Nov 17, 2006 4:29 pm US/Central
You Really Can Get Money For Nothing
by Bennett Cunningham
BEDFORD (CBS 11 News) ―
The sounds of the holiday season are already in the air, and cash registers are chiming away. And so were dollar signs for one North Texas woman. Bedford Resident Janet Smith thought she had hit the jackpot the day she opened her mailbox. She said, "Sugar plum fairies dancing in my head. Oh, boy! Christmas is coming! Now I can buy the kids and the grandkids presents."
Janet received a letter from a company stating the government owed her a small bundle of cash. She said, "This letter said I had money that belonged to me in the amount of $464."
To get the money, she needed to send the company $47. She said, "He knew my married name, where I live, and the last four digits of my social security number so that made it sound very legitimate."
But while letters like the one Janet Smith received aren't illegal, they can be deceptive. That's because the company is trying to get you to pay for a service that the government offers for free.
Cindy Sulsar, with the Fort Worth Better Business Bureau, is familiar with these types of mailings and questions the tactics. She said, "The consumer can do all this on their own. If you have to pay money to get money, that's a red flag."
Smith has harsher words for the companies that do this: "I think they're bottom feeders."
Janet didn't send in the $47, but she will be getting her pile of cash.
Smith adds, "I guess this fella thought we were pretty stupid, but I thank him for letting us know I had money to get."
She went online to the real government website and found her money.
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