Tonight a young girl calling herself Denise came to my door after 8pm and asked if she could talk to me about making a 100% tax deductable donation for her to go to school. She said she was accepted in a summer training program at Oxford University, London and her father said she had to pay for half the trip. She says she lives on Glenham Dr. and is asking all the neighbors for help. She said if I chose 2 different children's books for a total of 10 they would be sent to Levine Children's hospital and St. Jude's. Then she said that 80% would come back to her to help with her trip. She said she wants to study to do the weather and become a storm chaser.
So I wrote a check for $110.00 thinking it was nice to help a neighbor go off to college. She had me make out the check to Prestige USA and gave me a receipt. After she left I went online to check out Prestige USA and found over a dozen reports that this is a scam. The people that wrote in from other states told the same story I just told about being accepted to a training program in London only it was different people with different names in different states all with the same company.
I immediately called my bank and cancelled the check which cost me $35.00 and called a neighbor that I know she got money from and gave her the information I had. It's a sad day that someone under 18 years old will walk into someone's house and lie to them to get their money. If she would have stopped me on the street and said I need money for food or housing I would have given it to her with no hesitation. But to look me in the eye and lie to get it is inexcusable.
Thought you may want to be on the lookout.
