A woman thought she had stumbled upon riches. Instead, she was scammed out of $2,000 by some convincing con artists.
The Wisconsin woman, who has not revealed her identity, thought she found a wallet with $150,000 in it. She was walking through a parking lot when a woman called out to her. The woman asked her if she dropped anything and showed her a fat wallet stuffed with cash, Fox News reported.
“It was brown and it almost looked like the size of a brick,” said the victim to Fox 6 Now.
A third woman arrived, and they said they were going to split the money three ways. The woman who first picked up the wallet said she worked at First Weber Realty and would get the money counted on a machine inside her office. She also said her boss could get paperwork drawn up to keep the money legally.
The trio drove there and the woman went inside the office, later coming back with news that there was $150,000 in the wallet.
At that point, the woman said that all three of them had to come up with some cash to show that they would be able to handle to be financially responsible. They drove to a local credit union. “I walked to the bank and withdrew the money,” said the victim.
They all went back to First Weber Realty, seemingly to get the withdrawn money counted, but when it was the victim’s turn to go in, the two scammers fled with her money, and First Weber said they didn’t know the women.
She spent three hours with them, thinking she would come out richer than before. Local police said they never heard of the scam. But such a scam is minor compared to those troubling the southern parts of the country.
Bigger and more devious scams are plaguing disaster-stricken Texas. Those seeking to help the situation are advised to investigate the charities they are giving to, so that hundreds of thousands of dollars don’t go towards fake charities, which happened after Hurricane Sandy.
According to NPR, people seeking to donate should be cautious about charities that are created specifically for one hurricane or other disaster. Reputable, well-known organizations are more trustworthy. The gofundme.com crowdfunding site is also taking steps to inform people of how they can identify reputable organizations that they would like to donate to through the online platform.
They also recommend not giving cash directly, and to be wary of clicking on emails that ask for donations, as they could be from computer hackers, and might install malware if you click on suspicious links or download anything.
From NTD.tv
