he first wanted to see that they were good Christians and had money to prove they wouldn’t steal

[NNN0LHI]

http://triblocal.com/oak-park-river-forest/2011/09/16/woman-loses-2000-in-church-donation-con/

Woman loses $2,000 in church donation con

By Jim Jaworski TribLocal reporter Today at 12:52 p.m.

A 68-year-old Broadview woman was scammed out of $2,000 by two men, including one pretending to make a large church donation, Oak Park police said Friday. snip

The three then went to the U.S. Bank at Austin and North avenues in Oak Park. The second man, still pretending to be a bystander, handed over $9,000 to the man with the accent. The woman then withdrew $2,000 and gave it to him. The man with the accent then handed over what the woman believed to be the $50,000 wrapped in a red bandana.

“When she got home, she unwrapped the bandana and found a wad of newspaper,” Reynolds said.

[enough]

1. I fear there are some levels of stupidity that cannot be protected. (nt)

[glowing]

2. So, was the woman thinking that she would just keep the $50,000

She didn't take it over to the church... She took it home. AND she didn't check the bandana wrapped "donation" before the players walked away. Seems to me this woman wasn't actually going to do the good christian thing and make the donation... AND honestly, if someone was walking around with $50,000 in cash, wanted to donate to a church, couldn't do it himself because he was leaving the country... wouldn't bells and whistles be going off in one's head? Wouldn't one wonder why a man with a foreign accent was willing to hand over $50,000 in cash to strangers? Why would anyone in their right mind do that?

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. This is such an old scam that I'm surprised it ever works.

I read about variations on this when I was a kid, back in the 60s. It was old then.

[saras]

4. This scam is older than Christianity...