Somebody is trying to fraudulently capitalize on the popularity of the Benton Harbor Tigers Football Team and the good name of the Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor. They've been scamming unsuspecting customers of Fairplain Plaza businesses in Benton Charter Township with a bogus fundraising appeal on behalf of one or both of those entities.
The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department has been made aware of several young males, aged 16 to 22 years old, well-dressed and friendly approaching customers in the parking lots of the Fair Plain Plaza Shopping Center including outside of TJ Maxx, Target, and Kohl’s.
The young men say they are selling candy bars to raise money for the Benton Harbor Football Team and/or The Boys and Girls Club. They will sometimes say they don’t have change or can’t make change and it looks better if they receive bigger donations.
Some of the victims of the scam thought that was suspicious and reported it to the Sheriff’s Department. Berrien County Crime Prevention Coordinator Deputy Kelly Laesch says that once her department was made aware of the sales pitch, they contacted the Benton Harbor High School and The Boys and Girls Club and neither said they were doing any fundraising and both organizations advised deputies that such fundraising is not the their practice or any manner in which they would work to raise funds.
Deputies said they made contact with one individual who advised the con artists travel in groups from Indiana and have been coming to the area on and off for the last several months. The Sheriff's Department has asked us to help make the public aware of this scam especially with the holiday season at hand.
Authorities ask you to please stay alert and report any suspicious person or activity to store personnel and/or the police immediately.
