Jerry Davich: Readers respond to scam column

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Jerry Davich

Updated: February 17, 2012 8:09AM

Natalie Howard wrote me a letter to express her appreciation for my recent column that warned readers about a scam involving a fictitious “Obama Fund.”

“You did a good thing and I thank you,” the Hammond woman wrote. “But do you think that scam was only intended for black people? Have any white readers contacted you about it?”

Of all the readers who confirmed that they, too, had heard of that scam or were duped by it, none went out of their way to tell me they were black or a minority. But that doesn’t mean only blacks were targeted.

“Scam artists care about only one color,” I told Howard. “Green, as in the color of money.”

That column sparked several calls and emails from other victims of this fraud, and other scams, too.

“I gave almost $200 before I wised up and figured it was a scam,” said Richard L. of Portage.

Anna Turner of Gary received a similar phone call, but she told the caller to contact her lawyer while adamantly refusing to wire any money anywhere. The male caller eventually hung up, but not before calling Turner a curse name.

Turner, however, saved his phone number, and I plan to call him this week during one of my radio shows, on air, to see what prize, ahem, I won. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Porter County Sheriff David Lain had an immediate response after reading that column.

“Your column on the scam victim reminded me of how frustrated I remain by people who refuse to think about the world around them,” he said. “Those of us in public safety are all too aware that a significant percentage of victims of crime or accident were just a single thought away from not being victims at all.

“We place a considerable emphasis on education and prevention, but sometimes I wonder if people are listening.”

Oh, they’re listening all right, but not always to reason, logic and common sense. And that has nothing to do with the color of their skin; even the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would have agreed with that.

Speaking of black, and red

The economy is limping along. The recession is lingering. Thousands of Northwest Indiana residents are unemployed or underemployed. Money is tight. People are hurting. Right?

If so, then how do you explain the latest revenue report released by the Indiana Gaming Commission, showing slight increases from most of this region’s five casino boats?

For example, Ameristar Casino in East Chicago saw revenues rise from $19.1 million in December 2010, to $20.8 million last month. And Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City jumped from $12.9 million to $14.2 million, respectively.

That’s a lot of money for any month in any year, but especially amid such a scary job market and bleak economic outlook. Yet, region residents obviously are flocking to these casinos and blowing boatloads of cash.

I wonder the same thing when I see so many people (including me) dining out so regularly and plopping down some serious cash at local restaurants. It’s not that I’m against supporting local businesses, but it seems that such willy-nilly “discretionary spending” flies in the face of all the dire economic news we repeatedly hear and read.

My question to you is this: What consumer product or service would be the last one you’d be willing to give up when money gets really tight? In other words, which of your most common and frivolous expenditures would be the last to go?

Gambling? Dining out? Drinking? Clothes shopping? Playing the lottery? Something else? Let me know and I will print your responses in a future column.

Speaking of money ...

I recently was asked, what is my purpose in life? A tough question to be sure. It can be dissected through philosophy, theology, psychology or any number of other prisms.

But I was given a clue, and it is something you, too, should consider before answering. If you never had to worry about money in your life, what would you do?

Your answer, I’m told, would be your purpose.

Speaking of purpose ...

The week of Feb. 13 to 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Week, an internationally observed movement of doing surprising good deeds for others. (It was created in response to the so-called “random acts of violence” taking place in the late 1990s.)

But, I must counter, how “random” can it be if it’s organized into a single tidy week and observed by everyone at the same time? That’s not random; that’s controlled. You might as well stage a “planned spontaneity” movement.

Random, schmandom, I say. Forget that specific week and all it implies.

Instead, conduct a truly and organically random act of kindness before that week, or after it. Or even both. Better yet, perform such an act right now, today, and get the jump on the rest of the lemmings who are waiting for Feb. 13 to roll around.

Go ahead, pay the restaurant bill for that diner who’s eating alone. Deliver fresh flowers to a forgotten nursing home resident. Give a kid you don’t know $10 to buy a toy, any toy, without parental restrictions. Hug a stranger in a store. Smooch an old lady on the cheek and explain why only afterward, or not at all.

Do it now. Don’t wait for that canned, choreographed, we-are-the-world “movement” to compel you. Compel yourself. Be creative. Act selfless. Most importantly, be “random.”

In fact, on Monday morning, I will perform a random act of kindness and I’ll tell you how it went on my “Out to Lunch” radio show. Tune in today at noon on WVLP, 98.3-FM, or streaming online at www.wvlp.org.