BEWARE OF TELEPHONE SOLICITATION SCAMS

From time to time, we all need to be reminded that someone out there is waiting to bilk us out of our hard-earned paychecks or our years of saving. Scams seem to come in waves like the seasons of the year.

Recently, Cape Girardeau police were giving out warnings about a group calling itself the Association of Firefighters, asking for donations and making it sound like the money would be used to benefit our own fire department.

In fact, this was just another telephone scam. These fraudulent money-grabbers rely on the strong community commitment most residents of Cape Girardeau have. We all want to do whatever we can for our local agencies and service providers. We are all too willing to give a few dollars to the firefighters.

But the money, of course, isn't for firefighters at all.

So here is a seasonal reminder -- which you've heard before but which bears repeating: Be careful about making donations that sound good on the telephone but which have no connection to legitimate organizations in town. One thing you can do when someone calls for a solicitation is to ask for a telephone number so you can call back after you've had time to think about making a donation. If it's a scam, you won't get a phone number to call. If it's a legitimate organization, the solicitor will gladly give you the number, the mailing address, his name and the names of the organization's officers.

Be careful. Somebody out there wants your money.