It sounds like something from a crime thriller, but one South Carolina driver says it happened to her after dinner with her husband.
Audio By Carbonatix
Imagine you get in your car, start the engine, adjust the mirror, and notice something odd. Is that a piece of paper under your rear windshield wiper? Is it a brand-new $100 bill? What you do next might decide whether you get home or end up with your car stolen.
This is an actual situation Ann-Marie Baranofsky of South Carolina faced after a dinner date with her husband. Luckily for her, she drove home before retrieving the bill. When she took her $100 bill to the bank, she mentioned her mysterious story to the teller, who suggested she talk to the police. The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office had the following message:
“Scammers are counting on you to get out of your car once you see the fake $100 bill under your wiper blade. Once you get out of your car to retrieve it, you have allowed that person instant and easy access to your vehicle and its contents. The scammer has now turned into a carjacker. This incident is the only one reported in our jurisdiction, but everyone needs to be made aware of the possibility and protect themselves against it. There are no $100 bill fairies out there, so do not fall victim to this scam.”
— Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office isn’t alone in trying to warn drivers about this scam. TikToker Eveline Strode shared a “tips that could save your life” video that earned 237,000 likes and 3,600 comments. She said when you get into your car, “If you see a newspaper or anything in the back here, it’s because they want you to get out of your driver’s seat and come grab this.”
The danger of reaching for money under your windshield wiper
And why is she worried? “When you go to grab this, they’re going to take you. You’re in a vulnerable position. Never get out of your car if you see a newspaper, money, a piece of paper.” You can see the @Eveline.Strode video demonstrating how the trap works embedded below:
The fact-checkers at Snopes couldn’t find any confirmed cases of an attempted carjacking using a $100 bill under the windshield wiper. Snopes concluded, “There is clearly no crime wave, no ever-present danger to motorists everywhere, no flyer-armed menace lurking in the nation’s parking lots.”
I’ll add that it’s not a bad idea to be vigilant. Once you’ve started your car, unlocking the doors and getting back out does indeed leave you vulnerable. It’s never a bad idea to drive a couple of blocks before pulling over to check on anything. Snopes does offer a concrete warning: “Carjackers tend to hang around places where motorists have to stop or exit their vehicles (e.g., intersections, gas stations, car washes, ATMs, freeway on- and off-ramps) and then force the drivers out of their automobiles.”
