A funny thing happened on my way out of CVS the other day. The cashier recognized me as the editor of TippNews and said “I have some info that you need to share”.
Apparently there has been a number of senior citizens who have been coming into CVS in October who have wanted to send large sums of money through Western Union to people they do not know in Nigeria. I asked how large and she replied, “the guy last week wanted to send $4,000 to some woman in Nigeria that he did not know and I discouraged him from doing it”.
Apparently the stories these seniors receive by regular mail or by email are very intense, requesting money for a complicated surgery for their daughter .. Asking for cash to send them a suitcase containing millions in return..
While many of us are familiar with these Nigerian scams over email, many seniors are naieve of this new form of international thuggery. These messages prey on those seniors who want to give someone a good shake, or receive “free money”.
The Tipp City CVS cashier said that she personally discouraged 4 seniors from sending cash to Nigeria. Just imagine the busier CVS locations where employees may do nothing but send the cash as the customer requested.
Kudos go out to the CVS employee who understood the power of word of mouth news, and kudos to the CVS team that we have here in Tipp who are looking out for our seniors.
How about you? What do you think you can do to help educate seniors and discourage them from sending money to strangers in foreign countries? I’d like to hear your ideas!
