TULSA — If someone needs help on the side of the road, it's normal for a Good Samaritan to want to assist them.
Now, you might need to be more cautious when extending a helping hand.
Abby Alhlou of Abby's Jewelry says that it is common to see fake jewelry in this line of work, but this year it's worse than it's ever been.
One day last week she had eight people come into her store attempting to sell fake jewelry. It was then that they found out they were scammed.
“For me it’s easy, for the individual, I don’t think it’s an easy job to find out if it’s real or not,” Alhlou said.
Alhlou has owned Abby's Jewelry for years. In that time, she's never seen this many people coming to her with the same type of fake jewelry.
She thinks some people are going around scamming other folks with sympathetic stories to take their money.
"From China, it is 50 cents a piece, and the people give them money because they tell them someone stole my wallet and I need to go back, I am from out of town.”
The store manager says there are a few tips you can look for if something like this happens to you.
“A lot of times, the coloring is off, so gold should never show copper under it. Sometimes the coloring is off, especially on the rings,” Noor Alhlou, the store manager, said.
A native Tulsan named Gary Kirk said he would never purchase anything on the street.
“Nobody sells anything that is worth $14,000 for that low. Even a jeweler will give you $1,000 for something that is worth $14,000,” Kirk said.
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