Tulsa was celebrating its yearly 4th of July Family Days Weekend in the heart of downtown. There were games everywhere and chances to win sweepstakes left and right. Enter to win a big screen TV. Donate a dollar and get a free key ring. Enter to win a SUV here by filling out a survey.
We've all seen them before, and some of us have filled out our names and phone numbers and probably never won anything before, but we still continue to hope.
Tammy was spending the day walking around enjoying the sites, when she noticed a rather nice looking man standing at a booth. He was in charge of a booth that was giving away a free SUV by filling out a short survey. Tammy had to put down her name, birthday, and how many members were in her household, how many drivers over the age 18, her address, phone number, and a short answer on what she would do with the SUV if she won. As Tammy filled out the survey, she thought about how nice it would be to have a new car. Being the type of person she was, she flirted with the guy somehow hoping that would increase her chances of winning. Over sixty people filled out the survey.
Five days later, to Tammy’s surprise a man showed up at her door with the bright red SUV waiting outside. The man from the celebration said her name was pulled from the box, so she let him in while they filled out the paperwork. He looked inpatient and said he was waiting for his co-worker to pick him up since he had driven the SUV to her place. He called his co-worker, but they were not able to come and get him at that time, so he convinced Tammy to give him a ride.
Tammy was never heard from again.The man picked Tammy to be his victim because of her results from the survey. She was 20 and lived alone. He had her address and had watched her for days. He wasn't with a real company and no one knew who this man was. He would go from state to state collecting information and using it to choose his victims.So remember the next time you drop your name into a sweepstakes do you know what you are trying to win? Tammy thought it was an innocent survey what she didn't know was the price of winning.
