LIHU‘E — A Koloa resident is saying she was the target of a telephone scam, and now wants to warn other residents, especially after being told by the police that an elderly couple lost $15,000 in a similar hoax. Lana
LIHU‘E — A Koloa resident is saying she was the target of a telephone scam, and now wants to warn other residents, especially after being told by the police that an elderly couple lost $15,000 in a similar hoax.
Lana Lopez-Lono said a man called her on Sunday to tell her that she had won $250,000 from a Las Vegas drawing for Publishers Clearing House, an established sweepstakes company.
From the beginning she thought it was a scam, and her suspicions were confirmed as the man, who identified himself as “James Fisher,” said a $250 fee was required to claim the prize.
“If anybody were legitimate with Publishers Clearing House, they would never ask you to give money upfront,” Lopez-Lono said.
PCH has in its website an entire section warning people against phone scams.
“A legitimate sweepstakes will never ask you to send money to enter a sweepstakes, claim a prize, or to pay a fee, tax or deposit,” the PCH website states. “Consumers should always remember that at Publishers Clearing House no payment is ever necessary to claim a prize.”
Lopez-Lono said she told Fisher she had not entered any contest at PCH, but he replied that someone must have entered her name in a contest in December.
Fisher, who said he worked for a company called “Sky Network,” then gave Lopez-Lono an ID number, a “briefcase number” and a password, and told her to “absolutely make sure” to have two IDs when claiming her prize.
A man named Ronald Reece, currently in Honolulu, would deliver the “briefcase” Sunday afternoon, Lopez-Lono said she was told.
In order to receive the “stamp of approval” from the Internal Revenue Service, she would need to go to Walmart and buy a $250 money card, and then call Fisher back at (876) 352-7740 within 15 minutes with the card’s 14-digit number, Lopez-Lono said.
Fisher did not respond by press time to a message from The Garden Island left on his voice mail asking for comments.
“He said, as soon as I do that, he would have Ronald Reece come right to my door with a briefcase with the check and video cameras and I would be on TV,” said Lopez-Lono, adding that Fisher followed up by calling her back eight times Sunday after his initial call.
She said she knew it was a scam, and did not deposit the money.
On Monday, Fisher called again, and only then Lopez-Lono told him she knew it was a scam.
She said Fisher persistently denied it was a scam, and only gave up when she told him she would be calling the police.
“I did actually call the police and make a report (Sunday),” Lopez-Lono said. “Mostly to alert the elderly people.”
She said the police officer who filed the report told her that an elderly couple received a similar phone call and were told they won $1 million and a new car, which resulted in them losing $15,000 to the scam. Lopez-Lono said the officer did not tell her where or when this happened.
County spokeswoman Mary Daubert said the administration does not have any reports about the PCH scam, but she did say phone and Internet scams happen all the time — although reports to KPD are not that common, usually about one every three months.
“We have had a few cases where people have lost money through some of these scams, but not large amounts,” Daubert said.
“In the cases where the money is wired or transmitted through Western Union or other electronic means, the cases are generally referred to other agencies such as the FBI or the U.S. Secret Service and Federal Trade Commission.”
In the vast majority of those cases, she said, the money leaves the state or the country, well beyond the county’s jurisdiction.
“People need to be aware of these scams and follow those old precepts of buyer beware, and if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Daubert said.
If a consumer believes he or she has been targeted with a scam using the PCH name, the company asks to be contacted immediately at 1-800-392-4190.
PCH advises consumers on it website to also contact their local authority or the National Fraud Center at www.fraud.org in case they suspect a scam.
“No matter whether mail, phone or email, remember, no purchase necessary. … The only sweepstakes rule you need to know,” PCH states.
Visit http://info.pch.com/consumer-information/fraud-protection for more information on how to avoid similar scams.
• Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
