If two women approach you in Target just to chitchat and get your number, its a scam

[Anonymous]

They may have just been looking for a new friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If 2 self professed church ladies approach you and you totally aren't interested, tell them you are a member of a satanic temple or a witch and they better leave you alone. That will probably be effective. Assuming they are church ladies.

Don’t ever tell that to people proselytizing. That will just encourage them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If 2 self professed church ladies approach you and you totally aren't interested, tell them you are a member of a satanic temple or a witch and they better leave you alone. That will probably be effective. Assuming they are church ladies.

Don’t ever tell that to people proselytizing. That will just encourage them.

This. You give them a firm "sorry" in passing. Don't slow down, don't stop. Just keep moving and make your tone final.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This is not MLM, this is not women looking for friends. I overheard more - I can't remember every single detail but there was more, and it was all super weird and creepy. They were very obviously targeting women shopping alone. I don't know what type of scam they were intending to pull but it clearly wasn't good. Trust me, it's not as innocent as it may sound - it felt creepy and made me feel unsafe. Also - I meant I was scared of being called a Karen - or racist- because I'm white and they were black and Asian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People still carry purses? Why?

I have almost been approached in parking lots, only for them to divert when they see I have no purse.

No purse = no cash.

I also do NOT understand the flashy purses or the flashy shoes in public in this area - my God, you people are just looking to get mugged. Don't get me started on the jewelry.

You don't have to be totally street smart, but you don't have to advertise that you are not - step one to not being approached.

This is the weirdest takeaway from this whole situation. Everyone still carries a purse...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"but I was caught off guard/trying to be polite. I was scared to come off as a "Karen" reporting people to management, but I'm glad I did "

Ok so the "Karen" thing is supposed to shame middle-aged women into silence. I'm glad you overcame your reluctance to speak up but ask you to please not perpetuate the idea that no one wants to hear what women say.

What??? The Karen thing, I meant as in a racist or just an annoying lady making a scene in public. Nothing about it being about women not talking. But - a lot of these comments are shaming those of us who have experienced this situation. Just because nothing happened, doesn't mean this isn't something bad/illegal/wrong

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to the Target in the Mosaic in Merrifield the last three weekends in a row, and twice was approached, and then saw them again today. The first time, it was two girls that looked early 20s; they came up to me and asked "hi, "what's your favorite Bible verse?" It caught me off guard - thought they were going to ask if I knew where something in the store was or whatever; I was just like "I don't know, I can't think of any sorry" and they tried asking for my phone number, claimed they were from "Faith Church" and it's all on Zoom. I declined, and walked away. I didn't really think much of it, other than thinking I should've reported it because it did make me a little uncomfortable. Then last weekend, two women who looked in their 40s, passed me in the food aisle and tried asking me about "yoga on the green" (the green lawn of the Mosaic that the Lululemon hosts - I actually have been to it) - I said no, but they have to ask Lululemon about it. I started walking away and they kept trying to ask me more questions like if I'm from here, and I just was like "take care!" and walked away. My coworkers all told me this is a scam; both of these times - they'll try to distract you and either steal from your purse or slip an Air Tag in it. Get your phone number, and scam you that way.

Anyways, those same two women in their 40s were there again today - I walked past them and recognized them immediately. They were talking to one lady who was shopping alone. I went down an aisle, and they passed me - we made eye contact but they kept going. Now I was on alert and not looking like I was browsing slowly. I continued shopping, and passed them again several times through the food aisles. They were pushing a cart around with nothing in it. At one point they stopped a lady and were talking to her; I walked by and heard them asking things like what school did she go to and "its soooo nice to meet you!". One of them was standing next to her, and the other blocking the aisle. I asked an employee near by if there were any managers I could talk to, and he directed me to guest services. I explained it to the main guy at Guest Services and he called security immediately. I returned to my shopping, all the way back to the groceries. I didn't see the women, got what I needed, and headed over to the personal care/beauty aisles - where I saw them again, they were talking to an older lady in the kitchen supplies area, on both sides of her this time, which I thought was kind of creepy. I saw a man in the security shirt walking by trying to find them, so I let him know it was them. He must have kicked them out thankfully - when I left after checking out, they were lurking outside of the Target by the doors talking angrily. I got to my car and a man was honking furiously in the car next to to me, looking like he was trying to get someone's attention.

I know this may sound harmless - but a friend of mine is a cop and said this is a very common scam. Each time, it felt really weird to me and creepy, and I was annoyed I had even responded in the first place - but I was caught off guard/trying to be polite. I was scared to come off as a "Karen" reporting people to management, but I'm glad I did and I hope they don't come back. Today, after seeing them approach THREE different women who were all shopping alone, it's very obvious what was going on and it makes me so uncomfortable in a store that I love and go to very often (I know it can happen anywhere). My coworker said this has happened to her as well, in stores like the Wegmans or the DSW nearby. Anyways - if this happens to you, please report them to the store and stay alert to your belongings!

Look, it's always good to be on guard and look out for each other. Be alert. But just maybe these were 2 church ladies or cult ladies trying to entice new members to try it out. You saw them with 3 women, but never saw them steal. You spoke to them, but they didn't rob you.

I was thinking the same thing. Nothing actually happened…

Read other comments. Other people HAVE been scammed in situations exactly like this. I was fortunate both times not to have been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to the Target in the Mosaic in Merrifield the last three weekends in a row, and twice was approached, and then saw them again today. The first time, it was two girls that looked early 20s; they came up to me and asked "hi, "what's your favorite Bible verse?" It caught me off guard - thought they were going to ask if I knew where something in the store was or whatever; I was just like "I don't know, I can't think of any sorry" and they tried asking for my phone number, claimed they were from "Faith Church" and it's all on Zoom. I declined, and walked away. I didn't really think much of it, other than thinking I should've reported it because it did make me a little uncomfortable. Then last weekend, two women who looked in their 40s, passed me in the food aisle and tried asking me about "yoga on the green" (the green lawn of the Mosaic that the Lululemon hosts - I actually have been to it) - I said no, but they have to ask Lululemon about it. I started walking away and they kept trying to ask me more questions like if I'm from here, and I just was like "take care!" and walked away. My coworkers all told me this is a scam; both of these times - they'll try to distract you and either steal from your purse or slip an Air Tag in it. Get your phone number, and scam you that way.

Anyways, those same two women in their 40s were there again today - I walked past them and recognized them immediately. They were talking to one lady who was shopping alone. I went down an aisle, and they passed me - we made eye contact but they kept going. Now I was on alert and not looking like I was browsing slowly. I continued shopping, and passed them again several times through the food aisles. They were pushing a cart around with nothing in it. At one point they stopped a lady and were talking to her; I walked by and heard them asking things like what school did she go to and "its soooo nice to meet you!". One of them was standing next to her, and the other blocking the aisle. I asked an employee near by if there were any managers I could talk to, and he directed me to guest services. I explained it to the main guy at Guest Services and he called security immediately. I returned to my shopping, all the way back to the groceries. I didn't see the women, got what I needed, and headed over to the personal care/beauty aisles - where I saw them again, they were talking to an older lady in the kitchen supplies area, on both sides of her this time, which I thought was kind of creepy. I saw a man in the security shirt walking by trying to find them, so I let him know it was them. He must have kicked them out thankfully - when I left after checking out, they were lurking outside of the Target by the doors talking angrily. I got to my car and a man was honking furiously in the car next to to me, looking like he was trying to get someone's attention.

I know this may sound harmless - but a friend of mine is a cop and said this is a very common scam. Each time, it felt really weird to me and creepy, and I was annoyed I had even responded in the first place - but I was caught off guard/trying to be polite. I was scared to come off as a "Karen" reporting people to management, but I'm glad I did and I hope they don't come back. Today, after seeing them approach THREE different women who were all shopping alone, it's very obvious what was going on and it makes me so uncomfortable in a store that I love and go to very often (I know it can happen anywhere). My coworker said this has happened to her as well, in stores like the Wegmans or the DSW nearby. Anyways - if this happens to you, please report them to the store and stay alert to your belongings!

Look, it's always good to be on guard and look out for each other. Be alert. But just maybe these were 2 church ladies or cult ladies trying to entice new members to try it out. You saw them with 3 women, but never saw them steal. You spoke to them, but they didn't rob you.

I was thinking the same thing. Nothing actually happened…

Agree. This reminds me of the posts on Facebook about people thinking kidnappers were trying to steal their children's kidneys or traffic their daughters. They were from a church or MLM. This happened to me once-the ladies were trying to sell Mary Kay. One time a realtor chatted me up like this, and another time it was a guy who was a “financial advisor”. They are essentially making cold sales calls in person and taking awhile to get to the point.

Lol the last 2 pages of us who have actually experiences this and felt threatened by it met up to organize this thread in advance. The store managers too.

Yeah, lots of people who “felt threatened”, but again, nothing ever happened!

Okaaaayyy....but if "lots of people" felt threatened, then wouldn't it stand to reason that these people were likely doing something shady or threatening? It's not like only one person said they felt threatened.

And isn't this what we are supposed to do as women if we feel threatened--elicit help, raise concerns, bring it to the Target manager's attention, etc.? Or are we supposed to just wait until something does happen?

At a minimum, Target or Wegman's (or whichever store we're talking about) doesn't want random people bothering their shoppers in the store. It's in their own best interest to remove these people if they are bothering others.

+1000000 thank you PP!

If it feels wrong, its wrong. Whether its MLM or cult activitity, it should not be happening in a Target or any store.

[Anonymous]

I think people on this forum are either very sheltered or just don't realize how much human trafficking and crime actually occurs in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people on this forum are either very sheltered or just don't realize how much human trafficking and crime actually occurs in this area.

Nobody is trafficking adult women in the laundry detergent aisle at target

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think people on this forum are either very sheltered or just don't realize how much human trafficking and crime actually occurs in this area.

Nobody is trafficking adult women in the laundry detergent aisle at target

You never know. They’re definitely scamming them though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"but I was caught off guard/trying to be polite. I was scared to come off as a "Karen" reporting people to management, but I'm glad I did "

Ok so the "Karen" thing is supposed to shame middle-aged women into silence. I'm glad you overcame your reluctance to speak up but ask you to please not perpetuate the idea that no one wants to hear what women say.

What??? The Karen thing, I meant as in a racist or just an annoying lady making a scene in public. Nothing about it being about women not talking. But - a lot of these comments are shaming those of us who have experienced this situation. Just because nothing happened, doesn't mean this isn't something bad/illegal/wrong

Well you had a legitimate concern and were afraid to speak up because G-d forbid someone might be annoyed with you. It does sound like the threat of being lumped in with THOSE annoying ladies was almost enough to intimidate you into silence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s also the target scam where poor women approach you and ask you to buy them food or something. You feel generous and then they turn around and return it all for cash. A Target employee said they return stuff all day long for cash and that they’ve done this to a lot of people. Wtf. Why wouldn’t Target shut that down?

this is impossible. target hasn't accepted returns without a receipt for YEARS! if they did, they would give a target card, not cash.

Yep I had this happen. Mil and I bought the same gift for DS. I returned mine in order to pick a new gift for him. Honestly couldn’t remember or had time to figure out which store I had bought it from. I happened to go to target the next day and brought it. 50% chance I bought from there. With no receipt, they gave me store credit. Can’t use it online. Got him a new gift with their “merchandise card” that day.

[Anonymous]

Still don’t understand how or why an air tag is used.

[Anonymous]

Which wegmans location?