Sometimes a scammer just makes a mistake and crosses the wrong guy.
That was the case when someone recently contacted one Cherokee County resident through Facebook and tried to pull probably the most stupid stunt we’ve ever heard of. The woman kept sending a friend request until curiosity finally got the best of our hero and he relented; afterwards, she told him she had contacted him because he was the lucky winner in a brand new Facebook giveaway – that’s right, Mark Zuckerberg was giving away millions of dollars to a number of lucky Facebook users, just as a “thank you” for his tremendous success.
Well, that ID CARD certainly looks legitimate doesn’t it?
Surely you’ve heard about this on the national news; oh, wait, no you haven’t – ‘cause it’s all a lie. By the way, as of this morning Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook had a net worth of just over $64.7 BILLION.
Anyway, what follows is a series of text messages – during which the con artist continues to try and convince the target that everything is above-board.
At this point, our local guy expresses his disbelief through the use of some rather “colorful” language; however the woman assures him that it’s all legit and to prove it she’ll have Mark Zuckerberg himself call! Thinkin’ “This sounds like fun,” a telephone number is given out to the woman so Mark Zuckerberg – the billionaire – co-founder of Facebook who has nothing better to do than talk to strangers on the phone trying to convince them that its really him – gets on the phone – and he has a heavy foreign accent, which is immediately pointed out by the guy we’ve now promoted to president of Scam Busters Incorporated the North Alabama Division.
Throughout this entire process they’ve been trying to get credit and/or debit card numbers for a phony “agent” fee so they can have a courier hand-deliver all the cash and prizes from their headquarters in California to Alabama. Cost $350. When our guy says “Take the three hundred fifty bucks outta my million and bring me the rest,” they say “We can’t do that…it’s against the rules,”
What a surprise.
Scammers are hard at work every single day lying, cheating and stealing. It’s what they do, it’s what they’re good at and they certainly have a strong work ethic if nothing else.
Don’t let your guard down. Don’t be a victim. When it comes to this type of crime you have to protect yourself – once you’re money’s gone, it’s gone.
If you don’t feel comfortable having a conversation with someone – anyone – remember the power is in your hands.
Hang up the phone. Sign off the computer. End the Conversation.
Ruin THEIR day – don’t let then ruin yours.
[SOME of the text messages exchanged during the scam attempt – by the way, really like the way he refers to himself as MR. Mark Zuckerberg]
