When scammers collide, she laughs

Somehow the Chies household of Fridley has become a target of scam offers.

September 9, 2010 at 2:19PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Phony, phony, phony
Phony, phony, phony (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Nancy Chies and her husband don't know how they ended up on the preferred scam customer list. Earlier this year, the Fridley couple got a "check" for $3,950, drawn on a North Carolina power company's account. A letter supposedly from a Massachusetts company told them they won $50,000 in a British lottery but needed to call someone in Canada before sending $3,950 to London for "taxes."

A week later, they got another "check," this one for $4,885, for taxes to collect $250,000. People do fall for these scams. The Chieses ignored them.

Yet the phone rings every other day for Lester Chies. A man says that a package from Washington will be delivered to the home by FBI agents and …

"When I'm home and I hear this going on, I take the phone and tell him to get a life," Nancy Chies said.

How often do scammers pay a visit to your home?

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