One of Christmas’ best traditions is “Elf on the Shelf.” It’s a fun holiday game where a small toy elf is placed in various locations and positions around the home, reminding the kids that Santa’s elves are always watching to see if they’re naughty or nice.
There’s one person who is definitely on Santa’s naughty list. Police are investigating a fraudulent scheme in which a Facebook user allegedly targets neighborhood Facebook groups to advertise Elf on the Shelf Kits for sale. However, reportedly the kits are never delivered once the money is collected.
The person in the Facebook profile poses as a woman in the local area. So far, more than 700 members of a Facebook group claim to have been defrauded by the same individual.
Fox 26 reported that Jessica Holloway of Montgomery, Texas, was one of the victims. She saw the ad for the Christmas-themed kit in her neighborhood Facebook group. Holloway paid a forty-dollar deposit for the kit but couldn’t contact the seller when it was time to collect her kit.
“You stole Christmas, you kind of stole a little tiny piece of my Christmas joy,” said Jessica. “To find out someone who is looking to almost do harm in a way is in that group, where you’re looking for a neighbor to befriend is scary.”
Jennifer McCoy of Houston, a mother of two, gave the same Facebook profile twenty-five dollars for an Elf on the Shelf kit and never received it.
“She told everybody she just moved to the neighborhood… I think on our neighborhood Facebook pages or moms groups we feel like somebody’s in there because they answered a couple [of] questions right and we automatically trust them,” said McCoy.
Most of the victims of the scam paid between twenty and fifty dollars for the kits, but given the number of people scammed, the suspect could have pocketed as much as $20,000 or more.
Local authorities have gotten involved and sent messages to the Facebook profile of the alleged scammer, alerting whoever is behind it that they are being investigated. Pearland police also sent out a scam alert searching for others who may be victims of the Elf on the Shelf rip-off.
If you or someone you know has been affected by this scam, you should contact Houston police at (713) 308-0935 and leave a detailed message.
