A potential scam was thwarted when an 82-year-old Oxford resident followed an old adage ? if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Charles Mitchell, who lives on Pontiac Street, received a phone call Feb. 5 from someone identifying themselves with a company called MAC.
The retired pharmacist and great-grandfather had a difficult time understanding the caller, who was Indian and subsequently stated they (the caller) were in India.
The ‘good? news: according to the caller’s records, Mitchell had a very good credit record, paid his bills on time and wasn’t delinquent on any of them. As a result, he was that month’s winner for a $50,000 prize.
‘But before he could get into asking what my social security and bank account numbers were, I said, ‘Wait a minute. Do you think I just fell off the turnip wagon??? Mitchell recalled. ‘I told him I was hanging up.?
After the call, Mitchell made two calls: to the Oxford Police Department and to the Oxford Leader.
Mitchell said he normally doesn’t receive calls like this, although there have been a few times where he’s received calls from collection agencies confusing him with another Charles Mitchell.
There haven’t been many local reports of people being scammed, said Oxford Police Chief Mike Neymanowski, but residents should still be cautious.
‘People should be aware of prizes won through telemarketing,? he said. ‘If you get a phone call like that, don’t release any personal information about yourself, especially your social security number. Report it to us and we’ll look into it.
The chief added many people fall victim to telemarketing frauds and lose a substantial amount of money every year.
?[Scammers] can be very convincing, and they look for gullible people,? he said.
Thankfully for Mitchell, he wasn’t gullible.