Box store scam watch out

[HiDelight]

You may have already encountered this..but if not this is how it goes

it happened to my husband yesterday when he and the kid who works for him were picking up some plumbing supplies at Lowes

a guy walked up to the kid he was working with as he was picking up supplies and asked "are you a contractor?" and then tried to engage him in conversation telling him how he had to return some stuff and they gave him a cash card instead of a refund but they do not have what he needs here they have it at Home Depot and "can you help a guy out" type of thing offering the card for less than what he said the value was on the card

the kiddo used his best mumble and walked off (good for him) ..just as he was telling my husband about the troll... the same guy came around the corner and right to both of them spewed the same lines "hey are you guys contractors?" not even realizing he hit the same person twice in less than two minutes!

I know a lof of us make trips to these stores way too often

so just in case you have not heard of this or seen it ..and not that I think anyone would actually fall for this ..but be aware of less than honest people trying to do what they can to make drug money ... and you are not safe even in a box store!!! LOL!!! sad part people do fall for these kind of scams and give hard earned cash away to strangers

I still wish my husband had of said "sure lets take that card to the register to see what is on it first" and see what the guy would have done!!!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Stuff like that bothers me. I think about it too much. What if he really DID need the cash for his family? But what if he was just trying to scam them? Umm...

I'm know I'm a sucker, but I would have considered it if he had carried on a conversation with me and seemed genuine. It would have depended on how much he was asking for, too, but I still would have considered.

 

[sundance]

I am NOT a nice person when someone asks for money, If they say it's for food, I usually tell them to meet us at BK or MickyDs and I will buy them a burger, but I do not give out money, most of the time I never see them again, DH says I am hardhearted, and I say No just careful in this day and time. I don't use drugs and will not help anyone that may be. marrie

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I don't give out money to people who ask for it. I give money to legitimate charities and donate items to thrift stores and relief organizations.

I'm female, and there have been many instances of women reaching into their purses for money and having their purses snatched.

It's sad, but it's the world we live in.

 

[PotterWatch]

The funny thing is is that the card was probably good. The scam part of this is that the guy goes in and shoplifts something, the comes back another time and returns it, but they don't want store credit, they want cash. They sell it for less than the actual value to someone in the parking lot and pocket the cash.

My husband actually helped to catch one of these guys once. He told the guy he was always shopping at that store and the guy said "Hey, I usually end up with some of these cards that I can't use, I'll give you my number and the next time you want a card, call me". So my husband called the store and talked to their security people. The security people called the police and they had my husband call him and set up a time to meet in the parking lot. When the guy showed up the police stopped him and found that he had about $500 worth of cards as well as some merchandise in his truck that he had no receipts for. We don't know how it turned out, but I'm hoping they managed to make some charges stick.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

Heck I hate giving deposits to CORPORATIONS and I know in the end it is going to be a huge fight as they try to tell me that they already returned it in a previous bill that it was put against, they distributed it to my first 3 months bill and will now have to "research" and get back to me or they made the billing cycles so darn complicated that no one except a lawyer with time on their hands could possibly understand the time line.

I usually end up filling a complaint with the attorney general and the corporations could care less that you have filed against them with the BBB. The attorney general gives you a few letters of acknowledgment and that is about where it goes.

The companies KNOW they can take your money with out recourse and you are left phoning them and telling them they are wrong.

It is a rare chance that we get our legal deposit back.

Century tell telephone has been the worst one yet.

 

[domino7]

So is every scam artist looking for drug money? I thought that was kind of funny, because my mother pretty much thinks every criminal is on drugs or stealing to buy drugs.
I tell her there are plenty of thieves who aren't on drugs, but she doesn't believe it.

 

[conny63malies]

I dont carry a lot of cash with me, 20 in change at the most. At home i usually dont have much either, maybe 5$ or so just enough to give the kids lunch money for the week.

 

[thechickenchick]

Quote:
Same here. I may have a few $ egg money in my purse. However it is never there long, DS usually gets it for lunch or something. I use the heck out of my debit card!

 

[Lesa]

That exact scene was played out at our Home Depot last spring. A friend of mine fell for it- it was a scam!! When he went to use the card that he paid 50.00 for- it had nothing on it! The fellow sold it as a 100.00 gift card. Be careful...