Muskego Police Investigate Mail Scam, Warn of Others

UPS fee is a fraud

The Muskego Police Department is warning of a mail scam that was delivered right to a Muskego mailbox last week.

"One of our officers was dispatched to a residence to investigate a mail scam, in which the complainant received a letter asking her to send $199.00 to cover a 'UPS fee' in order to claim a $1.2 million dollar prize," said Lt. Dave Constantineau. He explained the letter was on Publisher’s Clearing House style stationery.

The resident made telephone contact with the scammer, and had several contacts throughout the day, but when she realized it was a scam, she called the police.

The number given in the letter (876-486-6140) was answered by a man who identified himself as “Donald Stevens.” Police  asked him to provide information on how he obtained the woman’s information, and he promised to send the information to the police department, however it has not been received yet.

In checking the area code on the Internet, web sites popped up which referred to this as a scam originating in Jamaica. The “876” area code is typically used, and people are requested to call back, sometimes several times. When they call back, they are charged, per minute, for their time. The woman said she was strung along for almost a half hour while “Mr. Stevens” played phone tag with “supervisors” and was advised by police to dispute the charge as a scam with her phone company, should she be billed.

If you receive a similar letter or call in the future, check the Internet first to determine if anything pops up first before calling the number. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and most legitimate prizes don’t require a down payment.

BBB issues top ten scams

In the same vein, police wanted to share a 'scam of the week' from The Better Business Bureau's Top 10 scams of 2011.

This week’s Scam is: A 'top job' scam: numerous secret shopper schemes, work-from-home scams, and other phony job offers are out there, but the worst job-related scam can dash one’s hopes and steal your identity. Emails, websites and online applications all look very professional, and the candidate is even interviewed for the job (usually over the phone) and then receives an offer.

The red flag: In order to start the job, the candidate has to fill out a “credit report” or provide bank information for direct deposit of “paychecks.” The online forms are nothing more than a way to capture sensitive personal data - and, of course, there is no job either.