Young mothers are being warned about a grocery store parking-lot scam that drains thousands of dollars from people’s bank accounts.
Authorities are telling residents of Charleston, South Carolina, not to listen to the people approaching them in parking lots claiming to be raising money for an urgent cause, such as a funeral or medical expenses, as they are actually scammers.
Police say these scammers are particularly preying on young mothers with children, as they see them as emotionally vulnerable and therefore more open to making a donation when told they’d be giving to a good cause, according to a new report.
In a warning sent out to the public, the Charleston Police Department (CPD) said: “Scammers are approaching victims and asking for donations for funeral or medical expenses. They claim they can’t accept cash and instead use a mobile card reader to process a “tap to pay” donation, in some cases withdrawing thousands of dollars from victims’ accounts.”
Sergeant Chris Stinson, CPD Public Information Officer told The Independent: "The investigation consists of three separate incidents that occurred in 3 different grocery store parking lots between February 19th and February 20th of this year.”
He said that CPD have heard reports about a similar incident that occurred in a nearby jurisdiction, and are still working on confirming the details.
“No arrests have been made at this time,” said Stinson. “We believe that the incidents perpetrated in Charleston were planned and organised by the same group. “
Stinson’s advice to the public is to “remain aware of your surroundings, and call police immediately to report suspicious activity. If something seems off, it probably is."
Grocery store parking lots are an ideal location for scams such as this one, according to authorities, as they are chaotic places where people are less likely to take the time to see how much they are actually being charged before tapping their card to the reader.
Additionally, people are trying to move on with their day and are willing to “donate” to end the encounter with the person asking for money.
According to the police, victims have said they agreed to give small sums of money, but then ended up realising that up to tens of thousands of dollars were taken from their accounts without them noticing. It is unclear at this time what this money is actually going towards.
CPD is now teaming up with local churches, neighbourhood associations, and civic groups to train people on how to avoid this and other scams. They have asked people to reach out to SpeakToCPD@charleston-sc.gov to schedule a session with the police at their local community hub to learn how to stay safe from these scammers.
This is not the only store-based scam that has occurred recently in South Carolina.
Social media users joked about the 12th arrest of South Carolina boutique store owner Pamela Brooke Schronce on Wednesday, after she was charged with obtaining property under false pretenses, valued at less than $2,000.
She was previously accused by customers of taking money for orders and never delivering their goods. Social media users say they now have enough mugshots of Schronce to make a calendar.
