SCAMMED - lesson learnt :(

ZenUK

this thread reminds me of the film "Falling down" starring Michael Douglas
See YouTube link for short clip

Amber_Sunshine

There's a guy in Barcelona who sits looking wretched with a sign saying 'Please help me, I was robbed'. He must be the unluckiest guy ever, as I've lived here a few years and saw him when I first arrived, must get robbed on a regular basis ...

Then there are the Romanians who wander around with a paper cup begging. Funny thing is they appear with spring and disappear as winter arrives.

I've no doubt there are people in genuine need, but those mentioned above aren't among them ...

trukdiver

Back in the early nineties I was a post graduate student on income support. Alliance and Leicester had an offer where you got a voucher for Burger King with every ATM withdrawal. I used to pay my giro in and then withdraw it £10 at a time to get the vouchers then pay the cash back in (and repeat the process...). One day, somebody came up to me and wanted money for "something to eat". I gave him vouchers for a burger, chips and a cup of coffee and he refused them! Maybe he was a vegan beggar?

annasoper

Wayne3765 wrote: »

Ahh , all this chat about beggars and homeless people..... reminds me of the time I won a tidy sum on the lottery and gave my homeless brother a new home.

It was the box from my new 65" TV.

Laughed for 5 long minutes reading this post! :rotfl:

frequent

Few years ago sitting in car outside Brixton tube station, young lady approaches me says she is homeless and hungry, was about 10pm and pretty cold, so like a good chap i pop into the local store and buy her sandwich,chocolate,crisps and hot chocolate, return to her sitting in floor under her blanket, gave her goods and a few £.

Waited for friend to arrive on tube, when he got there he told me he see's her everyday pulling the same stunt.

Needless to say I felt like a complete numpty pillock for being so dumb,
wasn't made any better when she approached another guy and I noticed her shinny brand new Nike trainers.:mad:

qetu1357

tenmah wrote: »

I am a single parent and some years ago had saved up some money to take my daughter to London for a birthday treat. At Liverpool St station we ran into one of these scammers who said he needed money to get home and his mum was at home and could verify him. He gave me a number to call to get the money returned the next day. I can't remember the full details but I gave him £10 to help him get home

I phoned the number the next day and the lady (who might or might not have been in on the scam) said that she had received lots of phone calls and she didn't know him.

What was most annoying was that my daughter had £10 less to spend that day and it has coloured my feelings towards helping people in that way in the future.

Hindsight is a great thing but at the time I just thought I was doing someone a good deed

It's the battle I face.

Would you rather be cynical or naive?

One of the worst I've seen is in our local hospital car park.

"My wife is having a baby/my son is ill/my dad is dying and I need money for the car park".

Happened to a relative who described the man to others and four other people had met the same person in the same car park over a few months.

Now either he is the world's unluckiest guy or he is turning us all into disbeliving cynics.

Crisp_£_note

Did you not even get the coat before he walked off ?! lol

arcon5

I think we should all be cynical in this day and age -- but that doesn't necessarily mean giving them money. As others have said, buy them the ticket, top up their phone, pay for a few quid of petrol.

I also think its wise and would not consider it unpolite to question their story to ensure it is real. If it is fake you will spot this quite easily.

'I've just nipped to the postbox and run out of petrol, need to go to my grandma's 20 miles away to get the spare, can I have a few quid?'
'Oh right, how unfortunate. Where abouts do you live?'
'Where abouts (in __) do your grandparents live, I know that area?'
'What bike do you ride and how fast does it go? You had it long?'

You will soon filter through the scammers.

You can be both nice and wise.