Print
Email
Share

Consumer Watch: Google Earth used in scam from another country

by Kyle Brown

WHAS11.com

Posted on November 25, 2009 at 6:26 PM

(WHAS11)-When someone on the phone was describing the outside of her home, Alice Yarbrough assumed they had been there before.

“They were pretty good on the details. They knew the color of the house next door,” said Yarbrough, "Well, that really scared me because I didn't know if they were here in town or not and that's when I called police."

And so did her nephew and niece.

"They described both houses next to us and told her they had knocked on the door at 6 o’clock the day before."

This scam started with a phone call from a man telling Alice that she had won $27500. He said they tried to deliver it the day before, but if she would send $147 for shipping and handling, they would send her the money.

The Better Business Bureau told Alice it was a scam from Jamaica.

Alice didn’t send the money, and that made the scammers even more determined, this time demanding more money and making threats against her life.

And because of the descriptions of her house, Alice assumed they had someone on the ground in Louisville.

But Alice’s nephew continued to take the calls and eventually called the scammers back and started asking them questions.

They told Alice’s nephew they were using Google Earth to get a “curb’s eye view” of Alice’s house.

Even though the gig was up, the calls didn’t stop.

The scammers called back while our cameras were there, and again when police were at the house.

“The cop told him he was Louisville Metro Police and that he needed to quit calling and what he was doing was very serious and he'd get in trouble for it and the guy thought he was joking," said Yarbrough.

And we would like to tell you Alice is now free from her phone calls, but we cannot.

Alice says, "they've called 50 times since then."


 

Print
Email
Share

Forgot Password?

Don't have an account?

Register Now

Member Benefits

Link your account to your Twitter or Facebook account for easier login!

Link your account to your Facebook profile Link your account to your Twitter profile

Check box to receive Free Special Offers

* - Indicates required field

Check box to receive Free Special Offers

Connecting to

You may need to allow pop up window for this step of registration

Just one more step:

Please take a moment to review the available e-mail newsletters has to offer. Place a checkbox next to the newsletters you wish to subscribe to.

Welcome.

Thank you for becoming a member of WHAS11.com. You now have full access to the best local coverage and late breaking news from WHAS11.com. Soon you will be redirected to the page you were seeking, and a confirmation email will be delivered to you.

You will need to respond to the confirmation e-mail for your account to be activated.

WHAS11.com is dedicated to bringing you exceptional news and outstanding information services, all while personalizing it to your liking. We're sure you'll enjoy being a WHAS11.com member! If you need assistance, please contact us.