Scam alert

I just wanted to let you know about a scam attempt in Manchester yesterday.  A group calling themselves SRI or America's Youth was approaching several businesses in town and soliciting donations on behalf of the schools.  They claimed they were printing anti-drug folders to deliver to students free of charge and needed donations to cover the expense.

A business member alerted us and told the solicitor that they were doing so.  She also called the police, but by the time they arrived the car had left the area.  Someone claiming to be with the company then called us.  This person was very verbally aggressive on the phone.  He faxed us a copy of what appeared to be a contract signed by our secretary agreeing to distribute the free folders.  (We believe this document was forged).  He then threatened litigation, claiming that Nike and Apple donated funds to these folders and that their attorneys would sue us for breach of contract.  I of course informed him that our secretary does not have the legal authority to sign contracts so it was not valid, and he got more and more insulting and aggressive.  ("I have you on tape", "you are going to get sued", "our attorneys will be in touch", "it's not my fault your employees don't  know their place", "I can't believe you are a superintendent", etc.).  Prior to this conversation he acted in a similar manner with our secretary, obviously hoping that she would be afraid of getting in trouble and not tell us.  Of course, she called us immediately, so he decided to try again with me.

We later found out that he told our business leaders that another business in town had referred him, which was a blatant lie (the person he claimed referred him was actually out of town on vacation for the last week).

Our Chamber of Commerce quickly sent an email blast to members telling them not to contribute any funds, so I don't believe anyone lost money.

I thought you might want to know this so you can warn your business community as well.   The address given to us was in Florida, and the Better Business Bureau there is well aware of this group and has had numerous complaints.  We plan to file a complaint with the Iowa Attorney General.