Scams snare local victims, busy police

By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — Call them con artists, scammers, crooks, thieves or  some impolite name unbefitting a mainstream newspaper, but their main objective is separating you from your money. As hard times hit home putting the squeeze on household budgets, and the need for extra money becomes more important, people may more easily fall prey to unscrupulous schemes to defraud them.
Houlton Pioneer Times photograph/Elna Seabrooks
GOTCHA! — Detective Carolyn Crandall and Chief Butch Asselin examine evidence in alleged schemes involving local residents who contacted the Houlton Police Department about potential rip-offs. $4,000 scam
    Houlton Police Department Chief Butch Asselin is warning residents about a so-called “mystery shopping opportunity” that solicits via e-mail and claims you can earn money by dining at restaurants, shopping at stores or checking into inns or hotels. HPD says last week, a woman responded to just such an ad and ended up being out $4,000 after her bank asked the police department to look into the matter. HPD says the woman claimed she was unable to replace the money for a bogus check that bounced.
    An upfront “advance payment,” by a check that turned out to be no good, was sent to the woman who was supposedly going to evaluate MoneyGram services as a mystery shopper. As it turned out, she deposited the check but didn’t wait to find out if it ever would have cleared. She took $2,600 from her own bank account to wire to her boyfriend, as part of the MoneyGram evaluation, and she spent the balance before the “advance payment” check bounced. She gave the code word for pick up to her boyfriend as well as the scammer who intercepted the money before her boyfriend was able to pick it up. The code word can be used at any MoneyGram office anywhere in the world. Detective Carolyn Crandall says the investigation is an ongoing matter.
Credit card scam
    Crandall says watch out for another scam going around that involves the mail. She says you may receive an “article of release” notice from a mail center in Naples, Florida saying there is a letter or package in your name that contains jewelry, apparel, documents or other merchandise. In order to release the article, the scammer asks you to call a toll-free number. When you call,  you are then asked to pay $6.95 by credit card to release the article.  There’s just one problem — there is no article to release and some crook now has access to your credit card.
Nigerian puppy scam
    Crandall stopped one scammer dead in his tracks before money was exchanged. A local resident saw an ad in the Houlton Pioneer Times for Teacup Yorkie Puppies and had the foresight to check with HPD before wiring any cash.
    Late last month a Houlton resident responded to the ad and received an e-mail of a very cute puppy from “Christian missionaries” who claim to have three children and have to give up the puppies. They also claim they will ship them back to the U.S. overnight for $350. Crandall said she went to the Internet, typed in “Nigerian puppy scam” and got the rundown on how the rip-off works.
    “Eventually, she [the resident] would have gotten another e-mail from these people saying that it’s being held up because they need shots …. so ‘now I [the scammer]  need $250 …. and it just keeps growing,” says Crandall. The money was be wired to Nigeria. The Chief and Crandall agree if you see Nigeria, red flags should go up immediately since so many scams are based in Nigeria.
Maple Leaf Lottery scam
    Counterfeit checks drawn on legitimate banks were sent to a Houlton resident and another from Littleton saying they had won the Maple Leaf Lottery in Canada. Just one or two or more problems here.  There is no Maple Leaf Lottery, there is no legal private lottery in Canada, one recipient had never been to Canada and, by the way, there was no drawing and no $520,000. But, to claim the prize, the “winners” had to send $4,250 to cover taxes.
    Asselin called the lottery’s number in Canada, left is name and number as police chief on an answering machine and said he would contact the authorities in Canada. The never returned the call.
    “The letters look very authentic and if you receive one, it’s on brown paper and it actually has a signature on it. Reading it, people might actually be duped into thinking they won some money,” says Asselin.
    The request to release “winnings” involves sending a certified, cashier’s check or MoneyGram to cover taxes and/or fees. “You do not have to pay your taxes up front. They’re going to take that out of your winnings before you get it,” says Crandall.
Bogus Readers Digest prize
    Crandall said a resident who actually had entered the legitimate Reader’s Digest sweepstakes, got a call that she had won. In order to claim her prize, the caller said she had to pre-pay $3,000 in taxes via MoneyGram. The victim received a second call saying the $3,000 had not been received and she would be reported to the sheriff and arrested for not paying taxes. When the victim went to collect the money at Wal-Mart, the clerk told her to contact the police department. Crandall says “Wal-Mart security got right on it” and the alleged perpetrator, suspected in 13 other alleged scams, was arrested in Tennessee.  “And when they’re done with him there, we’re going to bring him to the state of Maine and prosecute him here,” says Crandall. The U.S. Postal Service is tracking the money because of the wire transfer, so federal charges are possible. The victim in Houlton is still out $6,000.
Protect yourself
    For more information on scams, log onto the HPD Web site — www.houltonpolice.com — click on “Crime Prevention Tips” and then go to “Scam Alert.”