DUNWOODY, Ga. — Dunwoody Police are warning the public after a woman got suckered into a card game, she thought she was an instant natural at, only to take $10,000 out of her bank account to play and quickly lose.
It happened at Perimeter Mall. Dunwoody Police described the game to be a similar version of three-card monte, the infamous street card scam.
The way three-card monte works, in theory, is the dealer shows you a card, then mixes it around with two others. If you can still guess the card after the mixing, you win.
However, the idea behind the scam is that the dealer makes it look really easy to win with the help of co-conspirators "playing" for show, before drawing you in to play yourself with a big bet. Once you're in, the dealer will manipulate the next game so that you're guaranteed to lose, then pack it up and walk away with your money.
Dunwoody Police describe a version of this happening to an unsuspecting woman recently at the mall, though with a stronger-than-usual enticement to get the victim to start watching the game.
According to DPD:
The victim informed officers that an unknown female approached her and told her she was playing a card game for money and asked the victim to witness the game so she ‘would not be taken advantage of.’ The female told the victim she would pay her $200 for her assistance. The female took the victim to a table where she saw a male playing a three-card game. The victim said the bets approached $30,000 and she realized she was picking the right card each time.
At that point, the dealer asked her if she wanted in. Encouraged by her success in spotting the "money" card in the previous games, she agreed.
The catch was that the dealer wanted her to put down $10,000 "to show good faith on her bet for $30,000."
"The victim then drove to the bank and withdrew the $10,000. She returned to the mall and met with the dealer who set up the cards," Dunwoody Police said.
You can guess what happened next: The dealer ran the game, the victim chose the wrong card, and then he "grabbed the envelope with the $10,000 and walked away."
And that was that.
It doesn't appear the woman was able to recover any of her money. According to Dunwoody Police, it's not the first time someone has been scammed from this kind of game at Perimeter Mall.
The department warns: "If you are ever approached by a random person asking if you would like to make some money, simply say 'No, thank you' and walk away."
