A Walgreens employee recognized a scam this week and saved a Stafford resident from a $500 theft. The employee, Sheena Sullivan, was awarded a Sheriff’s Recognition Coin from Sheriff D.P. Decatur this morning.

On April 20th Deputy A.M. Cooper responded to the Walgreens at 50 White Oak Road for a fraud. The employee, Ms. Sullivan, was assisting a customer with the purchase of a $500 gift card. Ms. Sullivan noticed the customer was confused about how to send the gift card and who the gift card was for. The customer went on to say she had won a Publisher’s Clearinghouse prize of 3 million dollars. The investigation revealed the scam artist called the victim on the phone and convinced her to go to the store and purchase the gift card. The scam artist explained the victim would receive her reward after she provided him the gift card number.

Ms. Sullivan explained to the customer this seemed to be a fraud and contacted the Sheriff’s Office. Thanks to the great work of Ms. Sullivan, the victim did not lose any money. Ms. Sullivan was quick to point out her training at Walgreens stressed the need to be observant for scams.

Deputy Cooper has not been able to identify the scammer at this time, but the victim has been assisted with information to set up fraud alerts on her accounts. Thank you to Walgreens and Ms. Sullivan for being great community partners in the fight against fraud. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.