BY MELONIE ROBERTS mroberts@cherryroad.com
They’re smart, high-pressure salesmen of sorts, and scammers are costing area residents plenty of their hard-earned money.
Jim Poage, Police Services Representative at Monett Police Department, said in recent weeks, more than half a dozen people have reported becoming victims of financial scams where they are asked to prepay taxes and fees on supposed winnings from high profile programs. Others have reported the bullying and highpressure demands for payment on accounts the victim does not own or to governmental or face being arrested.
“One of the most recent incidents involved an individual who was offered an ad-wrap of her vehicle for Rock Star Energy Drinks,” Poage said. “She did receive a check for something like $1,750 to pay a local ad firm for the wrap on her vehicle. She was smart about it, to some degree, She opened a separate account in which to deposit the check, not wanting to have it in her regular account, and she waited for the check to clear before withdrawing the requested $1,000 and buying prepaid cards for the ad wrap.
“Within 24 hours, the individual that issued the check put a stop payment on it, disputing the payment, and our victim was on the hook to the bank for the $1,000. After the cards were out of her possession, there is nothing we at the Monett Police Department could do to recover them. We have no way to investigate that.”
Poage said there were a couple of red…
