Published: May 13, 2008 03:25 am            

CITY OF LOCKPORT: Woman reports losing $400 to apparent travel scam

A Dysinger Road woman reported Monday that she was conned out of $400 after receiving a call saying she’d won a travel prize.

The woman told sheriff’s deputies she received a phone call about 3:30 p.m. Friday from a woman who said she was with a company called Mega Travel.

The caller informed the woman she had won a $4,000 travel package, the report said.

In order to claim the prize, the woman would have to pay the taxes on the trip in advance on a credit card.

The woman told the caller she only had a debit card. The caller asked for the first four digits of the card number to see if the woman was still eligible, the report said.

The woman provided the numbers. She said the caller then engaged her in a lengthy conversation about the vacation, telling her the taxes on the trip would be $400.

At the end of the conversation, the woman realized she had given away her entire debit card number, one part at a time, the report said.

She told the caller she no longer wanted the vacation and did not have $400 to spend. She asked the caller not to charge her account.

The caller reportedly became rude and passed the woman to a man, who again tried to talk her into the transaction.

The woman could hear several people in the background engaging in similar conversations, the report said.

The woman asked the man not to debit her account and hung up.

She told deputies she immediately checked her bank account, and $400 had been removed.

When she tried to call Mega Travel back, the call went straight to voicemail, the report said.

The woman contacted her bank and was told to file a police report.

        

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