SAN DIEGO, Tx — During this Holiday Season, there are so many people spreading good, but there are some who are exploiting the Holiday spirit.
In San Diego, a woman received a piece of mail that could have made this Holiday Season a nightmare, and now she wants others to be aware.
"In this envelope, I received a letter, and I received a check,” said Viviana Saenz.
Saenz was excited when she got what she thought was a letter from the Frito Lay Company.
"You automatically see the check, and it's a blessing. You find out it's a scam,” she said.
But the excitement soon ended. The letter arrived on Thursday, Dec. 19th. It had all the markings, making Saenz think it was actually from Frito Lay.
Inside the letter was a check for just over $3,400.
"You receive this, and you're 'Oh My God.' Everyone's hurting. You have the elderly people — like me — or the mothers that don't have,” Saenz said.
The letter instructed Saenz to send the company $500 to get her vehicle wrapped with an advertisement. She would get to keep what was left.
“I, actually, started investigating,” Saenz said.
She contacted the bank named on the check, and that’s when she discovered it was a scam.
The 69-year-old works for the county and is a city council member. But she also has a husband with cancer, and they have bills.
Sadly, many others have fallen victim to scams like this one.
According to Forbes, American consumers lost 10 billion dollars in scams in 2023.
"It's important to me because we can all fall for a scam. It's important. I could've been a victim,” Saenz said.
She went onto her social media platform to warn others.
She said, “Hopefully, I can save some people.”
Scammers are taking the generosity that our neighbors have with the Holidays, hoping to deceive them. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
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