Read Me: A scam some people don't seem aware of.

[Colt45]

there has been times when stuff screwed up, and i needed cash for the bus.

im glad people helped me out when i needed it.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Although most of these people are cons, occasionally one of them is truly an innocent in need.

I was in the Dominican Republic in 1978. I had been there for two years and I had had enough of the place. I only had $75 and an airline ticket to Miami was $92. I was sitting in the coffee shop at the airport and I must have had a look on my face like the world was ending, which, when you're stuck in the Dominican Republic of 1978 and can't get out, it was. A stewardess noticed me, sat down and asked what was wrong. I told her my story and she said not to worry about it. She gave me the number of her flight to Miami and told me to be there at boarding time. She said that if there was an empty seat she would let me have it for the $75, which she would split with the pilot. Well, I showed up, everybody boarded and out she came. She asked for the money up front which made me more than a little nervous. She disappeared back into the plane and I was sure I had just been screwed royally. A couple of minutes later she emerged, waved me onboard and excorted me to a seat. Hallelujah, I was going home!

We arrived in Miami in the afternoon and I, being penniless and several thousand miles from home in Los Angeles, still had a small problem. I called home to have some money wired to me in Miami so I could buy a ticket to L.A. I hung around the Western Union office for hours waiting for the money to come. I tried calling home several times to confirm that the transaction had been made, but nobody answered. I was hungry as hell because I hadn't eaten for over 24 hours. As much as I hated doing it, I started telling people my tragic story and asking for some change to get something to eat. As I expected, most people looked at me like a pariah. With each rejection it became more difficult to ask the next person.

I'll bet you're waiting for me to tell you that some nice person finally gave me some money or bought me a sandwich. Wrong! I never got a penny from a single person. Evidently they were all cut from the same cloth that some of you are.

The money finally showed up at 7:00am the next morning. I bought a ticket and stuffed my face at the nearest cafe.

That is why I occasionally give money to panhandlers.

P.S. It isn't like I was broke. I had money in the bank at home, I just didn't have any credit cards or anyother way to access the money.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy

I'll bet you're waiting for me to tell you that some nice person finally gave me some money or bought me a sandwich. Wrong! I never got a penny from a single person. Evidently they were all cut from the same cloth that some of you are.

It's not those people's fault for not giving you any money. It's not their fault you didn't have any at the time. They owed you nothing.

It's also not their fault that they've been screwed over by people pretending to be in an actual jam like you were. The people you should be upset with are the fakers and liars who make people "cut from the same cloth" as I skeptical.

 

[Booster]

Nice story, HappyPuppy.

 

[jlee]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
My friend and I were outside Walmart when some lady came up to us asking for gas money and saying crap like "God Bless."

So my friend gives her $10. Then while we were putting the stuff we bought into my car, we see her drive off in a car that's better than my friend's car.

I hate Gainesville because you can't even get passed two red-lights without being asked for money. I really hate when I have the window closed when a charity or bum knocks on my window.

First of all, I am a college student and it would be wrong to donate my parent's money.
Second, my parents donate A LOT.
Third, if I were to donate, it would be to a group that I possitively knew was legit - and I would get a record of it. None of this throw your change in a bucket to who knows where crap.

Heh..you probably see some of the same people I do. I work at the Millhopper Publix - there's a guy who's asked for change a few times, but he usually comes in and buys hot deli food & scratch-off lotto tickets...go figure.

 

[bizmark]

yeah, this happens all the time around here. Really pisses me off too, because I genuinely feel bad when I reject them. It kind of weighs heavily on me for a half-hour or so. Fvcking pricks. The best way to handle these people, I've found, is just NEVER STOP walking, keep walking and don't stop. Once you're stopped, they'll suck you in with their tales of woe. One time I stopped to talk to a guy to hear his story, but I didn't have any money on me, and he said he'd go with me to the ATM! Man, I felt bad walking away from that poor old guy. I dwelt on that for days.

One of the BIG scams in downtown Chicago is guys who clean your shoes. If one of these guys approaches you, KEEP WALKING! They'll spray some polish on your shoes, even if you're unwilling, and then insist that you pay them for 'shining your shoes'. They seem to pick out Asians, this happened to one of my Asian friends a few years ago and he ended up giving the guy money, and just last night I was downtown with a group of friends and again one of the Asians was singled out for a shoe-shining, but we all knew the scam and kept the guy away from his shoes! He ended up getting very rude and saying "fvck you" to us as we walked away. Assholes, making a living of others' gullibility and generosity. Oh wait, sorry, I wasn't meaning to get politicians into the story

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: silverpig

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy

I'll bet you're waiting for me to tell you that some nice person finally gave me some money or bought me a sandwich. Wrong! I never got a penny from a single person. Evidently they were all cut from the same cloth that some of you are.

It's not those people's fault for not giving you any money. It's not their fault you didn't have any at the time. They owed you nothing.

It's also not their fault that they've been screwed over by people pretending to be in an actual jam like you were. The people you should be upset with are the fakers and liars who make people "cut from the same cloth" as I skeptical.

I never even implied that I was bitter that noone gave me any money. I was simply relating the facts. I learned a lesson that day.

Sometimes people get caught in circumstances that are out of their control and they could use a little help. At that time, for various reasons, I didn't have a credit card although I had money in a bank in CA that I couldn't get access to due to the day, time of day, location I was at, etc.

Stuff happens and I don't mind handing out a buck once in awhile.

 

[Martin]

reminds me of the shaky lady..

torontonians know what I'm talking about.

 

[ReiAyanami]

all u proved that u made it by yourself without any hand-me-downs from strangers, self-reliance rules, sometimes we must teach others this by not giving them anything.

um how did u get stuck in DR? were u trying to escape from dictator trujillo?

 

[N8Magic]

Originally posted by: MartyTheManiak
reminds me of the shaky lady..

torontonians know what I'm talking about.

I hear she has a really nice condo with a big screen TV. I loved when she attacked the reporter because he was ruining her "business". LOL

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: ReiAyanami
all u proved that u made it by yourself without any hand-me-downs from strangers, self-reliance rules, sometimes we must teach others this by not giving them anything.

um how did u get stuck in DR? were u trying to escape from dictator trujillo?

I could write a small book about my experiences in the DR.

Briefly, I went there in the Peace Corps, met a lot of good people and a lot of corrupt, evil politicians and landowners. The project I was working on fell through due to lack of support and after a year I quit the Corps.

I went to work as a mechanic foreman on a dam project just outside a little town called Las Matas de Farfan, not that the name would mean anything to many people. After a year of working 12/7 and witnessing more corruption, brutality and outright tyranny than I care to remember, I just had to leave. Not next week, not tomorrow, but today. Right now. This very minute.

Hence, the reason I didn't have enough money for a ticket home. All my money, except for the few dollars I elected to be paid in country, was deposited to a bank account at home.

Sometimes sh!t just happens and you have to do the best you can.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
If they REALLY need gas money do one of 2 things...

1. Tell them you have a gas can and will put some gas in there car, just ask them to point it out.
2. Tell them you will give them a ride to there house where they should have money(or drive them to a ATM)

If they really need help they will say OK, if not they will get mad

Heh heh...I've got to remember that..."I've got a gas can, just show me your car"
Though I really wouldn't trust one of these guys in my car.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Skoorb, actually what we're not telling you, is that we can spot Canadians from a mile away & all US citizens try this scam on Canadians. It's how we afford the big SUV's

 

[Lithium381]

yeah, i gave a guy two bucks once....said he needed gas money to get home....DOH!!! never again, this guy didnt' look bumish either.....

 

[LANMAN]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I've had this "scam" attempted on me, and my parents (by the same guy at different times coincedentally), and I more recently have heard it about it from other people. If you see a guy come up to you and ask you for some money - perhaps $5 or $10 for "gas", DO NOT give it to him. The first time I was approached by such a person it was for $10. He was out of money and had to make it to work. He didn't look like a bum and he was a very good actor. I went away feeling almost like a selfish cheap ass.

That is, until he tried the same scam on me a week later. I spoke to my parents about it and they actually had give him money. Scarpozzi was recounting this story that had happened to a somebody he knew (interestingly the person said no and then was later approached by the same scam arist).

Moral of this is: some times these people really look like genuine non-scuzbuckets down on their luck. If you ever see somebody on the street asking for something and it starts off with "I'm not a bum or a beggar, but - " that's a telltale sign that the person is out to scam you.

Don't fall for the gas trick! I once fell for the "bus trick" ("Hey I'm down on my luck, no money. I'm not a bum but I need some change to get home." - and yes it was a scam because 10 min later I saw him attempting it to somebody else), and regret it even now!

Alot of non profit organizations have ways of getting funds for people who need gas. (ie.. churches.. etc) but the person needing it, needs to be verified by law enforcement before the funds are given to them. (Recording purposes)

Next time tell him to go to the nearest church for help and while he/she's over there, they might as well "Get on one knee" for five minutes to ask for forgiveness on those people the ripped off in the past. :|

Just my .02,

--LANMAN

 

[WinkOsmosis]

There's a sucker born every minute.

 

[yellowperil]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
My friend and I were outside Walmart when some lady came up to us asking for gas money and saying crap like "God Bless."

So my friend gives her $10. Then while we were putting the stuff we bought into my car, we see her drive off in a car that's better than my friend's car.

I hate Gainesville because you can't even get passed two red-lights without being asked for money. I really hate when I have the window closed when a charity or bum knocks on my window.

First of all, I am a college student and it would be wrong to donate my parent's money.
Second, my parents donate A LOT.
Third, if I were to donate, it would be to a group that I possitively knew was legit - and I would get a record of it. None of this throw your change in a bucket to who knows where crap.

I know what you mean. Down University Ave. and 13th Street I used to get stopped all the time walking down there. I don't mind them as much as the "gas" scammers though. I sometimes get hit up by them in the parking lots at night.

 

On my way to work everyday I see some beggars. They vary from young looking to old looking. Most of them are men. They take turn. One person owns that spot for a period, and then someone else comes.

One day, I was going out with my mum toward the same area. Then she stopped in the middle of traffic to give money to an old lady, old enough to be a grandmother. I was amazed! It kind of surprised me that my mum did that. Not that she isn't a kind person, but the way she stopped as if moved by some force to do so. And she was very generous in how much she gave.

A couple of weeks after, I saw that same lady at the same area, but a different location . . . crossing the street toward a gas station area. I murmured: "That's the same lady!" and smiled because she was not begging this time.

I hardly carry any cash with me. Sometimes I feel bad when I see beggars, they ask for money but I don't have it. And sometimes I'm glad that I don't carry cash with me.

My sis had a terrible experience at San Francisco. They have a lot of bums there. This very young, short guy of Asian decent came to my sis. He asks her aggressively to give him money. She gave him the change she had. Next thing you knew, he complained and demanded more. She said no, she didn't have anymore (which she truly didn't) because she had so little change left and it was for the MUNI (transportation). He was really aggressive, in spite of how tall she was. . . . Luckily there were a couple of guys around. She managed to escape the crazy guy. The other guys around told her that he often did that to people and he was a dangerous guy.

 

[Jugernot]

That is why I never give money to anyone I don't know... I never pickup hitchhikers either. Yes, I'm a cheap ass, but I support a druge habit or alcoholic.

 

[Frodolives]

Over the years I've refused the vast majority of requests for $$ but there have been some occasions where I did give something. But I've become VERY hardened to most any pleas.

I've lived and worked in various capacities on 4 continents so far, and the bottom line is the same most everywhere, if people want nothing else from you they want your $$

I worked on cruise ships for years and I've never been anything like rich, but there are tons of poor people in the ports you visit that don't give a damn about that. They're out to work you over for all they can, and it's become their profession to hustle you. Does their poverty give them a valid reason to use deceit? Maybe it really does, but I no longer care, I'm pretty well convinced that it's beyond me to rescue entire populations from the needless poverty caused by corrupt governments. Deceit disgusts me in any guise.

For a number of years I contributed to a well known major charity in order to help children, and although I could be assured that people were being helped, nonetheless the charity ultimately abused my trust in no less a shabby way than if they were A.T.&T. or Compuserv.

If a guy in Manhattan is walking around dirty and in rags and asks me for $1 I'll give him $2 and don't worry about what he does with it. On the other hand, I'll never give a dime to some non-local "church charity for kids/missions/etc" that sets up outside of Walmart with neatly printed signs and people I've never seen before. We need to help others, it's sad that human nature is so selfish that it's difficult to discern who is in need.