$100 Bill on Your Windshield: Gift or Hoax?

Could a $100 bill tucked under your car’s windshield wiper be too good to be true?

Yes.

Officials with the Maryland Attorney General’s office warn residents not to fall for the scam, which targets holiday shoppers.

Karen Straughn, who heads the state’s new consumer protection office in Prince George’s County, told WTOP the $100 trick could be dangerous.

“You come out to your car and you notice there’s a $100 bill under your windshield wiper. And people go to get out of their car to get the $100 bill and get carjacked,” Straughn told the news station.

Straughn said a resident at a public information safety session in Baltimore County, told her of one such incident, but she has not seen a police report about the case.

Another ploy targeting people in busy parking lots was reported recently in Baltimore County. Officials say a suspect yelled for help in a mall parking lot, then tried to grab the potential victim.

A more common scam police across the state have seen has suspects approaching car owners in a parking lot to ask if they can help repair a vehicle’s ding or dent, reports WJLA TV. Often, the scammer asks for only a small amount of money, such as $200.

After the work is done the driver often finds it was done poorly, with peeling paint or other problems. Or, the suspect will demand more money for the shoddy work, up to a thousand dollars or more.

“They drive away and you can’t catch them,” Straughn told the ABC station.

»Screenshot from WJLA TV of $100 bill scam