Beware of Scams!

I heard the saddest story this weekend.  There was a lady sitting behind me that asked me how old I was.  At these scrapbook retreats, there are women of all ages.  I had my iPod and everyone around was asking me to turn it up.  Pam and I had young girls (30 somethings) all around us. They all liked my music and decided that we must be pretty cool to listen to Gwen Stefani, Crowded House and Boyz II Men along with some of the older classics (Footloose, Aerosmith) and assorted country.  

Anyway, back to the lady who asked how old I was because of the music (she was 47, but Pam and both thought she looked older than us).  She told us about what has just happened to her this week that put quite a damper on her weekend.  I felt so sorry for her.  

She and her minister husband have just re-financed their house to pay off some bills.  He doesn't make much, so they decided to take advantage of the lower interest rates.  They also had some car from 1980 that her husband had restored.  They put it on Craig's list for $7500. and got a buyer immediately.  He sent them a check right away.  When they received it, the check was made out for $11,500.  He called the following day saying that his secretary had inadvertently included what he was going to have to pay the shipper in the check and could she wire him $4,000 to avoid all the bank "holds" etc. so he could proceed with the deal. Of course his check to her was still on "hold" at her bank.  But, since she had the re-finance money in her account, she sent the $4,000, but told the buyer that she couldn't release the car until his check cleared.  The email came back.  

She said that then she had a sick feeling and realized that they'd been scammed.  They have absolutely no recourse as the check to her came through a UPS place, so there's no mail fraud involved.  Of course, the scam artist never wanted the car to begin with.  It's just so sad that there are people out there that think they have a right to your money.  Ooops, didn't mean to get political.