Strangers asking me to buy train ticket outside station/ticket counters

atenolol

I live in Burnham (berkshire) and travel regularly to London for work. I have recently come across people in Slough/Burham giving XYZ reasons and asking me to buy train ticket. They dont ask for money. Is this scam ? or are they genuine or just trying to get intot the station /train for doing naughty/illegal things ? 

born_again

Maybe not a scam, but certainly something to report to transport police or local station staff.

marcia_

 I wouldn't buy them. Some may be genuine, others will go straight in and try and get a refund. Either way its begging and needs reporting 

elsien

Most likely to be a scam.

Eldi_Dos

I was once in Girona train station when a thirty something scruffy type approached me for to help buy a ticket to Santiago de Compostela, when I declined his english was suddenly much improved and he used language that you would not expect from a Pilgrim.

OP, if you did buy a ticket with your card and they were caught doing anything illegal on the network, that could be traced back to you.

Neil49

atenolol said:

I live in Burnham (berkshire) and travel regularly to London for work. I have recently come across people in Slough/Burham giving XYZ reasons and asking me to buy train ticket. They dont ask for money. Is this scam ? or are they genuine or just trying to get intot the station /train for doing naughty/illegal things ? 

I don't understand. So you are saying that they are asking you to buy a ticket but they don't ask for money.

So what do they ask you for? 

prowla

Neil49 said:

atenolol said:

I live in Burnham (berkshire) and travel regularly to London for work. I have recently come across people in Slough/Burham giving XYZ reasons and asking me to buy train ticket. They dont ask for money. Is this scam ? or are they genuine or just trying to get intot the station /train for doing naughty/illegal things ? 

I don't understand. So you are saying that they are asking you to buy a ticket but they don't ask for money.

So what do they ask you for? 

As per other comments, they can then go and ask for a refund for the ticket.

rollingmoon

Like chuggers and other street annoyances, ignore them.

Herzlos

I'm not sure if they are trying to sell you a ticket or buy a ticket from you. 

I haven't got public transport much recently, but it used to be pretty common to trade all day bus/subway tickets at the barriers though usually not for money. For example, someone who is done with the subway for the day may offer their ticket to someone coming in, the former getting a warm fuzzy feeling and the latter a free ride. 

But if they are waiting outside to ask people coming out it's more likely to be someone trying to gain access to the station for some reason.  Maybe to get to toilets, maybe to pickpocket if it's busy. But if your gut says it seems odd I'd ignore them entirely and not engage. 

Okell

Neil49 said:

atenolol said:

I live in Burnham (berkshire) and travel regularly to London for work. I have recently come across people in Slough/Burham giving XYZ reasons and asking me to buy train ticket. They dont ask for money. Is this scam ? or are they genuine or just trying to get intot the station /train for doing naughty/illegal things ? 

I don't understand. So you are saying that they are asking you to buy a ticket but they don't ask for money.

So what do they ask you for? 

I didn't understand at first either because the thread title is unclear.

I thought the title meant that people outside the station were trying to get the OP to buy tickets from them.  What I think the OP actually means is that people outside the station were trying to get him to buy tickets for them.  How he then gets paid for those tickets he hasn't explained.

Herzlos said:

I'm not sure if they are trying to sell you a ticket or buy a ticket from you...

Exactly.  It's as clear as mud.

mtc95

I could be wrong but my interpretation is that the people were asking him/her to buy - and pay for - a ticket for them.  I imagine they feel that people are more likely to respond to that as opposed to begging for money directly.  Especially if they backed it up say with a story about needing to visit a sick relative, or wanting to go for a job interview.

As Marcia said, once you hand over the ticket they may then just get it refunded later to get the cash.