S/O Beggars, Moochers and Scammers

[RingTailedLemur]

I get a lot of e-mails like that. Most of them claiming to come from banks I don't bank with.

I always forward them to the relevant bank (most here have an e-mail address specifically for that purpose)

I used to do that, then Yahoo! blocked me from sending emails because I was "sending spam" so now I don't bother.

[CakeBeret]

I had a typical scam email last night. My payment of $1.5 million is ready to be disbursed to me. Blah, blah...and then it says that Reverend Eze will be handling my payment. DH and I both lost it at that point. Reverend Eze.

[Twik]

Oooh, just got one today, a classic. Here's an excerpt:

If you are receiving this notification for the first ($US10,500,000) which is on your name, can only be paid upon our receipt of your beneficiary identification security transfer CODE which is GN6720XN for clearance of the fund. Send it immediately to us for instant accreditation of your proceeds into your account as listed below.
 
1) Your full name
2) Phone, fax and mobile#
3) Address :
4) Profession:
5) Age:
6) Marital status:
7) Copy of your any valid ID card.ATTACHED !!
 
Ensure you contact Mr. (redacted) with all your Full contact details regarding of your Fund and get back to us for more information.

NB. THIS TRANSACTION IS BEING MONITORED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO GUARDS US FOR INTERNET IMPOSTORS.

The poor English, the claim that it comes from a major bank, the demand for copies of "any valid ID" are only topped by the last line, warning that the government is "guards us for internet imposters". Thanks, I feel much more secure.

[Shalamar]

Yeah, my daughter definitely didn't feel right about that food demo job.  She'd applied for two, actually - the first was handing out sushi samples, and that was definitely not a scam.  She would have received the samples from an actual sushi chef on the premises, handed them out, and directed any questions to him.    This "buy all our stuff, make the food yourself, and we'll reimburse you later" sounded very hinky.  Plus, the lady doing the "interviewing" really rushed her into making a committment, which is always a bad sign.  My daughter signed some papers, not knowing any better, and she was frantic thinking that she'd signed her life away.  I called the woman myself later and said "My daughter's not interested."

[Barb3000]

I have been getting the phone calls where you pick up and no one is there. I know they are robocalls. When I DO get a real person, I let them have it assuming their company is the one making me answer the phone when there is no one there. Not a good business model.

We have been on the DNC list but a few are sneaking through lately, usually related to DH being on Medicare and a diabetic. He is very happy with his supply provider and does not want to change.

I can not WAIT to get the one from Microsoft, I want to do what a previous poster did about the warning popped up on her screen. Brilliant!!!

Regarding time share presentations, we have been to quite a few and somehow never managed to buy a timeshare. The "gifts" are pretty useless, unless you are in a casino area and they give you chips. My favorite was a promised "six piece luggage set" gift. When the spiel was over, guy came out with a box the size and shape of a TV dinner. Yep, the luggage set was made of very thin nylon. Surprisingly, I still use a few of the duffel bags.

[mumma to KMC]

Anyone ever get the guy at the door who was in the neighborhood delivering some meat to customers, and well, golly, has some left over that he can sell to you for cheap?

I used to get them a lot, when we lived in town but never bought from them. They never came back after one came to our door at 8pm on a weeknight and I was nursing my ds on the couch, not using a nursing cover*, kinda freaking the guy out. 

*Nothing that you don't already see in clothing styles was exposed.

[Elfmama]

Yes, the meat/seafood guy comes around about once a year.  Also got the guy who offered to refinish our driveway, because he could see how badly it had worn out. 

The driveway was paved last year.  Several inches of asphalt do not "wear out" in only a few months.

[Piratelvr1121]

My friend J just posted on Facebook, that a man came to her door yesterday.  Here is her conversation with him - "Weird thing just happened to me. A man came to my door and had cleaning supplies in his hand. This was our conversation:
Me: what's up?
 Man: I'm not selling anything. We're in the neighborhood giving out cleaning supplies to the ladies".
 Me: I don't live here, and we don't need them.
 I unfortunately did not catch the license plate. I did report it, though.
 Anyone have anything like this ever happen? Weird that he wasn't selling anything, but was giving away products to "ladies". What's the catch???"

People chiming in have all said it's a scam to gain entrance to the home for assault, to be robbed or even raped  , said she was smart to say she didn't live there, and was giving advice to have her change her routine, and get a dog etc.  She later checked with other houses and neighbors and no one else was approached and said a call to ADT was on the horizon, as she lives alone with her daughter.

I had a woman come to my door at one point last week.  I was on the phone with DH when she knocked and I wouldn't have answered but my middle son did.  Telling DH to hold on since she insisted she talk to me, I went to the door and she handed me a roll of paper towels, calling it "free".   But she wouldn't let me take it, instead saying "I'll just come in and clean your house and you can have them." I let go of the paper towels and said "Sorry, no thanks."

"But it'll only take 45 minutes!"
"I have to be somewhere in 30." She left but I just thought that was a little odd.

[Craftyone]

Two I've encountered in my travels.
Walking down Regents  St in London with my husband. DH has a rose shoved at him. He was off in a world of his own. I took the rose and gave it back to the "charity" worker with a sharp no thanks. She wailed but it's for the children. I kept walking and DH was bemused at the exchange and laughed. No, the money doesn't go to children or any charity, just her pocket.

Second one, in Hong Kong. Walking from the aviary on Hong Kong Island to the nearest MTR (underground train station) DH was slightly ahead of me. He gets stopped by a "Buddhist" asking for a donation. I kept walking, knowing that DH would want to keep up with me in case he got lost. DH made his apologies that he couldn't stop as his wife was walking away. When DH caught up with me he said that the monk showed him a page in a book with names in it with donated amounts and was trying to get DH to give a comparable amount. I knew it was a scam as Buddhist monks aren't allowed to beg for money plus you could see normal trousers and shoes under the robes.
The thing about the monk that got me was that we were walking through a business area which was closed (it was the weekend) so he wouldn't have had many tourists coming past. After thinking about it we decided that he was on his way to a tourist area and we just happen to cross paths.

[ACBNYC]

I am in Mumbai at the moment, I've been here for a week and leaving tonight. I've been staying at the company apartment in Juhu, a neighborhood in Mumbai. The apartment is less than a five minute walk to Juhu Beach, on the Arabian Sea. It's not like beaches in the U.S.--it's a little dirty, there's really no sunbathing that goes on and people wade out into the sea in their regular clothes, at least as far as I have noticed and have been told.

So I walk down there Wednesday morning to get some photos and to stick my feet in the ocean, just to say I did. I'm approached by an old woman not speaking English well who wants to give me a henna tattoo. What the heck, I think, and ask her how much. I THINK she said 40 rupee, so I agree. She finishes and asks me for 500 rupee! That's about $9 USD. I start arguing with her and meanwhile, two guys are trying to sell me photos, and another group of men approach to watch us argue. I was starting to feel like the situation was about to get out of hand so I threw the 500 at her and immediately left the beach. I'm embarrassed because I felt so helpless--max, I should have given her 100 and I knew it. But being alone, I really didn't know how much it would escalate. Oh, and a good henna tattoo should last three weeks or more, mine is almost gone two days later.

The second time I got scammed was Wednesday night. A colleague was kind enough to take me to the markets in Bandra, where a lot of negotiation on the prices happens. When we finished she hailed me a rickshaw. I get in the rickshaw, it pulls away, and the driver kills the meter then pretends he doesn't understand when I keep telling him to turn on the meter. I should have just gotten out, but gave him 100 (about $2) when it really should have been 40 or less.

No skin off my nose, $11 isn't a big deal, but I really didn't like being in these situations I couldn't control! I'm just chalking it up to a couple of interesting experiences, and a funny story. At least, my colleagues sure thought it was funny. 

[bloo]

My friend J just posted on Facebook, that a man came to her door yesterday.  Here is her conversation with him - "Weird thing just happened to me. A man came to my door and had cleaning supplies in his hand. This was our conversation:
Me: what's up?
 Man: I'm not selling anything. We're in the neighborhood giving out cleaning supplies to the ladies".
 Me: I don't live here, and we don't need them.
 I unfortunately did not catch the license plate. I did report it, though.
 Anyone have anything like this ever happen? Weird that he wasn't selling anything, but was giving away products to "ladies". What's the catch???"

People chiming in have all said it's a scam to gain entrance to the home for assault, to be robbed or even raped  , said she was smart to say she didn't live there, and was giving advice to have her change her routine, and get a dog etc.  She later checked with other houses and neighbors and no one else was approached and said a call to ADT was on the horizon, as she lives alone with her daughter.

I had a woman come to my door at one point last week.  I was on the phone with DH when she knocked and I wouldn't have answered but my middle son did.  Telling DH to hold on since she insisted she talk to me, I went to the door and she handed me a roll of paper towels, calling it "free".   But she wouldn't let me take it, instead saying "I'll just come in and clean your house and you can have them." I let go of the paper towels and said "Sorry, no thanks."

"But it'll only take 45 minutes!"
"I have to be somewhere in 30." She left but I just thought that was a little odd.

This is outrageous. A total stranger came to your door insisting on cleaning your house? For free and giving you the roll of paper towels? Cleaning someone's home gives them intimate access to it. I'd be furious at the chutzpah.

Btw, thanks to WillyNilly's proddings, I just finished Gavin de Becker's Gift of Fear. It makes so much sense but having read it I zeroed in on this part of your exchange:

"But it'll only take 45 minutes!"
"I have to be somewhere in 30."

The implicit message was that the answer would have been yes if you didn't have to leave soon. The best answer would have been 'no'. I sincerely hope that woman doesn't come back.

Note: I don't mean to yell (by bolding) but I didn't want to snip out Reader's or Piratelvr's quotes and in preview mode, my own comments seemed lost and the whole post looked messy. Apologizing in advance if it comes across as yelling.

[Lorelei_Evil]

That's a common home invasion tactic, by the way.  NEVER let anyone into your house. 

Remember the Boston Strangler?  Same tactic.

[Barb3000]

After YEARS of hearing about "guys who sell meat from a freezer in the back of their pickup", we finally had a visit from them last year! No, I did not buy any - not interested in meat or seafood that I don't know the history of, and that I can't get a refund on if it turns out to be no good.

[Thipu1]

The only places we've had any problem in our travels were Caracas and Rome.  In Caracas, Mr. Thipu did have his pocket picked but the only got a little of the local currency. ID, credit cards and camera were all safe. 

Rome was something else again, the rose sellers were all over the place.  We saw a lot more rose sellers than cats and, in Rome, that's saying something.  We were lucky and lost nothing but there were a few odd moments on a train.  It was rush hour and a woman was pushing in behind me.  It wasn't the usual straight-ahead pushing motion that everyone else was using.   There was a strange up and down aspect to it that I remembered from Caracas.  Then I noticed that her coat was draped over my arm and her hand was on my purse. 

Normally, I don't say boo to a goose but I knew what was going on here.  I pushed back and shoved her off the train just as the doors were closing.  She made a noise roughly equal to that made by the
Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz but my purse was safe. And no, she didn't fall and wasn't hurt.   

I've read that Vatican City has the world's highest crime rate because of the pickpockets.   I can
easily believe it. 

MORAL:  if you're ever in a crowd that's been moving normally and suddenly feel that up-and-down jostle, react immediately.  Something is up. 

[Piratelvr1121]

I did tell her "No" as well, eventually shutting the door on her.  She hasn't come back since and I got the impression she was trying to drum up more business. 

To be honest I wouldn't hire anyone to clean my house anyway and mainly for that reason, that it does give them intimate access to your house.  DH has offered to help me out with the housekeeping by hiring a cleaner and I keep telling him "Nope."  I know he thinks he's being helpful since he knows I don't enjoy cleaning but I'm just rather funny about having people in my house to clean it up.