Briefly
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on December 1, 2004 1:58 PM
Phone scam
Richard Hinnant didn't get $50,000 mailed to him. On the other hand, he didn't get his bank account emptied, either.
Hinnant, who lives in Goldsboro, got a phone call the other night from a man with a foreign accent who announced that Hinnant had won $50,000 by some fashion that was strange to him.
"OK," said Hinnant. "Send me the check."
No, said the caller. The money had to be transferred directly to his bank account. And, of course, he needed Hinnant's account number.
Hinnant said that if he had won $50,000, he wanted it sent to him. But, he added, he certainly wasn't going to give his bank account number to a perfect stranger on the telephone.
This stranger was far from perfect. Swindlers can use account numbers to steal money from a person's account.
Hinnant said he wanted to warn other Wayne County residents of the scam in which he was targeted. He had no idea where the call came from. The number didn't appear on his telephone's caller-identification screen.
DWI campaign
Goldsboro police charged six people with driving while impaired during the first full week of the second semi-annual "Booze It and Lose It" campaign against drunken driving.
Police conducted 32 checkpoints and 45 patrols during the week. They filed 563 traffic charges and 22 criminal charges.
Sixty-six people were charged with seat-belt violations, 12 with child-restraint violations, 200 with speeding, 44 with driving while their license was revoked, 44 with no operator's license and 245 for other traffic offenses. They also issued eight drug charges and 14 other criminal charges.
The campaign extends through Jan. 2.