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❘ SEPTEMBER 27, 2017 ❘ $1.00
TOUGH CHOICE FOR
SIUSLAW VIKINGS
John Daniel
is the author of
ten books of
poetry, essays,
memoir, and
fi ction.
Oregon Book Award Winner
WEDNESDAY EDITION
SPORTS — B
Join us for a special
evening with this
amazing author!
John Daniel
at the Florence Events Center
Friday, September 29 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $8 in advance
or $10 at the door
www.FlorenceFestivalofBooks.org
127TH YEAR ❘ ISSUE NO. 77
SERVING WESTERN LANE COUNTY SINCE 1890
FLORENCE, OREGON
FRAUD ALERT
‘I know
you’re just
scamming
me’
WILL YOU BE READY?
Phone scammers use
phone books,
robocalls, “spoofing”
to trick victims
Kiwanis
launches
new 3-2-1
Satellite
Club
Florence club looks to
bring new members
with innovative format
B Y J ARED A NDERSON
Siuslaw News
B Y C HANTELLE M EYER
Siuslaw News
I
t wasn’t until an hour and a half
into the phone conversation that
S
w
i
s
s
-
home resident Paula Hollenbeck
realized she was being scammed.
Last Friday, Hollenbeck received
an exciting call from Publisher’s
Clearing House.
“It was a very pleasant lady that
… explained to me that I was a third-
place winner from a drawing four
years ago,” Hollenbeck said. “She
said I had won $1.5 million and a
2018 Mercedes Benz, insured for six
months from GEICO.
“They asked if I was dressed for
company, and I said no. I was in my
nightgown. The woman said, ‘I’m
going to give you time to get
dressed, but I’ll stay on the phone.’”
Her call was transferred to a
“supervisor,” who demanded an up
front payment before the famous
“big check,” which they said was
waiting in town, was handed to her at
the front door.
“He said they would give me
everything, but I had to pay one per-
cent in taxes up front,” Hollenbeck
said.
It was at that moment she knew it
was a scam. The man lectured her on
U.S. tax code, insisting that $999.99
had to be sent in and verified. The
man then asked how much was in
Hollenbeck’s bank account.
“Do you know what?” Hollenbeck
asked the man. “I have been on this
rollercoaster with you for 3 hours. I
want you to know, I know you’re just
scamming me.”
It’s at that point Hollenbeck told
the man she would contact the Better
Business Bureau and local media
outlets.
“My area is going to be notified,
and you’re going to be busted,” she
told him.
“He called me every name in the
book,” she said. “Filthy, filthy lan-
guage. I told him I didn’t appreciate
that. He asked if I wanted to be a
prostitute for the night and I said,
‘I’m going to end this conversa-
tion.’”
Hollenbeck’s story is nothing new.
In a 2016 report created by Pindrop
Security, 86.2 million calls per
month in the U.S. are phone scams.
In 2016, Consumer Reports found
that the U.S. lost $744 million to
scammers.
As to who is getting scammed, the
majority of victims are not the often
cited “retiree,” but people in their
20s and early 30s. That age cohort is
six times more likely to give out
credit card information and almost
twice as likely to divulge their Social
Security number.
INSIDE
See
Be Ready — Storm Ready Disaster Prep Expo
PHOTOS BY JARED ANDERSON AND MARK BRENNAN/SIUSLAW NEWS
T
he second annual Be
Ready Disaster Prepared-
ness Expo on Sept. 23
encouraged more than 400 mem-
bers of the community to prepare
a plan, make a survival kit and
learn important skills to Be ready
— Storm Ready.
Keynote speaker “Disaster
Prep Dave” Robinson spoke on
storm preparedness and being
ready for the “Big One” — a sub-
duction zone earthquake and
tsunami expected to strike the
Cascadia region sometime in the
next 50 years.
Experts predict that coast resi-
dents need to have a two-week
supply of food, water and other
essentials on hand at all times to
be ready for winter storms, flood-
ing, earthquakes and any situa-
tion that could isolate Western
Lane County from access to
resources.
Speakers from the Oregon
Office
of
Emergency
Management, Florence Police
Department, Siuslaw Valley Fire
and Rescue, CERT, Boy Scouts
of America and more instructed
people on survival tips, having an
emergency plan, food processing
and even ways to train a dog to
help in dangerous situations.
Florence Kiwanis Club grilled
up a free hot dog lunch for atten-
dees.
In a workshop, PeaceHealth
Peace Harbor Medical Center
volunteers taught two classes on
how to suture wounds. Siuslaw
News and Western Lane
Emergency Operations Group
(WLEOG) sponsored the expo at
Florence Events Center.
K
iwanis Club of Florence is
expanding in a whole new
way with an incentive to
bring in members who are unable to
attend the club’s current, traditional
format. In a meeting at
Beachcomber Pub on Sept. 20, 15
people attended to hear Kiwanis
President-Elect Jean Murphey talk
about the new 3-2-1 Satellite Club.
“What we’re looking for is a way
to bring more people into Kiwanis.
It started by looking into a group for
young professionals, but then we
decided we didn’t want to make it
just for working people. It’s just a
way to be a part of Kiwanis and
participate in some of the fundrais-
ers and service projects. That is
what we are about,” she said.
Jean and her husband John
Murphey have been involved with
Kiwanis for five and eight years,
respectively. In that time, they real-
ized that the age of the club has
risen, without many new members
coming in.
See
VFW
ANNOUNCES
$30,000
SCHOLARSHIP
Two essay contests are
open to all students
in grades 6-12
B Y M ARK B RENNAN
Siuslaw News
Florence Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW) Post 3232 has
announced the theme for the 2018
Voice of Democracy Audio/Essay
contest. The theme for this year is
“American History: Our Hope for
the Future.”
The contest is sponsored annual-
ly by the national VFW.
The Voice of Democracy pro-
gram was established in 1947 to
provide an opportunity for high
school-aged Americans to compose
and recite a democratic or patriotic
themed essay for recording and
compete for scholarships for sec-
ondary education.
Ken Smith, Commander of Post
3232, feels the reason for the con-
test is straightforward.
SCAMMERS 7A
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B6
Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3
Kid Scoop . . . . . School News
Library Tidings . . . . . . . . . . . A5
Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4
Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2
School News . . . . . . . . . Inside
Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B
CLUB 7A
See
THIS WEEK ’ S
TODAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
82 54
68 54
61 50
62 48
WEATHER
Full Forecast, A3
S IUSLAW N EWS
3 S ECTIONS ❘ 22 P AGES
C OPYRIGHT 2017
VOICES 8A