When Watsonville resident Suzanne Calkins answered her phone Wednesday, a person who said he represented a company called Caller Advantage told her she had been a good customer and local businesses wanted to thank her with $100 and two airline tickets anywhere in the continental United States.

Next, the caller, a man with a heavy foreign accent who identified himself as Don Roberts, said he would connect her to the verification department for a nominal fee of $2.95.

“Something didn’t feel right,” said Calkins. “My stomach said something was wrong.”

Calkins told the caller she was going to pass on the offer and he immediately hung up. She was almost drawn in by his pitch, she said.

“He was good,” she said. “He was very, very good — and I’m skeptical.”

An Internet search of Caller Advantage brought up a host of scam warnings and a number that connected to a “customer service” center.

There, a representative said the company offers a service called Call MD, which links members to doctors, and another service called Legalease, which provides links to attorneys.

When asked about Suzanne Calkins’ experience, the representative said it’s the sales department that makes those calls, but claimed that the $100 and plane tickets are some of the perks of joining. She said she didn’t have the phone number for the sales department.

The representative said her company is based in California, but said security rules prohibited her from giving out the city or any further information. A separate call requesting a media contact, however, got an address in Oakley, Calif.

“It sounds like a classic example of something to watch out for,” said Dana Simas, deputy press secretary with the California Office of the Attorney General.

Any offers that require winners to pay before receiving their prize are likely a scam, she said. Because a majority of scams are conducted from outside the state or country, and because most government agencies are inundated with similar calls, many of the scammers go unpunished.

The call had all the makings of a scam, said Ed Magedson, founder of the Ripoff Report, a consumer protection Web site based in Phoenix, Ariz.

“They give you something that looks like a good thing and charge something nominal,” he said. “Their modus operandi is to get your bank account information.”

Once they have that, the victim begins seeing unauthorized charges on their credit card statement, said Magedson,

The problem, he said, is that many consumers do not check their statements for smaller, “obscure” charges.

“That’s what these companies rely on,” he said.

Magedson also warned consumers never to give any information to unknown companies that call or e-mail, and to carefully check out any company that does call.

“I strongly suggest that when consumers get a call like this to immediately get on the Internet and Google the company’s name and phone number,” he said.

According to Magedson, companies like Caller Advantage often get their contact information from lists sold by online companies, and added that many people who get a scam call or letter has likely purchased something off the Internet or given their personal information to an online service within the past six months.

He also said that the company, FreeCreditReport.com, which advertises heavily on television, is particularly known for selling its customer information.

Charles Harris, strategic marketing manager for FreeCreditReport.com, said it was the first time he had heard the allegation and categorically denied it.

“We do not sell customer information, period,” he said.

Magedson said that many of the callers are likely low-paid workers in overseas calling stations who have no idea the how information they’re gathering will be used.

“They’re just taking orders,” he said. “They don’t know the end result.”



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