09/23/2026
Here at the Fall River Police Department, we take reports of scams and fraud seriously. Caution should always be taken when it comes to your personal information.
So, imagine our surprise when Chief Ron received a video call from an “agent” with Publishers Clearing House who advised that he was the winner of $1.5 million! WOW! And they would meet Chief Ron at his house to be publicly awarded the money! Amazing! And he promised this wasn’t a scam! Incredible!
“This will turn your life around”, “Money makes you friends and friends makes you popular”, “Mr Millionaire, you will be receiving everything today”, and “You’re the one today who will be receiving your glory and your blessing” are among all the incredible promises the scammer—err, I mean, “agent”, made!
So Chief Ron did what the scammer (sorry! I meant “agent”!) said and went to a nearby store to purchase a gift card to give the scammer (Oops! I did it again!). But Chief Ron couldn’t hold his excitement and hurried home to find his driveway empty. The scammer—sorry, sorry, sorry, I mean “agent”—was just as disappointed to find out the Chief Ron did not buy a gift card but instead bought Mike’s Hot Honey, and actually tried providing them with his old Kwik Trip Rewards card number.
Straight from the REAL Publishers Clearing House website: “Remember: The real Publishers Clearing House will never call you or ask you to pay money to enter or claim a prize. No purchase or fee is ever required to enter or win.”
Remember, folks: if it sounds too good to be true, it is. Fact is, we receive many scam and fraud calls where folks are out their hard earned money for a hope and a promise that will never come true. In some cases, the scammer makes threats to get gift cards from victims. In other cases, the scammer claims to be a law enforcement entity and threatens to take the victim to jail if they don’t supply them with gift cards. There are MANY different ways they try to scam you! Regardless of who they claim to be or how they try to do it, you should always report cases of potential scam or fraud to your local police department or sheriff’s office. Do not be scammed—do not be a victim—report it before it happens.