Scammer Selling Fake Armani Leather Jackets Tries To Dupe Campbell Shopper

CAMPBELL (CBS SF) -- Campbell police were warning the public of a designer jacket scam that one shopper almost gave in to last week.

A man asked the shopper for directions at a Safeway grocery store parking lot at Winchester Boulevard and Budd Avenue around 1:15 p.m. last Wednesday, then started talking about his job at Italian design label Emporio Armani, police said.

The man gave the shopper a business card and said he was going back to Italy, but didn't want to pay taxes for the expensive leather jackets he had, according to police.

The shopper was alarmed after the encounter and did research that led him to learn about the scam that has been carried out nationwide and around the world, police said.

In the scam, a person will present a deal on the high-end jackets and in some cases follow the victim to an ATM to exchange cash for the merchandise, according to police.

The victim later learns the jackets weren't made of real leather, police said.

In the Campbell case, the person who approached the shopper was described as a white man in his mid-30s and standing about 5 feet 8 inches tall with short, light-colored hair, according to police.

The suspicious person was "very personable" and had a thick Italian accent, police said.

He was seen driving a newer model four-door black Jeep, police said.

Anyone who speaks with or sees the suspicious person is asked to call police at (408) 866-2101.

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