NAMPA - For those of us who have a car payment, it’s a debt we would like to pay off sooner rather than later.
One local woman thought she was getting an incredible offer to help pay down her truck, but turns out it’s a scam. And it’s one you should be aware of.
Nampa resident Trudy Myrland says she almost fell victim.
After buying a brand new Dodge Ram pickup, Myrland received an email which stated she could make $250 per month if she wrapped her truck in a Dr. Pepper advertising logo.
With a truck payment upward of $700, Myrland thought she would be a fool if she didn’t take advantage of this opportunity. So she went to the company website, which had a fake Better Business Bureau accredited sticker on it, and filled out the application.
Three weeks later, Myrland received a check for $1,900 with some instructions. She was to keep $250 and wire the remaining amount to the vendor who would wrap her truck.
Myrland was prepared to do it, but then noticed something fishy.
“I went back home online and it didn’t say anything about how long the program lasted, so I did some searches for Dr. Pepper wrap and I came across scamguard.com and found out it was a total scam and many people had already been scammed,” said Myrland.
“One thing you can do, if you are thinking of doing the car wrap is contact the company directly, if it’s soda or a monster drink, go to the company’s website, and in many cases there will be a whole section that says we don’t pay for car wraps, or this is the way to go about doing it and you can find out if you are being scammed,” said Veronica Craker with the Better Business Bureau.
Luckily, Myrland avoided this scam, but the BBB says it is still going around.
Craker also says that the checks these fraudulent companies send you may actually clear and it could take up to several weeks before it bounces, then you're on the hook for the money.