Vance County, N.C. — When it comes to scammers, even the most savvy among us aren’t entirely safe from schemes to get our money.
In Vance County, one bold scammer even tried to fool the sheriff and almost got away with it.
Vance County Sheriff Curtis Brame was at the hospital with his wife on Wednesday. Brame was staying with her while she was recovering from back surgery.
At one point, he got a call from someone claiming to be a Duke Energy representative on his cell phone. The caller told him he was delinquent on two power bills and threatened to turn off his power.
“They were gonna turn my services off in 30 to 45 minutes because of a delinquent payment,” Brame told WRAL News. His dog, Jack, was at home. Brame’s mind instantly turned to Jack’s health should his power go off in the summer heat.
Brame also said he was vulnerable, being most concerned at the moment with his wife’s well-being.
The person asking for Brame’s information knew his address, giving the call a semblance of legitimacy.
“So I immediately paid with the request of them asking for my credit card number,” Brame said. “Something that I never should have done.”
Brame said the call came from a 998 area code, which he later realized was suspicious.
Brame usually pays all his bills online, so he thought he might have made an error, giving the person his credit and debit card number. A Duke Energy…
