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Top stories of 2007
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RECEIVED
JAN 0 2 2008
January 2, 2008
Vot. 76, No. 1 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
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'News from Next Door
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Tidings of Comfort and Joy County looks
back at 2007,
ahead to 2008
SUBMIHED PHOTO
JUNE MANKE PRESENTS A quilt to William Caneup made by the Colonial Quilters Guild of Elizabeth City.
Sheriff: Beware potential scammers
SUSAN HARRIS
Editor & Publisher
Scam artists using a dif
ferent means of contact
but the same typo of ruse
got their messages into
Perquimans County homes
during the holidays.
Sheriff Eric Tilley said
last week that one resident
brought him information
on a scheme to cash trav
eller’s checks and another
local turned in a check in
connection with a‘ sweep-
stakes. Fortunately, neither
resident tried to cash any
checks.
The traveler’s check
scam began with an e-mail.
The writer claimed to be a
British artist and told all
about his credentials. The
problem, he wrote, is that
he faced serious difficulties
getting his cash when he
sold artwork to Americans
who pay with a U.S. Postal
money order or traveller’s
check.
The writer said he was
looking for a representa
tive in the United States
willing to work part-time
cashing his money orders
and traveler’s checks for a
10 percent commission. He
said finding someone he
could trust was a problem,
but he had “my way of get
ting anyone that gets away
with our money, I mean the
FBI branch in Washington
gets involved.”
The U.S. representative
would have money orders
sent to them from the writ
er’s business partners. The
representative would cash
the money orders, keep the
10 percent plus transfer
fees, then wire the rest of
the funds to the writer.
The writer asked the lo
cal resident to respond if
wfiling to work for him.
When the resident
showed interest, the resi
dent was asked to send the
scam artist a direct cell
phone number, and was
asked to check the U.S. man
every day for payments and
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was also asked how often
he/she went online.
The resident was told
that a shipment of travel
er’s checks was due to be
delivered a couple of weeks
from the initial contact.
He/she was told how to pro
cess the checks once they
arrived, including mak
ing the checks payable to
the resident. After cashing
the checks and deducting
expenses, the remaining
funds were to be wired to
two different people, both
in Nigeria, purportedly
company employees there
to purchase supplies for the
artist.
The resident did get the
traveler’s checks, but did
not fall for the scam. Rath
er, the checks were taken to
Tilley.
The checks, of course,
are fake.
The scam artists hope
that the checks wiU be ac
cepted as real by a bank and
cashed. When it is deter
mined that the checks are
not real, the person who got
the checks cashed will be
responsible for coming up
with the money to pay the
bank back. The scam artist,
however, will have been
wired cash funds from the
local resident, receiving
money for fake checks.
The “sweepstakes” win
ner was told she had won
third prize of $50,000 in the
American Sweepstakes
Club prize pool on Nov. 18,
but that the company could
not reach her by phone. The
letter states that the sweep-
stakes is affiliated with
several well-known sweep--
stakes organizations.
A check in the amount of
$2,987.73 was issued to the
resident, who was told that
it would cover handling
fees and other costs. Due
to “confidentiality agree
ments,” the letter states,
very little information
ccouid be released about
the sweepstakes prize, so
the winner should call to
find out how to collect.
Generally, Tilley said,
when checks are issued in
a scam, they are not valid.
The recipient is asked to
take the check to their bank
and either cash it and send
the cash or a money order
to the original sender, or to
deposit it in their account
and in turn, write the com
pany a check. Either way,
the “winner” ends up los
ing the money, and in most
cases, paying bank fees.
This type of letter, plus
e-mails or phone caUs that
state they are from a re-
ceipient’s bank or other fi
nancial institution, should
be handled with suspicion,
Tilley said.
If you think someone
may be trying to scam you,
speak with a trusted finan
cial advisor or call law en
forcement. Never cash a
check, traveler’s check or
money order for someone
who asks you to do so then
wire or send them your
own check, money order or
cash.
Also, Tilley said you
should call your bank of
other financial instituion if
you receive an e-mail from
them unless you have an
established e-mail relation
ship with the institution.
Generally, if you do not go
on the institution’s web site
to conduct business, they
are not going to contact
you by e-mail. Do not click
on a link to a web site in
an email. If you think your
bank may be trying to con
tact you via e-mail, log onto
the web site as you usually
do, not with the link.
Never give any caller
your password, bank ac
count number, social se
curity number, credit card
number or any other in
formation they seek. If you
are contacted by e-mail
or phone, call the number
you have for the financial
institution and speak with
someone there. Do not use
the number you are given
by a caller.
Tilley also advises
against allowing anyone
you do not know to come
into your home. He said
there have been cases where
people who seemed legiti
mate have been invited
into homes and they either
were looking for v^uables
to come back and steal or
distracted the resident and
stole things while they were
in the home. Tilley said the
ploy is especially successful
if there are two people. One
distracts a resident, while
the other looks for items
easy to steal.
Anyone with questions,
who needs information, or
would like to report a pos
sible scam may contact the
sheriff’s office at 426-5615i.
Darden reviews
what’s been
done, looks
to upcoming
issues
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
With the calendar year
coming to a close, it’s a time
when folks begin to evalu
ate what was accomplished
during the year, what didn’t
get done, and what projects
are planned for the future.
While the county’s fiscal
year doesn’t end until June
30, 2008, County Manager
Bobby Darden was asked to
reflect on what he feels the
county has accomplished in
2007.
“Perquimans County
ranked second in the state
in local capital dollars spent
per student for our school
system,” Darden said. “We
funded some much need
ed improvements for our
school system, and we were
able to fund a good share of
this out of pocket.”
The county provided
funding, which allowed for
the start of construction
on the high school gym and
renovation project at a total
cost of $14 mfilion, Darden
said. In addition, the
county also completed the
HVAC and roof repairs at
Perquimans Middle School
totaling $2.8 million.
Darden pointed out that
Perquimans County is one
of six counties in the state
that has had a land trans
fer tax in place since 1990.
The tax revenue generated
from the transfer of real
estate has helped county
commissioners keep the
property tax rate down, and
has helped the county fund
about $20 million in school
projects in just a few years,
he noted.
Another positive accom
plishment for the county
this year has been the phas
ing out of the county pay
ing the non-federal share of
Medicaid expenses.
“This has been the num
ber one legislative goal for
North Carolina counties
for years,” said Darden.
“Perquimans County had
budgeted $800,000 this year
for our local share of Medic
aid, which is 6.25 percent of
our total operating budget.
Over the next four years,
the state wiU continue the
phase-out to where they are
paying 100 percent of the
non-federal Medicaid cost.”
The third accomplish
ment might sound trivial,
but is one that has a long
term impact on both the
county and county wa
ter customers alike. The
county’s water department
progressed from a cus
tomer-read bUling method
to monthly readings con
tracted out to a private com
pany.
“We now account for and
biU 90 percent of the water
produced as opposed to 65
percentpreviously,”Darden
pointed out.
WhUe much has been
accomplished this year,
Darden feels two goals
weren’t met in 2007. The
county’s GAMA land use
plan is nearly developed
with county officials plan
ning to submit the plan to
the state by the end of the
year for their comment.
Darden hopes the GAMA
land use plan wUl be ap
proved in 2008.
The county also start
ed design plans for a new
emergency medical ser
vices budding this year, but
had to place those plans on
hold in order to explore oth
er options.
One of the biggest issues
facing county residents in
2008 wiU be the continuing
battle against any outlying
landing field (OLF) siting in
the area.
“2008 wiU be the seventh
year of some Perquimans
Gounty residents living
with the threat of losing
their homes and land to the
Navy,” Darden said.
Three other major issues
coming down the pike deal
with water.
The county wUl face is
sues next year concerning
constructing a water line
from the proposed Pasquo
tank Gounty Reverse Os
mosis Water Plant on For
man Bundy Road, as well
as make enhancements to
the county’s Winfall wa
ter plant to improve water
quality.
Darden also sees the
county working towards
developing a plan to attract
marine-related businesses
to locate in the county’s wa
terfront Gommerce Gentre.
“This strategy has been
worked on for several
months and we’ll be tak
ing more steps next year in
making that happen,” he
said.
The last major issue fac
ing county government in
2008 is the tax revaluation,
which was last performed
in Perquimans Gounty in
2000.
“It’s always a chaUenge
to inform the public about
how there are two parts to
the equation: the value and
the tax rate, which wiU be
set in June,” said Darden.
Thursday
High: 38 Low: 26
Mostly Sunny
Friday
High: 44 Low: 30
Mostly Sunny
Saturday
High: 54 Low: 41
Partly Cloudy