Authorities have warned the public about a potential holiday scam that involves the temptation of a $100 bill left on a car windshield.

The simple scheme works like this: Drivers walk to their parked cars and, after they get in the vehicle, they notice a $100 bill in the windshield. The driver exits the car with the door open to retrieve it, only to have a thief steal the vehicle.

It’s easy to see how a person can fall for this scam. Most folks would immediately jump out of their car if they saw a $100 bill tucked under the windshield wiper. That’s when the scammers move in – they’re hoping that you’ve left the keys in the ignition, and from there it’s easy for them to drive off into the sunset.

If you have young children strapped in their car seats, it could be the last time you ever see them! This exact scenario almost happened to one St. Louis, Missouri woman and her little boy.

Kyri Vieham was lucky that she hadn’t noticed the easy money that was hiding in plain sight under her car windshield. She had just finished up a large shopping trip and had both a little boy and shopping bags to contend with. She was a typical mom who was distracted with having to wrestle a toddler into his car seat and making sure all the bags were actually inside the car – not sitting on the pavement!

It wasn’t until she was on the freeway that she noticed something weird on her windshield. She was astonished to discover that it was actually a $100 bill!

Kyri posted the following story on her Facebook page:
“I pulled over to the side of the road to retrieve this miracle money that came into my life at the perfect time. The bill was placed under the wipers where you had to get out of your car, walk around front, and grab it (you could not just roll down your window).”

However, what she had hoped was a windfall actually turned out to be a bad joke, or so she thought at the time. When she opened it up, it read something to the effect of “ha ha, you thought this was real, didn’t you?”

When Kyri got home, she was still curious about what had happened, and decided to conduct a bit of research on the internet.

“The person who placed the money on your car is usually in a car right next to yours. Once you step around the front of your car, they jump into the drivers seat and take off. Luckily, I didn’t see this “bill” until I was already driving down the highway, and no one was around when I pulled over.”
When she read more and more about what she had soon come to realize was a scam, the luckier she felt to be alive! She was very close to becoming entangled in a very dangerous situation. Plus, her toddler son could have been a potential victim as well!

“I am grateful I did not see the bill initially or my car, with my son inside, could have been taken. Someone was definitely watching over us at that moment.”

In this case, Kyri and her son got very lucky. However, she wants everyone to know how important it is to be aware of your surroundings! It’s also okay to ask a store employee to walk you to your car if you’re feeling uncomfortable.

There are a couple other scams involving drivers in parking lots of which Straughn wants the public to be aware.

"With the fact that the holidays are coming up and more shopping, we believe this is something that could occur in this period of time," she said.

According to Straughn, other schemes involve scammers approaching a car owner in a parking lot, asking if they can help repair a vehicle's "ding or dent" for an amount such as $200.

After the scammer completes the job, one of two things can occur: The owner will drive away and realize days later the shoddy job, such as peeling paint.

"They drive away and you can’t catch them," Straughn said. "This is something that’s more common in our [suburban] area, particularly with holiday shopping."

In other cases, the scammer will dispute the agreed amount and demand a larger sum, such as $2,000.

"One scammer went as far as to drive the individual to the bank," she said, adding the incident was reported to the police and the thief was caught.

Learn more about the $100 bill scam in the video below.

source:ABC News