May 20, 2008 11:46 am US/Eastern
Old 'Flim-Flam' Scam Continues To Victimize Locals
BURLINGTON (WBZ) ―
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A Sears surveillance video shows a man believed to be involved in a May 3 overstock scam at the Burlington Mall.
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Burlington police are trying to crack a decades-old scam that people continue to fall victim to.
The latest cases of the scam have been happening at the Burlington Mall where a man dressed as a Sears employee promises to deliver to the victims a deal on plasma TVs, telling them that the store has an overflow of the expensive merchandise.
The scam artist tells the people to meet him outside the Sears store where the victims then hand over cash and watch the man disappear inside the store, supposedly to get the merchandise. But the man makes a run for it and disappears with the money.
This scam has happened at least seven times since March 27, Burlington police said, and has been happening off and on throughout New England for decades.
Police have arrested a 35-year-old Woburn man in connection with several of what police call "Flim-Flam" scams.
Police say the victims are contacted via telephone and asked if they want to purchase overstock plasma televisions from Sears. The scam artist provides a counterfeit Sears receipt to the unsuspecting victims in return for cash. According to police, the man then tells the victims to wait by the Sears loading dock before he disappears inside the store and never returns.
A Sears surveillance video camera captured images of one suspect during a scam on May 5. Police said the suspect was thought to have been driving a white Ford Explorer.
A different man was later arrested during a routine traffic stop while driving the Explorer, police said.
Officers said the suspect, whose name has not been released, was found with a Sears uniform inside the Explorer as well as a fake metal handgun and about $2,800 in cash.
Police believe more people are involved in the scam and the investigation is ongoing. The surveillance images show a 38-year-old Somerville man, who police say is just one player in the Flim-Flam larcenies.
Similar scams have also taken place at the Natick mall, including one that happened in December.
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In some cases, victims have lost thousands of dollars to the scam artists, police said. And there may be more victims that chose not to come forward.
Police said the scam has been going on for about 40 years and often involves a cold call to business owners who think they are getting a good deal from the store.
Police said they believe the Burlington Sears scammers may also be connected with incidents in Peabody and Braintree. In Braintree, a
Rhode Island man lost $3,500 in a similar plasma TV scam two years ago.
Anyone with information about those involved in the scam or anyone who has been a victim that has not come forward is asked is contact Burlington police detectives at 781-505-4956 ext. 4956.
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