Beware of Parking Lot Scammers While Out Holiday Shopping

A situation happened to my husband and I Friday afternoon at Walmart, and although it was completely ridiculous, it taught me a very valuable lesson that I think is important to share.

On Friday afternoon around 4 p.m., my husband and I were leaving the East State Walmart after doing some holiday shopping. We were parked over by the garden center entrance, and the parking lot was not that busy. My husband just began backing our van out of the parking space when we heard a large thump. We were slightly panicked and were confused when we heard it because our van is equipped with a rearview camera that beeps when you are getting too close to an object behind you. There was no beeping when the thump occurred...

My husband immediately stopped the car and looked out the rear view mirror before opening the car door, and he saw a man crouched down near the back side of our car. Please note this man was not laying on the ground...he was not screaming...he immediately stood up when my husband opened the door and said: "Man, you just broke my knee" and immediately asked if we had insurance. When my husband said yes, the man wanted our insurance information to which my husband said, "nope, let's just call the cops".

The man said all this while standing there perfectly fine and then proceeds to WALK to the edge of our car to "show" my husband where our car "hit his knee". This is where it gets ridiculous...

All that my husband saw were 4 fingerprints from where this man had hit our car with his hand... He quickly pointed this out to the man, called his bluff, and again said, "let's call the cops right now".

Want to guess what happened next? The man said AS HE WAS WALKING AWAY, "I'm calling the cops right now..."

You go do that, dude. Good luck.

The point of me sharing this story with you is this...

We are fully convinced this man's target was really me. I am the one that walked the cart to the carousel while my husband loaded our packages and got in the van. I'm willing to bet he didn't see my husband and thought, "I can totally make a sucker of this woman in the minivan". Truth is, he probably would have.

If I had been alone when this happened, I would have probably panicked and just given the man my information just to get him away from me.

Be safe, be aware, and be smart my friends. People tend to be even more desperate during the holiday season and may try just about anything for some extra cash.