I have been panhandled at gas stations a couple of times - hood up, need a part, family in the back. Guy has a cell phone, no credit card...tells me he has no family (mother, father, brother, sisters, friends) to call for help. It did not add up. Two months later, I see the same scammer at another gas station with the hood up, approach me and . . .
Even better. . .panhandled at the airport baggage claim in Philadelphia... scammer wanted 200 to stay in nearby hotel so he could catch his next flight. Showed me his drivers license, had an i-phone (I only have a flip phone) and promised that he would mail $250 the next day. I asked him how he bought his airline ticket why Motel 6 was not good enough for him, no debit card? no credit card? and when I asked him if he thought of calling his parents on his i-phone for help . . . he left.
in 1990 my company selected two families for xmas spirit with skip and I being the ramrods. Both of us visited COSTCO and really got the xmas spirit. On 24th we had to use skip’s station wagon because of so many stuff for just one family. We loaded the 1st family’s gifts which filled the back completely. Arrived at home with middle age woman and 14 year old teen. All she could do was complain because we didn’t get the shoes she wanted. We felt like two suckers. The next family was a mother with three kids 7,5,adn 4. The two oldest tried helping us carry it in. The mother cried from the moment we arrived until we left.
I came out of a Walmart and encountered a 20 something with his wife sitting on the trunk of their car. As I walked by he asked for some money to buy gas as he ran out, conveniently right there in the parking lot by the door of Walmart. I figured it was a scam, but he said he needed gas to get home about 30 miles away...so what the heck, I played along. I had a gas can in my trunk so I drove him to the other side of the parking lot to the gas pumps and put a gallon in his car, then went back to his car and put it in then drove back and I put 10 dollars of gas in his car. I had time on my hands and was feeling generous so what the heck. Then, just when I started having doubts about whether he would really go along with this senerio if he was scamming, he thanked me, then pulled a stack of about 10 gift cards out of his pocket tried to get me to buy the gift cards from him for 50% of their face value. I’m pretty sure those gift cards were worthless as they probably hadn’t been activated but just pilfered - the scammers will find ways !!