Philadelphia DA: beware thieves and shopping scams

The holidays are near and Philadelphia’s District Attorney says along with new toys, there are new schemes to separate you from your money and gifts. 

District Attorney Seth Williams says unfortunately, every year people fall victim to “too good to be true” offers on the streets and in a mall parking lots.

“Don’t buy electronics from strangers who approach you in a parking lot,” said Williams. “This sounds too silly to be true, it’s always a scam always. Some crooks are so sophisticated they have learned how to re-wrap packages in plastic so an unopened iPad is just a box with notepads inside to weight it down or a television box with bricks inside.”

Williams urges people to remember basic precautions when parking a car on a shopping trip.

“After you make purchases do not leave the mall, leave the business district and go to the car and place the bags, the gifts that you just purchased on the front seat on the back seat and then return to the mall,” added Williams.

Williams says there are more electronic scams than in person ones, so be careful which online sites you give credit card information to.