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Scammers still seeking to grab your cash |
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March 4, 2012 |
By Mike Weland
Publisher
Never before in human history as information
been shared more freely or become more readily
available than today, and never before have
those who avail themselves of this boon been
more vulnerable to those who would abuse it ...
the scammers who want to slip a finger into your
pocket to take from you the money you've earned
and to which they have no right.
Sadly, too many of us, especially in communities
such as Boundary County, where honesty and trust
walks hand-in-hand with friendship and
neighborliness, are a little too trusting.
According to Bounday County Sheriff's
Investigator Dave McClelland, too many of us are
falling prey to some of the oldest tricks in the
book.
Many of the more sophisticated scammers use
old-fashioned methods to lure their victims,
but, thanks to the Internet, they have much
credible information at hand with which to
convince.
A lot of these scams, McClelland said, begins
with a good old fashioned phone call purportedly
from someone you've likely done business with in
the past. In the "good old days" the call may
have actually been from that business; today,
however, it could very well be someone who has
obtained the old records off the 'net ... or it
might even be an actual representative of the
company or an affiliate seeking to collect debts
that were written off long ago.
"If a debt collector calls and tells you that
you owe, for instance, a credit card debt from
years ago, and offers you the opportunity to
settle the account for cents on the dollar,
don't do it," said scam expert and former
Boundary County Chief Deputy Sheriff Tim Day,
who is currently a member of the Sheriff's
Posse. "This will reinstate a debt that was
written off long ago, and it will be collectable
in full, just as if it was a new debt."
It doesn't matter how the debt came to be in
default; whether it was written off by
accountants as uncollectible for non-payment or
written off legally through a court of law in
bankruptcy, the fact is, the debt was, by
accounting and legal standards, written off, and
it's no longer a binding legal obligation ... a
debt no longer legally owed.
Until the former debtor "confesses,"
acknowledging the debt.
Unfortunately, there are trusted agencies in
Boundary County employing this method to collect
old and supposedly forgiven debt that was
written off long ago.
By seemingly offering an "out," the chance to
pay off the no-longer-existent debt at a reduced
rate or by easy monthly installments, they
legally obligate those who incurred those debts,
but for whatever reason couldn't pay, and they
seem to offer the delinquent debtor a chance to
atone. Once the debtor admits the obligation in
an attempt to do what's right, though, they're
once again legally bound for the full amount of
the original debt, agreement notwithstanding.
With the admission, a thing most debtors offer
willingly, as they recognize their debt and are
ashamed of their inability to pay, comes the
right to collect, including garnished wages and
the seizure of property and possessions.
What's most sad in this scam, especially
locally, is the loss of trust. |
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