Scams

Churches are the target of many scams.  There are the people who come in seeking financial aid.  They always have a good story.  I've heard many over the years.  There is the company that calls and asks for your copy machine model, and then sends you toner that is likely to damage your machine.  They insist that you ordered it.  There are some that involve sending light bulbs. 

The church was targeted today for one.  I was in the main office when Administrative Assistant answered the phone, so I heard her side of the conversation.  It went something like this:
"He no longer works here."  (I knew she was talking about the former pastor, who has been gone for 3 years.)

"May I ask why you are calling?"

"What company are you from?"

"What is this about?"

"What company are you from?" 

"What is this about?"

"Why do you want our electrical specs?"

"He no longer works here and we don't give out that information.  Good bye."

She then hung up.  She was mad, which is rare.  The phone rang again, and she glanced at the caller ID and let it ring.  "It's the same person."  The caller ID was blank, as they had blocked the number. 

The caller left a message on my voice mail.  She gave me a name, informed she needed to talk to me "about some odds and ends."  She didn't give me a company name.  She said AA was very rude and hung up on her.  She left an 800 number.  I looked up the 800 number online, and can't find any information on who it belongs to. 

AA was not happy at being accused of being rude.  I was amused, and assured her I was grateful for her protectiveness.  She said the woman couldn't come up with the name of the company she was with and wouldn't answer her question.  As we compared notes, we discovered that in the voice mail she left for me, she used a different name than the one she'd used with AA.  She clearly said, though, that AA "hung up on me." 

I didn't return the call.