Advice to amateurs.
Jul. 17th, 2009 10:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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.)
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.)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 04:41 pm (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 06:08 pm (UTC)B
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 06:08 pm (UTC)