Police in Clarkstown, New York are warning citizens of a new scam in which people are receiving telephone calls purporting to be from Sears with offers of tremendous discounts on the purchase of a television.  The intended victim is told to go to a nearby Sears store where they are greeted at the entrance of the store by the person who called them.  He is dressed as a Sears employee and even is wearing a phony Sears name tag.  Upon paying the phony Sears employee, the victim is given a receipt and is told to wait while the scammer goes into the store to retrieve the television.  That is the last that the victim ever sees of both his money and the phony Sears employee.

TIPS

Although this scam is being reported in New York, similar scams are going on throughout the country.  Some people trust the original phone call because, in some instances, Caller ID indicates that the call is indeed coming from Sears, however, unfortunately, through a technique called “spoofing,” Caller ID can be fooled to make it appear that the call is coming from a legitimate source when in truth it is not.

No Sears or other retailer will have employees meet you at the door to their store seeking you out, so you should also be skeptical of that aspect of the scam.  In addition, as always, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  If you have any thought that such an offer might be legitimate, you should call the customer service office of the company at a number that you know is legitimate before you take a trip to a store to lose your money.