CHICO — Come with me and you’ll see candy bars of pure imagination.
Remember when Grandpa Joe laid around in bed for years being waited on hand and foot only to spring out of his blankets with the energy of a caffeinated 7-year-old the moment there was a chance at winning money? Well, I have a scam even worse than that this week.
It seems there’s been an uptick in fake candy bar scams this year which have been circulating throughout the various news outlets. In this case, folks are posing as representatives of the Boys and Girls Club trying to sell candy to people but really just taking their money and bailing. No chocolate, no golden ticket.
Funny enough, I Googled this scam to find some information and discovered the Enterprise-Record had reports of this scam going back to 2011. This is Veruca-level greed at this point.
Even the Boys and Girls Club has put out warnings on the matter saying that this has become commonplace every year.
I don’t want to spook anyone out of helping out local causes, but always try to check for verification, and if you aren’t totally sure, don’t put any money into it. Trust your gut. The scamberries taste like scamberries, if you will.
Side note, the alternative lede for this column would have been “If you are wise, you’ll listen to me,” but it was just barely beaten out. Not beaten out enough, however, to not shamelessly mention it right here at the end and toot my own horn.
Stay safe out there folks.
Scam of the Week generally runs every Tuesday. Readers are welcome to contact reporter Jake Hutchison to report scams and potential scams they have come in contact with by calling 828-1329 or via email at [email protected].
