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Notes From Barry Johnson’s Desk
1…. Residents report seeing a mountain lion and cub in the backyards in the area of Stags Leap Lane, down the street from Kilaga Springs Lodge. If you see a wild animal roaming around your neighborhood contact your village coordinator and ask her/him put out an email Alert to the village.
2…. A mailbox on Stepping Stone Ln was vandalized during the night of Friday, April 23-24. The post office was notified and will repair ASAP. (Our mailboxes are not secure so don’t leave mail in them overnight.)
3…. Two residents have reported multiple unauthorized charges to their credit cards. FREQUENTLY check your account online so you notice it the first time and then report it to your bank.
4…. There have been several reports of various types of SCAMS. Some are as follows:

A…The resident receives a phone call stating that their computer has a virus. The resident agrees to let the scammer take over their computer to correct the problem. The scammer charged the victim several hundred dollars to allegedly correct the problem. The resident was directed to purchase gift cards and to send the scammer the numbers on the cards for the payment.
B… The scammer called, said he was from the Sheriff’s department. He told the resident that there was warrant for his arrest because he did not respond to a Jury Summons. The resident was told that the only way to stop the arrest warrant was to immediately purchase $500 in gift cards and to call the alleged Sheriff back with the numbers on the gift cards.
C… One resident received a check in the mail for $8993.35. The check was from a Canadian bank. The accompanying letter explained that the resident had won this amount as a prize from a company named METRO-CONSTRUCTION. The resident was to call a certain phone number before depositing the check.
This resident had never entered any contest so she called me and I advised her to disregard the check and letter. It’s the lead-in to a SCAM.
(Had the resident called the listed phone number she would probably have been asked for her personal information including banking information)
EVERYDAY THERE ARE VARIOUS TYPES OF SCAMS DIRECTED TO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS FROM FOREIGN COUNTRIES. IN THE APRIL ISSUE OF AARP THERE IS A VERY GOOD STORY WHICH SHOWS HOW SOPHISTICATED THESE “SCAMMERS” ARE AND HOW THEY WORK.
You can read it online or download it as a pdf and print it. It’s long but very informative.
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2021/international-tech-support-scam-exposed.html

If you have trouble, request a pdf from Mary Cranston at alerteditor@sclhwatch.org You think it’s never going to happen to you – until it does.