Officers, others reach out to help scam victim

After the police officer knocked on the door, the elderly woman answered with a smile and let the officer into her home.

"You're still thinking about it, aren't you?" asked Marian Stallings, 84. "Don't you worry about me!"

"Well, yes, I'm still thinking about it, how could I forget?" replied Shelbyville police officer Carol Jean.

Jean made a visit to check on Stallings, who has lived in Shelbyville for more than 50 years, on Wednesday.

Stallings had recently fallen victim to a scam in which she was told she had won a Jamaican lottery. In an attempt to get her winnings, however, Stallings sent hundreds of dollars overseas for what she was told were "insurance" purposes.

"If you have to send money to get money, you're not getting anything," said Jean, noting that all too often, the elderly, like Stallings, are taken advantage of by scam artists.

In May, a Food Lion clerk filed a report with the Shelbyville Police Department claiming Stallings had been wiring money overseas to insure the delivery of her lottery winnings.

At this time, Jean went to check on Stallings and told her not to send any more money. However, after threatening phone calls continued, Stallings got scared and wired more money from a different location in Shelbyville.

A couple days later, a neighbor of Stallings notified the police that Stallings had sent more money.

When the police visited the victim this time, Stallings admitted that she was only trying to retrieve her winnings so she could get her S. Cannon Boulevard house painted. With her husband in a nursing home and no children or family to help her out, Stallings was hoping the lottery would provide the help she was needing.

"This tore me up," Jean said. "The elderly are picked on ... They are really vulnerable."

Jean told Stallings not to worry about her house and that she would help her get it painted. Jean talked to Hoover Paint in Shelbyville and they agreed to donate all the paint necessary for the job.

Next, Jean planned to see if any churches would be interested in helping with the paint job. But when Pam Smith, a local painter, heard of the situation, she offered to have her crew do all the painting.

Shelbyville Lumber Co. also jumped on board and donated lumber to repair some steps outside Stallings' home. Quality Roofing Co. agreed to repair the steps, and the Friendship Class of First United Methodist Church donated money for uncovered supplies and costs.

Boyce Auto Repair, a business near Stallings' home, offered to let painters use its water hook-up so the house could be pressure washed before painting.

Several folks put forth a little elbow grease and, two days later, Stallings' home looked as good as new.

"It was wonderful," said Stallings, of the good deed. "And I owe it all to her (Officer Jean). She's an angel. At first I said to myself, when I found out (about the paint), 'Is this true?'"

Stallings' home may look like new, and she's changed her phone number, but that doesn't mean she has forgotten about what happened.

She received a letter a few days ago from the same scammers, asking for more money.

"I threw it away!" she told Jean.

Enclosed with the letter was a necklace, which Jean said was simply to continue to try and bait her into sending more money. The scam artists even told Stallings that if she didn't have any cash, she could send them her Social Security checks.

"(The necklace) is supposed to bring me good luck," Stallings said.

Stallings' advice to the other potential scam victims: "Don't do it, and throw (letters) away!"

In the past, Stallings' husband had always handled their finances. She has undertaken the responsibility on her own since her 90-year-old husband went into the nursing home a few months ago.

Jean said that elderly folks should not be afraid to call the police or the Better Business Bureau if they need assistance or think something seems a little strange.

"They need to know that if 'their bank' calls them and asks for their Social Security number, it's not their bank," Jean said. "Don't give your personal information out to anyone. The people who need it already have it.

"If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck ..."