[Cliffie]

As many of you will already know, there are programs available for free phones for the poor, as well as the usual variety of assistance in the forms of food stamps and whatnot. Some bunko artist has put those two ideas together and has been calling people in poor neighborhoods, offering them free phones...in exchange for their Bridge card numbers. Tell your friends and neighbors not to fall for this one!

[Coldjensens]

What is a bridge card? I see signs "We take Bridge Cards" but I am not sure what it is. Has something to do with welfare i guess, it it the replacement for food stamps?

[michigan83]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

What is a bridge card? I see signs "We take Bridge Cards" but I am not sure what it is. Has something to do with welfare i guess, it it the replacement for food stamps?

Basically, yes. It is a replacement for food stamps. The college kids were having a lot of fun with those cards a few years ago, until they put more restrictions on it.

[Captain Obvious]

Originally Posted by Cliffie

As many of you will already know, there are programs available for free phones for the poor, as well as the usual variety of assistance in the forms of food stamps and whatnot. Some bunko artist has put those two ideas together and has been calling people in poor neighborhoods, offering them free phones...in exchange for their Bridge card numbers. Tell your friends and neighbors not to fall for this one!

Now that is a word that I haven't heard in a really long time.

[canudigit]

This scam may not work. It seems that most people with Bridge Cards already have state of the art smartphones and wouldn't be interested in the cheap government handout version (similar to mine, lol) anyway.

[Retroit]

I wonder if I can get Social Security Numbers from people in exchange for an Obama t-shirt?

[tjay]

The poor people are bankrupting this country, didn't you know? Single handedly.

[danielj72]

No one should EVER give out any personal information to people who call you on the phone and claim your getting something for free, or youve won a contest. NO ONE just calls you unsolicited to tell you youve "won" the money, but all you need to do is give me your account ## or your soc #. These scammers need to be in a jail cell for taking advantage of people like that. The laws on fraud and ID theft need to get ALOT tougher, these people are a threat to much of our finacial system. Because of this kind of fraud nothing can be trusted anymore. ATMs have card readers in them to get your info, telemarketing calls may be phishing calls, email may be phising attempts too. Your bank, your insurance co., your healthcare providers are now all a security risk to you, as thier employees may steal your soc # and open accounts in your name all over town. They drain your account, ruin your credit rating (which means you cant buy a house, get a job or have a life of any kind), even run up a criminal record in your name. These types of criminals do alot more damage to our society than anyone ever thinks they do. Because of all of this, nothing is trustworthy anymore. I say lock these people up forever, that will at least slow it down.

[us66]

Wish I'd thought of that. I feel like I'm the only one in the store actually paying for my own groceries nowadays- oh wait, I am.

[YAZ]

I always thought that I was smarter than the folks on welfare.

Then I was at the grocery store the other day....

A young gal with child had a cartful of groceries and "paid" for it with an EBT card. (Az's version of bridge).

Her partner in crime, right behind her, purchased 200 bucks worth of cigs and booze.

Cash, of course.