Someone I started dating recently asked me to hold £5k cash for him while he travels abroad - Scam?

moneysaver

eskbanker said:

moneysaver said:

The OP already mentioned in the first post, Cash in hand, that seems like evidence to me Unless the OP is telling lies.

I'm not questioning what OP has been told, I'm just highlighting that on the face of it it's nothing like enough to go to the police with.

moneysaver said:
As for "These type of people coming over here"  You are trying to twist my words into something they are not. If you read my post & in brackets it's about not paying their way in the UK.  I have paid all my taxes due for over 40yrs & do not appreciate your insinuations.

I do not mind anyone coming to the UK as long as when they work it is legitimate.

  if you feel that's significant, although for completeness it should be noted that OP's friend is here as a student.

I don't know why you keep mentioning the police on my posts, I have never mentioned them.

As for being a student, that is fine as long as when they work they also pay the taxes that are due. I have no problems with that.

Moneysaver

masonic

moneysaver said:

I don't know why you keep mentioning the police on my posts, I have never mentioned them.

Here is the exchange up to the point you interjected:

tebbins: "This is all extremely, extremely dodgy, I would get him out of your life immediately and call the police."

eskbanker: "While most on here are suspicious about a wad of cash and the other red flags, what evidence is there of an actual crime being committed?"

You: "Cash in hand, not paying tax or NI, the last time I remember is a crime..."

Farrella

Just to clarify, he says he definitely will never ask me to put the money in an account and I wil never ever do that even if he asks.  And he can never sue me if I lose the money.  I'm of course suspicious (my suspicion is he got this cash from this sugarmummy before I met him..he's definitely not a drug dealer or anything like that, he's a bit of a square in fact....other than the sugarmummy but I have heard of a few model type guys doing this and I know a few student girls who are "subsidised" by older men), but if I never have to put this money in the bank then so far the only bad scenario I can think of is he owes someone some money and they come after me.   Which can be enough for me to say no!

His classes have been remote due to covid, this is what has allowed him to be in the UK during school year.  Covid has meant students don't have to go to class.

masonic

Farrella said:

His classes have been remote due to covid, this is what has allowed him to be in the UK during school year.  Covid has meant students don't have to go to class.

So he is not a student in the UK, but merely visiting and working here during a time he'd be otherwise in class in a different country?

Farrella said:

but if I never have to put this money in the bank then so far the only bad scenario I can think of is he owes someone some money and they come after me.   Which can be enough for me to say no!

If this money is the proceeds of working in the UK unlawfully, and it is starting to sound like it is, then potentially anyone who knows the situation would know you'd be holding it in cash and they could mug you for the money knowing full well you couldn't report the theft to the police.

prowla

Having £5k in cash isn't implicitly an indication of nefarious activities, as it could be from sale of 2nd-hand items, though not in this particular case.

If it is from income, then the police wouldn't be interested, as it's a matter for HMRC; however, they'd be unlikely to go after a £5k win with someone who presumably doesn't even have an NI number and the amount is under the tax threshold anyway.

But it still sounds a bit squiffy and, I've been trying to work out what the scam could be.

Maybe the trick is the OP holds the £5k cash for the "student", the OP then gets robbed of the £5k, the "student" then asks for their £5k back as it was all in good faith and not their fault that the OP was robbed, etc.

Section62

prowla said:

But it still sounds a bit squiffy and, I've been trying to work out what the scam could be.

Maybe the trick is the OP holds the £5k cash for the "student", the OP then gets robbed of the £5k, the "student" then asks for their £5k back as it was all in good faith and not their fault that the OP was robbed, etc.

I think with each additional drip of information the situation becomes simpler to understand....

If he is not a student in the UK then he won't have a student visa allowing him to work a limited number of hours, as was speculated earlier in the thread.

He therefore can't lawfully earn money whilst in the UK, but he now wants to leave the UK with an unspecified (though large) sum of cash.  He can't risk carrying it all out of the UK in one go, so is asking the OP to hold some of it for him.  Then the next step - despite the promises given - is for him to ask the OP to electronically transfer the cash to wherever he goes to next.

We could guess at the broken promises the guy made to the "sugarmummy" the OP now thinks is the source of (some of) the cash.  If another woman has been misled into giving him money, the OP would be unwise to imagine for one second that this guy is honest and trustworthy and won't be doing the same thing to her in due course.

The advice remains the same.  Run.  Now.

Malthusian

Just to clarify, he says he definitely will never ask me to put the money in an account and I wil never ever do that even if he asks.

Just to clarify, what crooks who are trying to ensare you in some sort of money laundering exercise or scam say doesn't matter. They can talk BS until the cows come home.

  And he can never sue me if I lose the money. 

If you give someone £5,000 to "look after" and they lose it, there are only two scenarios in which you can't sue them.

1) It's not to "look after" but a free, unconditional gift. (Clearly not applicable here)

2) You can't go to the courts because you are a crook.

I'm of course suspicious

Not suspicious enough to have walked away even though we're now on page 7 of nothing but people telling you to do exactly that. Can he breathe through his ears or something?

Daliah

OP seems to attract people who don't have UK bank accounts, need to deal in cash, and are leaving the UK..

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75786543/#Comment_75786543

IamWood

Daliah said:

OP seems to attract people who don't have UK bank accounts, need to deal in cash, and are leaving the UK..

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/75786543/#Comment_75786543

Or just make fun of us?

tebbins

To clarify my earlier point, I think calling the police is sensible for 2 reasons.
1. Whatever the dodgy side of the scan is, there may be a potential risk to the OPs physical safety.
2. If the dodgy part of what's going on is a crime, calling the police to explain may help the OP avoid potential consequences of her involvement.