heads up new car jack ploy???

[sgser]

Subject: FW: warning from Police



Just last weekend on Friday night we parked in a public parking area. As we drove away I noticed a sticker on the rear window of the car. When I took it off after I got home, it was a receipt for gas. Luckily my friend told me not to stop as it could be someone waiting for me to get out of the car. Then we received this email yesterday:


'WARNING FROM POLICE

BEWARE OF PAPER ON THE BACK WINDOW OF YOUR VEHICLE--NEW WAY TO DO CAR JACKINGS (NOT A JOKE)'

Heads up everyone! Please, keep this circulating... You walk across the parking lot, unlock your car and get inside. You start the engine and shift into Reverse. When you look into the rearview mirror to back out of your parking space, you notice a piece of paper stuck to the middle of the rear window. So, you shift into Park, unlock your doors, and jump out of your car to remove that paper (or whatever it is) that is obstructing your view. When you reach the back of your car, that is when the carjackers appear out of nowhere, jump into your car and take off. They practically mow you down as they speed off in your car.

And guess what, ladies? I bet your purse is still in the car. So now the carjacker has your car, your home address, your money, and your keys. Your home and your whole identity are now compromised!

BEWARE OF THIS NEW SCHEME THAT IS NOW BEING USED.

If you see a piece of paper stuck to your back window, just drive away. Remove the paper later. And be thankful that you read this e-mail. I hope you will forward this to frien d s and family, especially to women. A purse contains all kinds of personal information and identification documents, and you certainly do NOT want this to fall into the wrong hands.

William S. Conlon
Safety/Security Coordinator
Lackawanna County Health Care Center
Sturges Road
Olyphant, Penna. 18447
570-489-4811 ext5388
conlonw@lackawannacounty.org
wildbill2117@comcast.net

[shefearsnothing]

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/carjack.asp

[Damage control]

Thanks rep sent.

DC

[Brown-Bear]

Not sure why its gead towards women in general but, it sounds like good advice. I try to show these types of things to my anti friends, so they can see the criminals really are quite adept at getting what they want, so they can get guns despite the laws.

Dave

[Tootie]

Just ducky. Luckily I don't think that they would want me car cause it's older, but this is a good thing to know. Oh and 1 more reason for women not to carry in a purse.

[ThomasJ]

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/carjack.asp

"(NOT A JOKE)" was the dead giveaway.

[sgser]

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/carjack.asp

Got what I posted as an e-mail this A.M., ostensibly sent by a judge (Vito Geroulo) to a relative. Put it in the "For Whatever it's Worth," box.

I wondered about it, sort of like that headlight flashing thing a few years ago, hence the ???? in the thread title. But, the signature, William S. Conlon Safety/Security Coordinator
Lackawanna County Health Care Center with contact info led me to place some credence on the ploy. Admittedly, I did not verify anything at all.

Nonetheless, I personally won't get out of my car to check anything until I have left the immediate area. And, when I showed the e-mail to my wife, she added it to the mental list of cautions she maintains.

Even if Snopes does not have confirmation of this technique for carjacking, I will keep it in mind.

The Snopes report, by the way, is almost a year old and might just be behind the times, at least here in PA. I also wonder if the Snopes report might not have been the playbook for this thing and has been picked up for use by our more larcenous brethren.

Anyway, while skepticism is fine, a word to the wise about being cautious never hurt.

Thanks for keeping me honest

[noofus]

This does bring up a very good point: Most people are entirely unaware of their surroundings.

This might be a joke/hoax but it plays off the fear that many people have when they realize "gee I dont pay attention in the parking lot"

We all should be checking our surroundings as we approach our cars - doubly so in crowded parking lots and even more so at night. Carry a flash light? Useful here.

Dont let your guard down just because you are about to get into your car...

[762xIan]

All my cars are stick shift....so the odds are in my favor they can't drive it anyway.

[shefearsnothing]

I didn't post the snopes link to say "hey you're wrong buddy!" or anything of that nature. Just more like saying "well it has never been confirmed". I also hate when people circulate unfounded things like this via email (I know it will NEVER cease) because it's just like handing out ideas to criminals who haven't already thought of a way to prey on the unsuspecting. It is certainly a good thing to keep in mind as far as being aware and I learn new things all the time about the way the criminal mind works and ways I could be undermined in a moment's notice without even realizing it. No harm in posting it at all. I am always looking stuff like this up on snopes though because I have a friend who is ALWAYS sending me fwds like this via email. I know she means well but I bet I get at least 6 week from her and most of them are unfounded. I don't like to live in fear or paranoia, you know? I do believe in being aware of my surroundings and trying to prepare myself for the worse care scenario before I leave (within reason....have a friend who is a little out of hand....she always leaves with no less then a cooler full of 3 days of food for her entire family if she's going more then an hour away....never mind that they have AAA..and I am NOT exaggerating....WISH I WAS!) to go anywhere more then just a quick trip to the store etc. Anything can happen. Of course, whatever is SUPPOSED to happen is GOING to catch up with me eventually, I truly believe this so I have been working on trying to retrain my brain as far as trying to control my outcome so to speak. That's just my personal belief though and I don't believe if imposing it on anyone else. Anyway, I would have posted more then just the link earlier but things were a little nuts around here this morning and I was just back and forth...