S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers

[rose red]

Why do people cater to her, Rose Red? Or treat her as entertainment? I don't understand.

There's always new employees.  Old pros know to keep food and money away from her; they can't warn everybody and it's awkward to jump on new employees and talk behind her back anyway.  I say "entertainment" not as a mean way (entertainment wasn't quite the word I wanted to use), but more like they either listen to her crazy stories because she does love to tell stories of her woe and her crazy life, or they ignore her antics. 

I'm just glad I don't work in that office as I have no patience with people like that.

eta: if you wonder why the boss won't do anything, I don't know.  I guess it's because she doesn't bother people when they are doing actual work.

eta2: Please keep in mind I get these stories secondhand so I don't really know the day to day stuff.

[Pippen]

She was going to rent him a car?! For real? Good grief.

[Winterlight]

DH and I have been fortunate to have never been scammed, but DH has a work mate that is currently dealing with being scammed.

DH and this mate work all over the country and share a hotel. This mate started chatting on a scrabble site with a young woman in a foreign country who gave him a story about being an orphaned American citizen, living on the generosity and sufferance of relatives in that country and wanted to come back to the US. Work mate sent her a large sum of money to cover airfare to the US. They had planned to start a life together. She never made it.

She contacted him again with the story that she had been arrested and was being held on trumped up charges. Mate sent money because he knew that this poor girl was a decent person (or talked a great game of scrabble). He didn’t hear from her for a while, DH said mate was somewhat despondent over her plight.

Her next contact with him involved her being in an accident, had no insurance and needed bones set at a hospital; again money was sent.

All this was unknown to DH until the last remittance was sent, when the work mate confided what had been going on as far as the loss of several thousand dollars and now the young woman won’t talk to him. DH mentioned that mate has been scammed. The work mate went to the authorities to report and was told because it was international; there was little they could do to help.

Work mate is depressed that someone he thought cared about him has played him for a fool, and DH fears he is suicidal.

The kicker? Work mate must now explain to his wife the loss of several thousand dollars from his their account.

Wow, poor her. Not feeling sorry for him though.

[Sirius]

This happened one year when Mr. Sirius took me to dinner for my birthday.  This woman approached us with a story about how she was stranded and trying to get a bus ticket to Seattle (we're near Portland) to see her poor sick mother.  I gave her my refrigerator-door (blank) expression, so she tried her story on Mr. Sirius and ignored me.  He heard her out, then told her to go away.  Once we were at our table he told me about different times when someone has tried that exact line on him.  For the record, he's nobody's fool, but people seem to think he's a soft touch since he looks like a young Santa.

[HenrysMom]

Friend and I went to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch.  An elderly lady with a young girl came up to us and asked for a few dollars to "buy food for my granddaughter."  Since the woman looked shabby but respectable, I gave her two dollars.  Before we finished our meal, a much younger woman dressed in designer clothing (I know her bustier cost more than my entire outfit) with the same child came to our table and hit us up to "buy food for my daughter."  I got up and told the manager, who booted them out of the place.

[RegionMom]

I may have told this elsewhere, but it fits here:

When travelling with the in-laws, a drunkard came up to us at an outdoor eating place and asked for money.  My MIL gave him cash, but made him promise that he would not use it for beer.
He promised.
Later that evening, we ran into him, and he recognized her.
"Hey, I wanted to let you know I did NOT buy beer.  I kept my promise!  I bought...vodka!"
 

[Angel B.]

I may have told this elsewhere, but it fits here:

When travelling with the in-laws, a drunkard came up to us at an outdoor eating place and asked for money.  My MIL gave him cash, but made him promise that he would not use it for beer.
He promised.
Later that evening, we ran into him, and he recognized her.
"Hey, I wanted to let you know I did NOT buy beer.  I kept my promise!  I bought...vodka!"
 

I hope I'm not the only one who got a smile from this.

[Pippen]

I love elaborate tales of woe and this woman really took the biscut.

I had just finished a tour of Turkey and had a few days up my sleeve in Istanbul. The place I was staying had a kind of bar restaurant out the front on the street and there were quite a few cafes and the like around. I was sitting out the front having a beer and reading the paper and got chatting to some of the locals. Next thing this strange woman comes and sits down with us and the guys appeared to have some kind of acquaintance with her. She starts telling us about how she has arrived from Germany after fleeing Neo Nazis who wanted to kill her because she had a black boyfriend and that he was in hiding as the police and the government were behind it. She was saying she was homeless, broke and also pregnant. I just sat there nodding going 'Gee that sounds unfortunate'. The guys started indicating that I as a fellow foreigner should some how help her out. Like heck I was. I was not going to give her anything. She then starts asking if I can give her money for a hotel room. Nope That won't happen either. I don't know if the guys were in on this scam or not but I saw her around a fair bit over the next few days by herself trying it on with whoever would listen. Top marks for effort. Zero for execution as everyone I spoke to thought she was as mad as a cut snake.

[Thipu1]

We had a truly bizarre one a while back.

There's a nice, little French place we like to go for dinner about once a month.  the food is very good and it's never crowded on weeknights.
 
Once, there was only one other diner.  She was an older lady and was enjoying a large meal including an appetizer, a steak and dessert.  Of course she also had several glasses of wine. 

We didn't speak during the meal but, when her bill arrived, she leaned over and explained that she had no idea the dinner would be so expensive and wanted us to pay for her meal.   

You can bet what our answer was to that.  We left before the matter was resolved but I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall to hear what it was. 

[Miss Misery]

This mate started chatting on a scrabble site with a young woman in a foreign country who gave him a story about being an orphaned American citizen, living on the generosity and sufferance of relatives in that country and wanted to come back to the US. Work mate sent her a large sum of money to cover airfare to the US. They had planned to start a life together. She never made it.

She contacted him again with the story that she had been arrested and was being held on trumped up charges. Mate sent money because he knew that this poor girl was a decent person (or talked a great game of scrabble). He didn’t hear from her for a while, DH said mate was somewhat despondent over her plight.

Her next contact with him involved her being in an accident, had no insurance and needed bones set at a hospital; again money was sent.

All this was unknown to DH until the last remittance was sent, when the work mate confided what had been going on as far as the loss of several thousand dollars and now the young woman won’t talk to him.

My older sister, being the gullible fool she is, has fallen for that scam. TWICE.

[RebeccainGA]

I very nearly fell for a scam (of sorts) a few years ago. Had a date come down with a couple of friends (new person I was 'dating' online for a few weeks) and stay in a hotel, only to learn that the grandfather of one of the friends died the first night they were there, and they all had to rush back to home state, about three hours drive. Only, they had planned on spending the time they were there selling some (really hideous) baskets and blankets and things they'd brought with them (I lived in a tourist destination at the time). Would I mind loaning them the money to drive back? And storing their junk? And letting the person I was 'dating' come back and stay with me in a few weeks to finish selling things and get an apartment?

I did loan them a few $$ (enough to get an average car a couple hundred miles away), but refused to store items. Did agree for the person I was 'dating' to come back in a few weeks. Didn't hear from them for almost a year after I got a 'on my way' call - yes, I spent two weeks frantically calling cops, etc. in the area between there and home. No dice.

I did find out what happened - the 'junk' baskets they were selling were apparently disguising some 'recreational substances' of the herbal variety, and the blankets had some other recreational substances wrapped inside (I had wondered how they planned to get $40 for a hideous lap blanket, but was naive enough to take it at face value). My 'date' got stopped an hour from my house, just across the state line, and the officer called in the narcotics dog, who went nuts. She did call to ask me who I was, as she didn't recognize the phone number on her phone, after she'd been released from jail. Bullet dodged, and lesson learned. I can only blame it on being young and very, very dumb.

[I'mnotinsane]

My Uncle was a cook.   Every so often he would tell my grandmother (his MIL) that a vendor had great tomatoes (or fish or eggplant, etc.) at a great price and he would be happy to get some for her.  When asked how much it would always be more than granny paid anywhere else.  She never fell for it. 

[CakeBeret]

I actually ran into this just a couple nights ago. My friend and I were going to the grocery store when we were approached my a well-dressed dude. He said that he worked at the Ford plant a few miles away and showed us his Ford ID. He went on to tell us a long, sad tale about his car breaking down, was going to be late for his sister's wedding, etc. and he just needed money for a cab. Him showing his ID made me immediately think of eHell and posters talking about scammers showing some sort if ID to make them seem trustworthy.

Anyway, we told the dude, "Sorry, we don't have any money." And then I couldn't help but adding (with a wee bit of sarcasm) "Good luck getting to your sister's wedding."

[Miss Misery]

I actually ran into this just a couple nights ago. My friend and I were going to the grocery store when we were approached my a well-dressed dude. He said that he worked at the Ford plant a few miles away and showed us his Ford ID. He went on to tell us a long, sad tale about his car breaking down, was going to be late for his sister's wedding, etc. and he just needed money for a cab.

I guess getting money from an ATM for a cab or calling someone to pick him up would be too easy. 

[CakeBeret]

I actually ran into this just a couple nights ago. My friend and I were going to the grocery store when we were approached my a well-dressed dude. He said that he worked at the Ford plant a few miles away and showed us his Ford ID. He went on to tell us a long, sad tale about his car breaking down, was going to be late for his sister's wedding, etc. and he just needed money for a cab.

I guess getting money from an ATM for a cab or calling someone to pick him up would be too easy. 

Righto. The obvious thing to do, when in danger of missing your sister's wedding, is to ask complete strangers for cash.