Jackie Broussard of Abbeville knows that idea to be true. That idea prevailed for Broussard after she believed a recent phone call was a potential scam.
Broussard said she received a call this past weekend from a man claiming to be from Publisher’s Clearing House. The man told her she had won a 2012 Cadillac. The only catch is she needed to put $2,500 on a pre-paid credit card and give him the number. That amount would cover the taxes on the car.
“The first thing he asked me was if I was over 50 (years old),” Broussard said. “He said because I was over 50, I had to pay a 1 percent tax to have the car shipped.”
Broussard said that she had not signed up for anything with Publisher’s Clearing House. That was one red flag.
“And when he asked if I was over 50, that made me think it was a scam,” Broussard said.
The call was not isolated to one phone call.
“He called me about 10 times,” Broussard said. “He was persistent.”
The number (323) 345-4336 showed up on Broussard’s caller ID. The number has a Los Angeles area code.
“I called the operator and I was told the number was probably from a phone card that can be purchased at the store,” Broussard said. “So it wasn’t necessarily from Los Angeles. It could have come from anywhere.”
Broussard did not fall for the potential trick. She does worry, however, that others may not be so quick to realize the potential danger.
“The first thing he asked was if I was over 50,” Broussard said. “That means they are targeting elderly. I just want to make this known to the public, especially the elderly.”
Lt. David Hardy of the Abbeville Police Department said citizens should always be leery of possible phone scams.
“If someone is asking them to pay money for something,” Hardy explained, “and they don’t receive it at the time they pay for it, be cautious.”
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