3/02/09 Crooked River Ranch
 
by Ariel Wesler
 
With a click of the mouse and some strokes of the keyboard, a Crooked River Ranch woman who didn't wish to be identified, was on her way to losing $17,000 dollars over the internet.  She received, what appeared to be an email from Fed Ex saying she was in luck.  A man wanted to send her a check for half a million dollars after winning a drawing.  First though, he needed the $17,000 to cover shipping and paperwork.
 
Then, he sent her a debit card from the Bank of Africa with the $500,000.
"All I would have to do is take it to the ATM machine and withdraw the money.  So being stupid, I listened to what they said and it ended up costing me $17,000," the woman said.
 
The woman brought the debit card to the Bank of the Cascades in Redmond.  She was expecting to see $500,000 on it.  Instead, they told her it was a fake.  She sent the card and email to the Secret service office in Portland.
 
Locally, the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office says there's not much it can do to stop international email scams, like the Nigerian scam because they're almost impossible to track.  Sadly, this isn't her first scam.  Six years ago, she lost $50,000 in another email scam.
 
"I had to refinance my house.  I had to refinance my trailer home and luckily I have a husband who didn't kick me out of house and home," the victim said.
 
 
She says her family and friends warned her, but she wanted to prove them wrong.  She is a trusting person, but the scams have taken take a toll on her both financially and mentally.  This time, she promises she's learned an expensive lesson.
 
"I fell for it a second time.  There will not be a third time."
 
Federal Express does have information on its website with ways to detect scams.  http://fedex.com/us/fraud/
 
Most importantly, the shipping company says it will never ask for your personal information or money through an email.