A resident, who lives on the Lone Butte – Horse Lake Cutoff Road, received a surprise visit around 7:30 p.m. last Saturday.
He heard his dog barking, looked out the front window and saw four teenage girls approaching the door.
He greeted the girls, who had painted hearts on their faces and pink hair, at the door and then they “began their story and play acting.”
Preferring to remain anonymous in case there are problems later, he says they told him they were raising money for a classmate who is dying from cancer.
“As I asked them a few questions, the girl who was doing the talking was speaking very quietly, so I could hardly hear her, and the younger girl, whose face was covered with her hair, rested her head on the talker’s shoulder and began bawling. You could tell she was faking it.”
Noting he asked them to come back the next day, he says the girls told him they couldn’t because they needed to hand the money in that night.
“That’s when I knew for sure it was a scam. Although, I’m generally suspicious of such things, if it was genuine I would have given them some money.”
As he continued the questioning, the girls decided it was time to leave, and started walking towards their vehicle with its lights on and idling down his long driveway.
Noting his dog followed the girls down the driveway, he walked down to fetch it, but didn’t see the vehicle’s licence plate.
He phoned both Peter Skene Ogden Secondary and 100 Mile Junior Secondary on Monday morning to check on the girls’ story.
He was told there were no students suffering from cancer at the schools and it wouldn’t be the way the students would be involved in a fundraising campaign.
Next, he contacted the RCMP and was told the police couldn’t help without a licence plate number.
While he didn’t fall for the scam, he wanted to let people know about his experience, so they’re aware of the issue.
