Scam artists face tough crowd

SANDPOINT — Scam artists of several different stripes are still trying to ply their trade in Bonner County, but it doesn’t appear they’re getting one over on too many people.

A perpetrator of the so-called rescue scam rang up Gil and Jody Barbee, but they caught on so quickly that the caller hung up before he could even get to the part where he asks for money.

“We kind of cut him off at the pass,” said Jody Barbee.

She said the caller claimed to be their grandson who was stranded in Mexico City after attending a close friend’s funeral. When the couple questioned why he didn’t sound like their grandson, he replied that he had strep throat.

When they pressed him further, the caller simply hit the pound sign on his phone several times and hung up.

“He wouldn’t have had us if he tried,” Jody Barbee said.

Neva Gervasi, meanwhile, said she has been hounded relentlessly by hawkers of a “Pharma Pluss” benefit card, which the caller claims will cover her dental and vision care free of charge.

The callers claimed to need her bank account and routing numbers in order to verify Gervasi’s identity, which raised a giant red flag. One caller, who identified himself as John Benjamin, spoke in an impenetrable Indian accent and sounded like he was calling from a boiler room full people making calls.

“I’ve been getting calls every other day,” said Gervasi.

Gervasi repeatedly refused the callers’ requests, but they persisted. She finally asked one of the callers what it would take to get them to stop calling her. The caller replied, “$300.”

Gervasi suspects the callers are targeting senior citizens because they are aware Medicare does not cover dental or vision care.

“People need to use their heads,” said Gervasi.

Sandpoint Computers reported that one of the company’s technicians had received no fewer than eight calls from troubled computer users who said they received calls at their home from a person claiming to be a Microsoft representative.

The caller indicates they are aware the person is having computer problems and lets them know they can connect to their personal computer and repair the issue for a fee.

At least one person reportedly fell victim to the scam. Once the caller got into the person’s PC, they did more damage and asked for an additional $300 to “finish” the repair.

“As a general rule, Microsoft will never call a home user for any reason. These calls are always a scam,” said Chris Curtis of Sandpoint Computers.