Be warned, precious metal collectors of Toronto: Grocery store parking lots are not great places to purchase fine jewellery from.

A local woman learned this (quite obvious, one would think) lesson the hard way last week, according to CTV News, after dropping a whopping $1,000 on what she thought were real gold rings and chains.

Josephine Brilliantes says she was approached by a woman she did not know in a parking lot near Dufferin Street and Eglinton Avenue West on December 9.

The stranger told Brilliantes that she was "out of gas" and that she desperately needed money to travel home. You know, tale as old as time.

I remember someone trying to sell me a home speaker system while I was pumping gas. He then offered to go to an ATM with me. I told him my account was empty. He still tried to persuade me.

— Cmokie (@Cmokie1) December 19, 2019

Instead of simply begging for cash, the woman offered to sell Brilliantes a bunch of "gold" jewellery that she claimed came from her family business. She even went so far as to show off photos of the jewellery being made.

"When I saw the 18-karat symbol on a ring I thought it was real gold," said Brilliantes to CTV. "She said she really needed the cash and she would give me all the jewellery she had for $1,000."

In an attempt to help the woman out and potentially get a lot of expensive jewellery on the cheap, Brilliantes hit up an ATM for $1,000, prompting the woman to hug and kiss her before handing over what turned out to be brass jewellery and fleeing the area.

She buys gold in a parking lot from someone she doesn't know, and then is surprised when she finds out it is fake. Ummm buyer beware?

— Dan Kelly (@golferdanno) December 19, 2019

When Brilliantes brought the items to a jewellery store for appraisal, she learned the hard truth — and was told that this exact scam is carried out in Toronto all the time.

"The lady told me it's not gold, it's brass," said Brilliantes to CTV. "She said that every week people are coming in to her store to show they also bought that kind of jewellery."

Ouch. 

"A Toronto woman says she feels shaken after learning that the hundreds of dollars’ worth of gold jewellery she bought from a person at a parking lot turned out fake." 😐 pic.twitter.com/GM5Rx2ddnB

— Jonathan Leigh (@jonathan_leigh) December 19, 2019

Brilliantes reported the incident to police but still feels embarrassed and says she's less likely to trust people in the future.

Many on Twitter are reacting to the story today to say that she probably shouldn't have given so much money to a random stranger in a parking lot to begin with, regardless of her charitable intentions.

"Can't believe some people are so gullible and so stupid," commented one person in response to the store. "Who buys gold being sold in a parking lot? Just saying... you could tell the gold jewellery was fake and cheap."

"What is this world coming to when you can even trust people selling gold out of a trunk in the parking anymore?" joked another. "#seemslegit."

There's a saying, "You can't scam an honest person". She bought gold IN A PARKING LOT, probably at what she assumed was a significant discount. Perhaps believing it was stolen. She got exactly what would be expected out of that situation.

— Candy SupportHongKong Truong 🇨🇦 🇺🇸 (@CandyTruong0122) December 19, 2019

Others feel sorry for the scam victim... kind of.

While one feels sorry for her I am reminded of a classic quote:

A fool and their money are soon parted.

— ancientpeas (@ancientpeas) December 19, 2019

Most of the hundreds of people talking about this story on Twitter right now are simply finding humour in the situation, as Canadians are wont to do.

pic.twitter.com/C84ua5Fub9

— Matt Reinhart (@reinhart19) December 19, 2019

"Her next purchase, new socks from homeless man under the bridge," joked one Twitter user.

"I'm starting to think the guy who gave me a prostate exam in the mall parking lot wasn't really a doctor," wrote another.

"I am selling Genuine Bitecoin downtown Montreal at an old phone booth tonight from 6-7pm," wrote one person in response to the story. "Short supply just before the holidays so be first in line."