Technology helps jewelry scams
tadams@nationaljeweler.com
Go to Google.com and enter the search terms "scam," "jeweler" and "consumer." The results will include page after page of information to help consumers avoid scams conjured up by less than scrupulous jewelers, but where are the articles to help jewelers avoid the growing number of consumer scams?
The evolution of technology certainly makes it easier for trustworthy, business-savvy jewelers to fall prey to consumer hoaxes. Recently, a man admitted to using his laptop to manufacture a certified cashier's check from Wells Fargo, which he allegedly used to purchase a $16,000 ring, the New York Post reported.
According to the newspaper, the counterfeiter, who posed as a member of a federal terrorism task force, told a sales clerk at British jeweler Asprey on Madison Avenue in New York City that he was bound for Iraq the very same night and wanted to get engaged before leaving. In actuality, he pawned the ring for several thousand dollars.
Printers and scanners have introduced new and creative ways to pull off crimes. But according to Allbusiness.com, there is good news about the largest group of retail scams—return fraud. The Web site's recent article on retail fraud reports that Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation, said that 64 percent of consumers did not make one single return last year.
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