Lost wedding ring scam surfaces in ED

[AcedOut]

NEVER willingly give money to anyone on the street. It's pretty simple. The people falling fowl of this scam are very likely to be thinking about pocketing the goods. Why else would one pay money to take the ring to a police station!?

[Carrie]

I guess that the original victim paid because he thought someone may have lost a wedding ring and that the person showing it to him was about to pocket the ring and not hand it in to the police, meaning that it would be lost to the original owner for ever. I know I would feel pretty gutted if I lost my wedding ring and the person who fell foul of this scam was probably trying to prevent someone else feeling like that!

[PeckhamRose]

But my Mum really HAS lost her wedding ring....

[Hare]

Carrie, you are absolutely correct in your analysis.

There was nothing other than altruism at the heart of the decision to pay to secure the ring. A wedding band is probably the single most significant piece of jewellery and it was made clear that the intention of the "finder" was to sell that ring for cash. The handing over of money was a deliberate strategy to allow the ring to be given to the police so that the person who lost it would stnd more chance of having it returned to them. That it turned out to be a fake was only a post hoc revelation.

A Grove Vale trader was also present at the time (it occurred outside their premises) and felt - and still feels - that with the evidence available at the time, it was the right action to take. The ring was subsequently taken to a Lordship Lane jeweller, who was unable to confirm whether it was or wasn't gold without giving it the proverbial acid test - that's an indicator of the standard of production of these items.

It saddens me that an intention to raise awareness has produced less than pleasant responses. I'm glad to be with someone who gives the benefit of the doubt rather than someone who sneers and walks on by.

[the-e-dealer]

Give us a ring.

[ponderwoman]

I'm with you there Hare. What a lot of cynics out there.

For all the random acts of kindness I have received from strangers I feel that the few times I have clearly been conned have very little significance.

For example I was in Bogota airport without any money, not realising there was an exit fee to leave the country. A German traveller overheard our dilemma and offered to pay the fee for us all- about ?30. This was despite being robbed at knifepoint on his first day in Colombia and losing everything he had.(I of course took his address and repaid him).

Someone paid my bus fare when I thought I had lost ny oyster card - I hadn't- very embarassing as I didn't have any cash to repay them. I can see that that would seem like a pretty basic scam to all you cynics, fortunately the person offering wasn't similarly cursed and just thought it was very funny.

I very happily offer what I can when the situation arises.

What goes around comes around.

[the-e-dealer]

Hello I need help with my .... because my ..... has ... . F Off Crook No Money for you. Sad world !

[BrandNewGuy]

My my, people really are touchy about being scammed. It's not a stain on your character, it's just something that really shouldn't happen if you have your wits about you. And if it does, shrug it off and try not to let it happen again.

I get a feeling that there are people in this conversation who feel it more virtuous to be scammed than to distrust a scammer. Weird...

[dullwitch]

I think someone tried this on me in Piccadilly yesterday.

Thankfully - having just read this post - she had no chance of scamming me.

Thank you :-)

[AcedOut]

You're all sounding pretty brassed off now!

[Annasfield]

I think I saw someone try to do this, this morning on the way to the station.

[the-e-dealer]

Any problems give me a ring!

[AcedOut]

Golden!

[0017bond]

I'd keep walking thinking it probably wasn't lost, just that some man came to his senses in time. lol

[polla2256]

Hows about this -

sacammer "give me some money for this ring I found or I'll steal it"

me "Hows about I punch you in the face ?"

alternative

Real life needy type person "can you help me please sir I'm lost, voulnerable and (or) in need of help"

me "certainly how may I be of help ?"

the lesson - context and situational awareness (absence of the normal, presence of the abnormal). It's not cynical just a developed state of mind.

[tfwsoll]

Thanks to this thread I was well-prepared just off St Giles High street earlier today when a young woman bent down then showed me a wedding ring in her hand and said 'Amazing! It's gold!' . With hindsight I wish I hadn't said 'it's a scam' and walked off as I never found out which variant of the story she was using.

[LadyDeliah]

You could just say. "Yeh, it's mine. Hand it over or I'll call the police". :-)

[Dopamine1979]

This rings true but is turning into a circular debate.

[gpercival78]

...and we now have it in the City. Just saw some guy trying it on....

[Jo31]

gawd. - this happened to me in Peckham Rye Park near the cafe two weekends ago - chap iced up a wedding ring and showed it to me. My response was 'someone's going to be really upset' and walked on ........

[rgutsell]

Hiya all

This scam depends upon you being altruistic and helpful. It exploits your social habits.

Recently a woman approached me in East Dulwich appearing to be very distraught and in floods of tears. Guess what...she needed money. Don't get fooled..money is very rarely the source of a real problem.

Nobody likes to feel that they are hard or cold or indifferent.

Rgutsell

[Jeremy]

I actually wonder if the people who fall for this scam are intending to hand it into the cop shop or the porn shop. It seems really unlikely that somebody would part with ?10 of their own cash just so they could hand in an item of unknown value.