SHOPPERS have been warned to beware after police received multiple reports of thieves scamming people at store checkouts in Illinois.
Marion County police officers issued the alert on Friday after an uptick in scams was reported over the last two weeks.
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Police also released photos of two of the suspected thieves wearing baseball caps.
The scam affects shoppers using self-checkout kiosks at large retail stores, according to ABC affiliate WSIL.
The criminals rely on an old scam to make a few bucks, often targeting senior citizens, police said.
They hang out around self-checkout at big stores and watch older shoppers put in the PIN code, according to victim reports given to police.
Then they distract the customer by telling them that they have dropped a $20 bill so that the thief can steal the card and quickly leave the store.
“On one occasion, the suspect followed the shopper out to their vehicle and attempted to use the ‘money on the ground’ ruse,” police said in a press release.
The suspects reportedly speak English and Russian.
Shoppers have been advised to check their surroundings before entering their PIN and call the police immediately if they think they have been scammed.
SCAMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Scams are popping up in more and more headlines, and no wonder — they are costing consumers over $1 billion a year, according to the FBI.
Thieves often target victims at large stores, banks, or online accounts with stolen information that can convince people to trust them.
Several people have lost money in a new phishing scheme using QR codes over the last year.
Scammers place a fake QR code over a legitimate one, and customers end up clicking and logging into bogus websites that steal their data.
One driver reportedly had their account drained of $16,000 after using a fake QR code to pay for a parking spot.
An Arizona woman lost $35,000 earlier this year by clicking on an email she thought was from McAfee, the online security company.
When Connie Seddon called the number to receive a refund for a charge they had said they made, she was roped into a scheme that convinced her to withdraw thousands in cash and transfer it into a Bitcoin account.
It was a hijacking, and extremely scary to be so gullible, so trusting.
Connie Seddon
“I was devastated,” Seddon said.
“All the emotions you feel when you do something stupid. It was a hijacking, and extremely scary to be so gullible, so trusting.”
While a Reddit user recently got tricked out of $1,000 in a hiring scam that could have cost them even more.
The victim said they interviewed and were quickly hired for a job before being told they would need to receive equipment to complete the onboarding process.
They were reportedly told that they would receive a check for $4,900 to purchase the equipment, which they quickly deposited in the bank.
Worrying that it might be a scam, the user called the bank to confirm that the check went through — and they said it did.
So when the “employer” asked them to send $1,000 to another account to facilitate the equipment purchase, they did it.
But when the scammer asked them to send another $3,700, they stalled and pressed the bank to look into the matter.
The bank ultimately discovered that the check was indeed fraudulent and requested that the victim pay back the entire $4,900 — including the missing $1,000.
They said the bank refused to consider the scam a fraudulent withdrawal and comp the money.
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