Police Department warning about a scam in town

A local resident came to the Police Department to report that she was contacted by an individual identifying himself as a representative of Publisher’s Clearing House. He notified her that she was the winner of a considerable amount of money. Through a series of telephone calls to this lady the caller said that he was making arrangements for courier delivery to Ponca City with her winnings. This morning’s call was different. He gave her instructions to buy a green dot card in the amount of $500 and explained that it was a security deposit for her winnings. She drove to Walgreens feeling a bit uneasy. She asked the clerk there if anyone else had been in to the store. She was told by the clerk that five others had been in Walgreens just this week with stories very similar to hers.

In an effort to prevent anyone else from being a victim, she came to the Police Department to report what had happened.

“Sadly, our Officers respond to these types of calls far too often. We are glad in this instance that this lady was not a victim and appreciate that she took her time to ask that we warn others of this scam”, says Assistant Police Chief Anthony Rogers. “Once the verification numbers to the green dot card are released to these scam callers the money is gone, we virtually have no way to retrieve the money for the victims”, Rogers added.