An Open Letter To Montana Scammers
Stop it! This holiday season the scammers are out in full force. While most people are trying to enjoy the holiday season, you are out trying to get something for nothing. You are stealing from your own community and neighbors.
Already A Tough Time
Gas prices are high, grocery prices are high, local property taxes are due, nobody right now can afford to be a victim. We have more and more people moving to Montana and with more people comes more opportunities to become a victim. The Montana IRS has been warning our senior residents of scams. Ripping off senior citizens right before the holidays is almost as low as you can go. But I am sure that scammers will find a way to even go lower.
I Was A Victim
Just recently I had my outgoing mail stolen from my mail box in. In the mail was a check I had written to pay my insurance bill. The thief took my check, rewrote their name on it and changed the amount of the check. I was very lucky that we found out the mail was taken that day and I was able to contact my bank and stop payment on the check. But in the meantime I had to change the routing number on my account, cancel all the auto-pays that had been set up and deal with the possibility of missing payments of some of my bills. My bank was able to make sure that the check wasn't going to get cashed. Three weeks later someone went into my bank and tried to cash that check. They were arrested. I was lucky. For me and my family, it was a big headache and a lot of phone calls. It could have been so much worse, it could have been the headaches, plus the $1000 dollars that they tried to steal from my family.
Effort
The amount of effort that is put into a lot scams these days could be applied to a legitimate job. The time and energy someone went through to try to steal from me, they could have gotten a job, not gotten arrested and would be able probably sleep better at night. So all you scammers that are stealing from hard working Montanans, stop it!