ELDER ABUSE ALERT: VICTIMS OF CRIMINAL FRAUD
I am 86 years old, my eyesight is shaky, and I have been told I have dementia. While shopping with my sister, we were aggressively lured into a skin care store at the mall. My daughter happened to call while we in the store and reminded me that I had been scammed at a similar place before. She spoke to my sister and urged us to leave immediately. We tried to exit, but the man kept offering us eye treatments and pressuring us to stay. When I told the salesperson my daughter wanted us to go, he said, "We are very nice people; we just love older women because we can make them look young again." My sister and I made it outside the door, but then a man followed us and offered me a "free facial." At first, that sounded kind, but after a disagreement with my sister, I regrettably went back with him. He took my arm and led me inside while my sister refused to return.
I had been targeted by a similar skin care scam before ("Mika" in Alla Mona Mall), which is now out of business) and am now involved in a class action lawsuit because of it. My daughter was right to tell me to leave, but the salesman's persistence made it nearly impossible to get away. He simply wouldn't take no for an answer. When my sister came back, I was being asked to sign something on what they said was an iPad and was pressured into buying the products he pushed on me. I felt overwhelmed to buy everything he recommended because he insisted nothing would work unless I bought the entire system. I can't remember how I paid--at one point, he took my wallet. I thought I had written a check, but later my daughter found the charges on my credit card. He told me it was $200. After leaving, my sister asked why I spent $2,000, but I insisted it was only $200. These people are professional thieves who prey on the older, vulnerable clients.
I took the bus to the bank and froze my account, unsure of what I had done. My daughter was away, and when she came back from Japan, she checked my American Express: there was one charge for $215.70 and another for $1,941.36, both from a big company called CLAIRE'S. The store itself was called Gratiea, a subsidary company.
The unmarked bag--with no receipt or store name--was left under my bed. I felt so ashamed. They didn't give me a receipt, saying their machine was out of paper, which I have heard is a common trick, scammers use. My daughter came to town on June 20th, made several calls, and even visited the mall. Because of my memory problems, I couldn't tell if the store was a pop-up scam or had simply disappeared. No one ever called us back, even after promising a manager would return our called. These are the actions of criminals hiding from their victims.
I left a message stating I was disputing the charge and filing a complaint with the BBB. I offered to return the products but never got a response. We tried for 4 days to call the manager, and each time they took our number and said someone would call us back.
These people are predators who deliberately target elderly women. This is the second time I've been scammed--once for $2,157.06 and before that for more than $7,000. I am so ashamed that I couldn't protect myself from these criminals.
My daughter recognized the laser and products I had been sold before. This time, most containers were half empty, and none of the products lived up to the promises. It's a total scam. These people, and their parent company CLAIRE, are fraudsters who should be shut down and prosecuted. What kind of people make a living by stealing from the elderly? Because of them, I'm no longer allowed to go out alone. This experience has robbed me of my freedom, and I'm devastated by how aggressively I was targeted. It has truly ruined my independence. read more
