now the Publisher’s Clearinghouse.
If you think you have been a victim of an attempted scam, please notify the Sheriff’s Office in your community. In Decatur County, you can contact the Sheriff’s Office at 229-248-3044.
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