0:00
It's your lucky day. You're so lucky.
0:03
You're full of luck. It's your lucky
0:05
No, it wasn't Sarah's lucky day. It was
0:08
a setup for a classic $20 distraction
0:11
scam. And by the time it was over,
0:14
thousands had vanished from her bank
0:15
account and her daughters.
0:17
And this is the Ralphs I usually come
0:20
On Wednesday, April 16th, Sarah went to
0:22
Ralph's grocery store on Satakoy Street
0:24
and Louise Avenue in Vanise. As she was
0:27
using her debit card to pay, a stranger
0:30
approached her and said
0:31
that I dropped $20 and I said, "No, I
0:34
don't think I did." And I was putting my
0:37
pin into the machine and he came much
0:40
closer to me and was kind of pushing the
0:42
$20 into my wallet. You need to back up.
0:46
It all happened in a matter of seconds.
0:50
and I'm like, "No, this is yours. This
0:53
isn't mine." As Sarah walked back to her
0:55
car, the same man, now joined by a
0:58
woman, followed her again, insisting
1:00
she'd take the $20. They continued to
1:05
I knew it wasn't mine. The reason I was
1:07
getting cash back was cuz all I had was
1:09
Sarah left the parking lot feeling weird
1:12
about the encounter. She checked her
1:14
wallet to see if maybe they had taken
1:16
any of her cash. They hadn't, but
1:18
something else was missing.
1:19
My heart sank because my debit card
1:21
wasn't there. Within 30 minutes, the
1:23
scammers made multiple withdrawals at
1:25
Chase Bank several miles away. In total,
1:28
nearly $5,000 was taken from Sarah's
1:31
account and her daughter Jennifer's two
1:33
because their accounts are linked.
1:35
My money is gone and I had just gotten
1:37
paid, you know, and and I'm a teacher. I
1:40
don't make a lot of money. I really
1:41
don't. And what I make goes to the
1:44
things I need and and we can't cover
1:47
that right now. So, it's it's hard to
1:49
know that someone can take what you have
1:53
Jennifer filed a police report and
1:55
shared the story online. She was stunned
1:58
by the response. One after another,
2:00
people commented the same thing had
2:03
happened to them or their loved ones.
2:06
It's a huge violation and you know, I
2:09
just feel I mean like I'm looking over
2:11
my shoulder everywhere I go. It just is
2:14
horrible. Unfortunately, the description
2:16
of the suspects is too vague and
2:17
security footage has not yet been
2:19
released. If you have been a victim of a
2:22
similar scam or you know anything about
2:24
this case, contact the LAPD.
