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PatchWork
by Joyce Whitis |
Quick Thinking Spoils Scam
When the telephone rang in the home of Richard and Deloris Gilbert of Erath County, on a sunny fall afternoon recently, Richard took the call and then hollered toward the bathroom to his wife. The call from some man who introduced himself as a lawyer, was for her.
Within a few seconds Deloris was asking her husband to take the call while she sat down. Deloris Gilbert has some health problems including a heart condition and asthma. After any exertion she must rest and take oxygen. Only a few words from the man at the other end of the phone connection were enough to send her for oxygen while Richard took the call.
The man on the phone identified himself as an attorney representing a company sponsoring a sweepstakes which Deloris Gilbert had won! The prize was a Chrysler Sebring Convertible and a cashiers check for $100,000. Both of these prizes would be delivered to the Gilberts at their Stephenville address. There were a few papers that needed to got in order immediately.
The caller expressed concern that Mrs. Gilbert had not received a certified letter from his office stating that she was a sweepstakes winner. He said that there were papers in that letter that must be signed and notarized. However after sometime thinking about the situation, the man said that he could work through this problem at his end by preparing another set of papers and taking them to the customs office himself.
Further information from the "lawyer" said that there was a set of prize claim instructions in the letter that the Gilberts did not get and that there would be customs fees and delivery charges on the car. The Gilberts were supposed to get a cashiers check for $9,889.16 to pay these fees. He gave a woman's name to put for the payee, saying she was the controller of the account for the prize that Deloris Gilbert had won.
When Richard Gilbert indicated that they didn't keep that kind of money in their checking account, the man on the phone said that they could get it from a credit card, a savings account or whatever because they could pay it back as soon as they got the check for $100,000. He told Gilbert to go get the check while he was getting the other papers together and that he would call back later in the day. "Your car is already in Stephenville", the caller said. "We'll send it to your house along with the cashiers check for $100,000, just as soon as all this paper work is done."
Gilbert went to Town and Country Bank to see his loan officer, vice-president Terry West. He asked for a short term loan to get the cashiers check for $9,889.16 until the $100,000 was delivered. "I thought this was a little unusual", West replied. "I could make the loan all right but anytime one of our customers wants a large amount of money, we want to make sure that this is really what they want to do. " When Richard Gilbert explained the telephone conversation, West really became concerned and called in bank president, Jim Chambers.
After Chambers listened to the story he was sure something was wrong with the sweepstakes thing. "I went around and asked all the tellers if any other customers had asked for large cashiers checks. It is very difficult to stop payment on a cashiers check and if this was a scam, the Gilberts would lose their money. We decided to call in the law enforcement officers."
Officials from both city and county arrived at Town and Country Bank but the city officers left because Gilbert lives outside the city limits. The sheriffs investigating officer loaned a recorder to Gilbert with instructions to "get it on tape" if anymore conversations took place.
When the "lawyer" called back the next day he gave exact instructions for the pickup of Gilbert's cashier check for $9,889.16 and the delivery of the "prize money" of $100,000 brought by the driver of the Chrysler convertible. Anyone who has ever received a sweepstakes entry in the mail, read it and followed instructions, will understand the very exact and intricate instructions to follow. This was no different.
l. Get 3 sheets of plain paper
2. In the exact center of one sheet print "RPE-46371-C"
3. Put cashiers check in #10 envelope and seal envelope.
4. Three-fold the "RPE" sheet of paper around the envelope.
These instructions were twelve in number and very detailed and involved.
"I am surprised that your wife has not told you that the cash prize is a total of $300,000," the caller said. "Only the first $100,000 is to be delivered with the car." He gave two more dates when other check would arrive for the Gilberts.
Later when a messenger in a plain white van pulled into the Gilberts' driveway, walked up to the front door and asked for a package, the van was surrounded by three patrol cars from the sheriff's office. The driver, who was actually only an innocent messenger and was later released, had his arms penned behind him and his delivery envelope confiscated.
Chief investigator, Terrell Dickerson, called the Ft. Worth office and found that the request for pick-up of items at the Gilbert's had come by computer from Seattle and that the name given was Deloris Gilbert! This was of course untrue since Mrs. Gilbert lives in Stephenville and never made such a request.
"I want to take this opportunity to compliment all the officers for their professional and very expeditious manner in handling this situation," Richard Gilbert said. " I also have deep gratitude for Terry West and Jim Chambers at Town and Country bank who thought there was something wrong with this sweepstakes thing. If you think it's too good to be true, it probably is!
"I understand that two families in the Austin area lost money with this same scam. I am just glad that when I retired, we moved to Stephenville where folks are too smart for these 'con' artists."