For Additional Headlines - go to our News Section »

• Massalina Bayou One Step Closer to Dredging
  made by carlmbennett
• New Bill Gets Teachers Fired Up
  made by Oldman
• New Bill Gets Teachers Fired Up
  made by Brian7
• Noise Ordinance to Nuisance Ordinance
  made by PCB 4EVR
• Massalina Bayou One Step Closer to Dredging
  made by carlmbennett

• Fatal Stabbing at a Party in Gulf County
• Plane Crashes into Gulf Near Walton County
• Cars Catch Fire in Alcohol Related Crash
• Gulf County Stabbings Lead to a Death
• Pedestrian Hit Crossing Tyndall Parkway in front of Callaway Wal Mart
• Students Pack Meals for Haiti on Spring Break
• Pedestrian Hit in Lynn Haven
• Department of Health urges Floridians to be Aware of Gastrointestinal Illnesses
• Student in Bus Crash Dies
• Bay County Man Arrested on Multiple Drug Charges

Consumer Alert: Phone Scam
11/11/08 - 05:14 PM
 RSS Feed

A new kind of phone scam that exploits services for the hearing impaired could take your money.  It was a close call for one resident in Walton County after she picked up the phone.

Connie Hogan put an ad to sell her dog in the paper, and later received a call from a Spring operator that a hearing impaired person was on the line, using a Telecommunications Relay Service.

After two calls, she and the caller exchanged e-mails.  Then, she received a money order for $850, which was $300 more than the cost of the dog.

“I kind of felt squirrely about this guy,” said Hogan, “I didn’t have a good feeling that he was sincere.”

Following her instincts, Hogan went to mail the order back, and was told by the clerk it was probably a hoax.

“Had I sold him the dog he would’ve wanted me to give him back $350 and the dog,” she said.

Now, another ad is bringing her new callers, but Hogan says she’s more careful.

“In these hard times there’s more of this that’s going to happen,” she said, “But I choose to not feel victimized.”

Anyone suspicious of a phone call or scam may report it to the Florida Attorney General’s office at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM.