WEBVTT - How can a valet rip you off?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from house stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>We're Smart Happens. I am Marshall Brain with today's question,

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<v Speaker 1>how can a valet rip you off at a valet

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<v Speaker 1>parking facility? Now, let me first admit that, generally speaking,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not the kind of person who would use a valet,

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<v Speaker 1>and neither is my wife Lee. Where the kinds of

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<v Speaker 1>people who park a half mile away and walk because

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<v Speaker 1>we're fat and we want to get the exercise. But

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<v Speaker 1>if you are the kind of person who uses a valet,

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<v Speaker 1>this post is for you, and we should admit that

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<v Speaker 1>valets seem to becoming more and more popular. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>you now see them at the mall, at most restaurants

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<v Speaker 1>that are not of a fast food sort, at hospitals,

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<v Speaker 1>you know they're They're pretty common now. The first and

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<v Speaker 1>most obvious way to get scammed by a valet is

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<v Speaker 1>to have the valet take something out of your car

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<v Speaker 1>or out of your trunk, because you're given the guy

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<v Speaker 1>your car and the keys to the trunk, and if

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<v Speaker 1>you've left anything in there, their obvious targets. So your

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<v Speaker 1>first line of defense is to not leave things in

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<v Speaker 1>your car, or if you do, to have a mental

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<v Speaker 1>catalog or better yet, a picture of those things, so

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<v Speaker 1>that if something turns up missing, you're able to recognize

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<v Speaker 1>it immediately and confront the valet service and get your

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<v Speaker 1>rightem back. But that kind of stuff is pretty mundane

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<v Speaker 1>these days, and the reason why this post showed up

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<v Speaker 1>in the blog is because of two far more interesting scams.

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<v Speaker 1>The first was the fake valet scam, and it came

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<v Speaker 1>to light because a woman showed up at a hospital

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<v Speaker 1>in Massachusetts and a man in a uniform came up

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<v Speaker 1>to her and offered to park her car as a valet,

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<v Speaker 1>So she handed him her keys and proceeded into the hospital,

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<v Speaker 1>and it turned out that that hospital didn't offer valet service.

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<v Speaker 1>He was just a rand a person who then stole

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<v Speaker 1>her car and drove away. So the lesson to learn

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<v Speaker 1>here is that there can be people who masquerade as

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<v Speaker 1>valets and you need to protect yourself against that. So

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<v Speaker 1>how do you protect yourself In almost all cases where

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<v Speaker 1>it's a real valet, there are going to be three

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<v Speaker 1>things in evidence. First, there's gonna be some signage identifying

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<v Speaker 1>the availability of valet parking. Second, there's gonna be some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of kiosk or podium or something with a lock

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<v Speaker 1>box where the keys are stored. And third, there's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>be official looking tickets that will be given to you

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<v Speaker 1>so that you can later retrieve your keys and your car.

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<v Speaker 1>If those three things aren't in evidence, then that's a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty good indication that this is a fake valet that

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<v Speaker 1>you're dealing with. The other reason that this post appeared

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<v Speaker 1>in the blog is because of an amazing video that

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<v Speaker 1>showed an interesting valet scam. And the scam worked like this.

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<v Speaker 1>You pulled up at a restaurant that did have a

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<v Speaker 1>legitimate valet service, but one of the valets was uh,

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<v Speaker 1>well head converted over to the dark side. Let's say,

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<v Speaker 1>so the valet would come up to your car, take

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<v Speaker 1>your keys, and then say, hey, we're doing a drawing.

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<v Speaker 1>Would you like to enter in this drawing? And you'd

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<v Speaker 1>say sure, you know, for a free car wash or

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<v Speaker 1>dinner or money. Most people would enter a contest. So

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<v Speaker 1>then he would just ask you for your address so

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<v Speaker 1>that he could put it on the raffle ticket. And

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<v Speaker 1>at that moment, you have handed a valet your key

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<v Speaker 1>chain normally which has your house key on it, and

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<v Speaker 1>your car, and now the valet knows your address. And

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<v Speaker 1>he simply proceeds to your address and either with the

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<v Speaker 1>garage door opener in your car or with the key

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<v Speaker 1>that you've handed him, he walks into your house and

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<v Speaker 1>has his way with it. And this, you've got to admit,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a pretty innovative scheme, and it's also going to

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<v Speaker 1>be hard to track, and it's also pretty depressing to

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<v Speaker 1>get home and find all your stuff gune. So the

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<v Speaker 1>moral of this story is give a valet only your

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<v Speaker 1>car key, and if you're asked for the address, do

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<v Speaker 1>not release it, and probably you should not have your

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<v Speaker 1>address in evidence inside your car. This whole garage door

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<v Speaker 1>opener thing is actually a pretty significant security problem. If

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<v Speaker 1>someone gets ahold of your car and knows your address

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<v Speaker 1>and there's a garage door opener in your car, then

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<v Speaker 1>unless you're locking the door into the house, which a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of people don't, you've just left your house open

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<v Speaker 1>to anybody to walk in once they have your car

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<v Speaker 1>and your car key. And if they can't get into

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<v Speaker 1>your house, they can still get into your garage and

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<v Speaker 1>there may be a lot of valuable stuff in there.

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<v Speaker 1>So maybe you want to take your garage door opener

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<v Speaker 1>out of your car as you hand your car over

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<v Speaker 1>to a valet, or you may want to do what

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<v Speaker 1>I'm doing, which is parked the car yourself and walk

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<v Speaker 1>to the place, because there's a lot less risk of

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<v Speaker 1>deft in that case. Be sure to check out our

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<v Speaker 1>new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how Stuff

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