HAMILTON — HAMILTON - The Boxxe Shoppe in Hamilton is no stranger to packages coming in and out, but with the help of its operator, the local shop has taken on a new role of catching scammers.
For the lady who runs The Boxxe Shoppe, Christine Staub, business means more than printing labels and building boxes- it’s about community.
So when an elderly woman walked in one day confused, asking Staub to overnight a package without a signature, to someone she didn’t know and a location she was unfamiliar with, Staub knew something was wrong. So she exercised her right to search the package.
“I have to go through the motions, take her money, create labels, do all that, let her go," Staub told MTN News. "And then I called a doctor friend of mine as a witness and we opened up the packages.”
Staub shared with MTN News what she found when she opened the package, "a bundle of $10,000 and another envelope with the $5,600 in it,” said Staub, as she showed MTN News photos of the findings.
A total of nearly $16,000 was found within multiple packages. A clear indicator that this Hamilton community member was boxed up in a scam.
This isn’t Staub’s first run-in with scammers. She has been able to catch over $60,000 worth of community members' money, before it is to never be seen again.
It’s a trend she says has increased over her 10 years of running The Boxxe Shoppe, so she has some thoughts on these scammers.
“You couldn't put that on TV," Staub said when asked how she would describe scammers targeting the elderly community.
Staub’s actions don’t go unrecognized.
In March Staub was awarded a “Certification of Appreciation” by the city of Hamilton and Hamilton Police Department for what she says is “just doing the right thing.”
“It was just really nice to be acknowledged, I mean I'm humbled and overwhelmed," said Staub. “I would hope anybody would do it.”
As for this scam victim's story, after Staub called the police, they were able to give back the roughly $16,000.