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