Snookered… almost
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Billy Howard
A little more than a week ago, I received a daunting phone call on a Thursday evening that shook me for a moment. Our youngest child, who lives in Indiana, called to inform she’d been involved in an auto accident. The fact that it was her contacting me did help to some degree so my heart only skipped a beat as opposed to stopping altogether.
Bianca assured me that she was okay, her young daughter hadn’t been in the vehicle with her given the fact the incident occurred en route to work. She reported being at the police station to attempt retrieving her personal belongings from the car as it was totaled. With our daughter certifying she was okay; just a little shaken up, I was exceptionally thankful grace allowed that no other vehicles were involved. The car, she said, had hydroplaned while crossing a bridge due to the rainy conditions but was fortunate enough to move in a direction that took her away from on-coming traffic.
Beyond confirming she wasn’t in need of medical attention, our focus then shifted to the fact her situation mandated an immediate necessity to obtain another means of transportation. Bianca listed the two jobs as well as transporting her daughter to and from daycare daily requires she have a vehicle in order to keep up with life’s demands. Once my nerves were back in check and a tentative “Plan B” structured, we concluded the conversation, which is when the brain went into overdrive.
When considering the options, it was a point of me searching for, purchasing a vehicle in Jacksonville, and transporting or shipping it to Indiana or taking a trip up north and searching for a car in our daughter’s neighborhood. The dilemma with that lies in the fact shipping a car to her would mean she’d have transportation but no knowledge of the history. On the other hand, my going to Indiana and assisting her with the search/purchase process would then have me return to Florida; still with no understanding of how the vehicle functions.
Interestingly enough, the very next time I powered on my computer and went to the Facebook social media platform, there was a post that had been made less than ten minutes prior. An individual listed a 2012 Honda showing 138 thousand miles at a price of $1500. Thinking the Lord had answered my prayer; I immediately reached out to the seller and inquired as to her reason for selling the car. She soon responded and stated another vehicle had been purchased so there was no need for her to keep it. Upon finding out the approximate location where our daughter lives, the woman conveniently pointed to her address being in the Chicago, IL area as well.
The messaging session persisted for a full three hours with us making arrangements to have Bianca pick up the car. The seller even stated she could deliver the vehicle, which would be a four-hour round-trip drive. Oddly enough, the woman then asked me to make a $500 “refundable” deposit so I requested an address from where the vehicle could be picked up. It proved quite telling when she provided a location that couldn’t be found on the internet (thank the Lord for Google Maps) which turned out to be in Indiana after all.
What the woman attempted was to provide an address that was relatively close to the approximate location I’d given her for our daughter’s address. The scam became more evident when she continued trying to convince me of her sincerity, even stating, “I am an older Christian woman who tries to live a Godly life.” In short, I declined the option of electronically sending the deposit and advised our daughter against it as well.
Amidst all the “buffering” the woman was doing, I realized the internet is a powerful tool with the potential of opening up a world of possibilities for billions of people to explore. However, while on that journey one must exercise extreme caution as the “world wide web” has long-since been proven a breeding ground for predators of all sorts. I could be wrong but it’s just something to consider.
You can reach Howard at bg@authorbghoward.com.
