Monday, July 7, 2014

A Lost Episode Found

So much has happened - and continues to happen - since my father first became involved in a Jamaican lottery scam, that it is difficult to remember everything that has occurred. Which isn't all bad, because most of these memories are painful and thus worth forgetting.

While revisiting some old posts, I came across a reply that triggered a flashback. Namely, a reply posted by DIDS on October 7, 2010 to Birth of A Blog: My Dad's Story. In her reply DIDS recounted how, after severing the lines of communication between her mother and the scammers, the crooks contacted the police department under an assumed name and requested a "well check" on her mom. Local officials complied despite the fact that the call came from area code 876 (Jamaica), which should have prompted suspicion.

As I now recall the same thing happened to me in the spring of 2013 when my father was hospitalized for minor surgery. The procedure was done on an outpatient basis, but complications made it necessary for him be held over for two nights for observation.

The day my father was discharged, a police officer knocked on my door. He said he had received a call from a relative concerned about my father's well-being who had been trying to contact my dad for several days with no response. I told the officer that my father was being scammed, that the caller was not kin and certainly no friend. The policeman said he suspected as much, but was required to investigate as a precaution.

In truth my father had not been out of touch with the criminals for several days, and their claim that he had, was a bold-faced lie.

Or was it?

The reason I ask is that when one is used to calling or being called several times a day, every day, days can seem like weeks to scammers and their victims, in the twisted world of Scam Land.