Advice to amateurs.

[rivka]

"I am stranded in your city for a variety of hard-luck reasons, and need gas/busfare to get home" is a common scam, and for good reason. If you tell a good story and ask for a small, plausible amount of money, people are likely to believe you.

However, for this scam to work it is important to pay attention to the details.

Yes, it is indeed frustrating when the person you stop to ask for money tries to direct you to a place where you can receive aid and services instead of giving you cash. However, in rejecting these referrals, remember that you are claiming to be from out of town. You should probably not display an encyclopedic knowledge of Baltimore social service agencies.

Also, if you're going to use HIV as the centerpiece of your hard-luck story? Try not to stop someone who works in an HIV clinic. She will have unfortunate questions for you.

(NB: I do give money to people on the street from time to time. But not if I feel like they're trying to scam me.)

Comments

[telerib.livejournal.com]

I had a guy hit me up for bus fare at a strip mall in College Park. All I had, change-wise, was a nickle, but I gave it to him, because I could totally see a college student (or other late teens/early 20s) dude new to the area forgetting to check for return fare, or not grab a bus transfer ticket (back when they still issued those).

A week later, same mall, same dude, same scam. I asked him, "You still haven't caught that bus back?"

"Huh?"

"You asked me for bus fare last week, too."

He mumbled an apology and moved on.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Recently I was asked for bus fare by a guy and when I gave him a bus card with nearly 14 bucks on it (for the time being I get 'em free). Afterwards it sure looked like he was still panhandling ...

I've also caused a guy selling ASL finger-spelling cards in a coffee shop (that's sometimes a scam) to RUNNOUTTAVERYFAST from a coffee shop 'cuz I started to sign to him.

I was with Peg Kerr, and had to turn to her and say, "O-kaay, lemme explain what just happened..."

[ckd]

I can't claim anywhere near as amusing an experience with that sort of con, though when I encountered it I also wound up running the list of "here are non-monetary ways I can help you" vs "here are the excuses I can think up really really fast".

Best part: this was in Harvard Square, and the plea was for money for the T to the commuter rail to a cab, because her sister had been in a car accident. "Billerica? Okay, let me call the Billerica PD for you to see what her status is and if they can help you out once you get there." FAIL.

[adrian-turtle.livejournal.com]

Harvard Square has a fair percentage of people who have barely even *heard* of Billerica, beyond seeing the name on the MBTA map on the wall of the subway station. As Minnehaha says, the scam works if the victim falls for it, through inattention or ignorance.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had a woman tear into me once because when she started telling me about how she and her kids had been driving all night, running away from her violent husband, I pulled out the business card of a local minister and offered to phone him so he could connect her with services and support, rather than handing her the money I'd just taken out of the ATM.

I felt worst for the kids, watching their mother lie to people and then refuse actual help.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

"However, for this scam to work it is important to pay attention to the details."

Actually, that's not true. For this scam to work, it is important that the victims not pay attention to details. Luckily, a high enough percentage do not.

Scams are all about the percentages.

B

[rivka.livejournal.com]

That's true. What he should have done was cut the conversation short and move on, either when I started suggesting multiple agencies or when I didn't seem horrified by the mention of HIV. Instead he tried to up the stakes by claiming to have just been diagnosed that day. Which is where the facts quickly tripped him up.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The marginal cost of keeping the story up is probably worth it. Even if you get to the point where you give him money just to make him go away, he wins.

These scams frustrate me, because they harm people who are really in need.

B

[carbonel]

On the other hand...

Several years ago, I was in England for two events, one in Birmingham and one in Leicester. It turned out to be considerably less expensive to buy a return ticket from London to Birmingham and another from Birmingham to Leicester than to buy the three legs individually -- and there was no discount for a circle fare.

When it came time to return from Leicester to London, someone offered me a direct ticket that he wasn't planning on using, so I didn't have to return via Birmingham. At the Leicester station, a young man accosted me, asking for money for a ticket to Birmingham. I boggled for a second -- this seemed way too unlikely -- then I pulled out the ticket to Birmingham that I wasn't using, and offered it to him, since if he was telling the truth, it was exactly what he needed. His face lit up, so either he was telling the truth or was a good actor. It was a very satisfying bit of serendipity.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Excellent.

B

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Wow! He must have thought you were his guardian angel.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

Sometimes it's true, though; a couple of nights ago I had someone come up and ask me for a couple of dollars for a quart of oil, so they could get home. While it seemed like a potential setup for a scam (set up at the gas station, open the hood, ask for money), it didn't vibe like it from the guy, so I went "2 dollars for me, not really a big loss if they actually want it for smokes, for them, significant if they avoid being stuck at this gas station at night" and gave him the money.

I went back to pumping, still slightly cynical, but lo and behold one of them disappeared into the little gas station shop and emerged with a quart of oil. I don't know if they managed to get the car going or not (it was turning over but failing to start as I left), but I was glad I went with my instincts about the guy rather than my learned cynicism about such pleas.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I would be significantly more likely to believe someone who was asking for money for oil, just because of the likelihood that the person they were asking might open up their trunk and hand them a bottle of oil instead of the cash.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

People respond much more to a specific request than a general request. People who solicit for charities are trained to ask for specific amounts of money for specific projects; they get better responses that way.

B

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

The closest I've come recently to giving money to someone was to a guy who wasn't even pitching a hard luck story, although he was soliciting from a street median and looked down on his luck. His sign read "Wife and kid kidnapped by ninjas -- need money for karate lessons." Traffic started moving before he got to me, or I would have given him something, for originality if nothing else.

My son once ran and gave his entire twenty dollars from his eighth grade graduation present to a homeless man in front of a Walgreen's who asked me for a dollar so he could get something to eat. It was a beautiful, generous, caring gesture, in the sort of way we are trying to teach, that I didn't have the heart to discuss with him the fact that it was often better to direct people to social services. As it was, the man nearly started crying, ran next door and got a sandwich and drink from the sub shop.

I've given people money at gas stations -- every time they ended up actually buying gas, so I feel pretty good about it.

[kymmz.livejournal.com]

I got scammed by that scam twice, actually, both when I was in my 20's if that's any excuse for being credulous. But when it comes right down to it, I'd rather be a trusting person and be out $40 than to not help people who really need it.

On the other hand, I don't want to be trusting enough to fall for it again, especially in my 40's!

[txobserver.livejournal.com]

Several years ago, waiting to take a carpool home from chorus practice in San Francisco, a woman tried the "I need money to get somewhere" story on me. As it happened, the women's shelter she said she needed bus fare to get to was near my home. So I told her the truth...I had no cash but I would be glad to take her if she would wait until the carpool came out from practice. Of course she disappeared.