They arrive once or twice a month, always by e-mail. I open them quickly and with great fascination, mostly because I think they are a mirror into our collective souls.
My favorite of late concerns “The Fake Marine,” Cpl. Robert Barnes. It is both brilliant and horrifying. It works by preying shamelessly on our often-rightly-put patriotism and on our naked, unrelenting, money-grubbing greed.
“That is bad one. And the worst thing is, it is still working.”
Hope Marie Sneed has heard them all, and this scam is among the worst. She is vice president of development and public relations of the Denver Better Business Bureau, which regularly sends warnings of the worst things that the scammers and flimflammers do.
She will talk for what seems like days about what she calls the worst scam of all: The Grandma Scam. It works this way:
“Hi, Grandma, is that you?” the scammer says.
He or she is in Canada and has just been in a terrible car wreck or other calamity. Could they wire $5,000 so he or she can get home? And please, “Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”
It has been happening for months, and despite radio ads and huge public awareness campaigns, people are still getting ripped off, Sneed said.
“We can’t get rid of these guys,” she said.
Dozens and dozens of people have fallen for it in the Denver area, she said. The scammers are good, always keeping the conversation very short and somehow convincing the seniors on the other end that their grandchild is actually in trouble.
“We had one couple — she even said she had to think about it and to call back,” Sneed said. “She talks to Grandpa, and despite some misgivings, they wire the money after the guy calls back.”
All of the scams are listed on the bureau’s website. As you read through each of them, a theme emerges: something for nothing.
It is how The Fake Marine prospers.
Cpl. Barnes, a U.S. Marine serving in “Afghan,” the spiel begins, is seeking help to secure $11.5 million cash his unit found during the raid of a mansion of a militant ruler.
He offers a 15 percent cut, if you forward your name, an address where a box of money can be delivered and a private phone number. He later asks for banking information and that an amount of good- faith money be wired to him.
Never wire money.
That is the bureau’s Rule No. 1. Never give out credit card and Social Security numbers. Ever.
Now marks the beginning of the widespread scamming season, Sneed said. The holidays always are.
The saddest thing, she adds, is seniors will be targeted first. They are very trusting, a generation of Americans where politeness on the phone and in person is in their DNA.
“So we teach if someone knocks on your door, it’s OK to say no. If you’re outside and they walk up, it’s OK to walk away and go inside.”
Every year there are more than 3 million visitors to the bureau’s website, Sneed said. Much of it, she added, is not for good things.
“We always say we’re going to keep working until we put ourselves out of business,” she said. “Sadly, it looks like that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
Bill Johnson writes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at 303-954-2763 or wjohnson@denverpost.com.
