On Nov. 1, I was a guest on Jungle Red Writers and my post was called “Beware the Snake Oil Salesman.” The post was, of course, all about scams—email, phone, and in-person (such as door-to-door sales). One of the first comments was from a regular reader on the blog who said, “For a small monthly fee, I could get your message out to millions of American readers—readers just waiting to hear about your book. I’ll call you during dinner to discuss.”
Another said her husband cannot be trusted to answer the phone because he has a big heart and all the con man has to say is that he’s going to “help underprivileged kids.” I think hubby lost his phone-answering privileges.
One had an insurance company agent trying to sign her up for quarterly instead of monthly payments. The change would have raised her premiums $8.00 per year—she refused. Later, a former insurance agent explained that agents get “lifetime commissions.” She quit the business in the late 80s and continues to receive commissions on policies she sold about 30 years ago.
No scam discussion would be complete without the classic roofer story. One lady told a roofer to leave and not come back. The roofer returned. Numerous times. Eventually, her husband threatened legal action. Because the commenter is a very successful mystery writer, I suggested she look the roofer in the eye and say, “You do know I kill people for a living, right?”
The point of all this is that scams and cons are everywhere. With the holidays approaching, the charitable contribution scams will be gearing up. For more on that, see my Disaster Relief Fraud post.
