Scammed on Lordship Lane - not sure?

[Domitianus]

Why not tell these people that you are very happy to help but that they won't mind you taking a face picture of them on your mobile phone first just in case it is a scam - a photo that you will delete once you have been reimbursed but that otherwise will go to the police and onto local bulletin boards? The genuinely needy shouldn't mind one bit. If they do - they are obviously not nearly as desperate as they make out.

[Jeremy]

Yes, I'm sure they'll be happy to oblige.

They will then punch you in the gob and steal your phone. Result!

[Domitianus]

I have a sense that that is unlikely to happen in the Cheese Block where this incident took place. I was kind of assuming that readers might have the brains to contextualise my comments within normal parameters of ensuring personal safety.

[Jeremy]

I have a habit of imagining the worst case scenario.

[Domitianus]

After she clobbers you and nicks your phone you realise she had swine flu as well?

[SteveT]

and she wrestles you to the ground, kisses you full on the mouth, with tongue, she is coarse, ugly, and has halitoses.

Then you carry on with what is surely the beginning of a perfect day.

[east-of-the-Rye]

To answer 2 questions: why would anyone want to go to Bedford, and do people who've really missed their train/ lost their money/tickets etc ask for help...after A-levels in 1978 I went to the Rock Against Racism festival in Brockwell Park. Dashing off to buy something from a stall towards the end, I got separated from my friends, couldn't find which of the coaches parked in Milkwood Road was the one to Bedford, then realised I'd missed it. I used the very last of my money to ring my mum and get a train from Herne Hill to Victoria. I then thought very hard about approaching someone ro ask for some money for a bus to St Pancras but just couldn't bring myself to do it, and my memory tells me that I walked/ran instead. www.walkit.com says it's a 3 miles, 59 minute walk, so it's quite possible though I'm not sure how I knew the way. I did convince the guard at the barrier to let me on a train, and my mother met me and paid for the ticket at Bedford Station, and was actually slightly less angry than I'd expected.

b.t.w, there did used to be an Italian vice consultate in Bedford, as lots of Italians came over after the war to work in the brickworks. But I'm not aware of any Greek connection.

[Chick]

I think I was at that gig, can you remeber who was on?

[Cruella DeVille]

Well my friend had her purse stolen in Whitehall once, when she reported it to the police station they issued her with a travel permit to get home.

[Kingsbury David]

There was a guy who did this for hundreds a time on the underground, approaching other religious Jews as a good excuse to be trusted as he was as well. He carried it on for months before finally being caught and convicted of fraud earlier this year, these people plan their stories and modus operandi and treat it as a career. Better to never offer a penny to any stranger who approaches you full stop as it's highly unlikely to be genuine. The same goes for those awful people who stop you in the street for charity who also make a nice living from it. Just because some of the money goes to charity (not all as they get well paid from part of your donations) they are no different at all and should also be banned and made illegal.

[johnnyc]

Sometimes it is very difficult to make the call when you're confronted by a suspected scammer.

Today I was stopped on the street by someone asking for change for a taxi to hospital. 'Here we go...' I thought, until he put his right arm in front of me and showed me a rather gruesome open wound and told me that he'd come off his bike. This took my back somewhat, so I fished a couple of quid out of my pocket and was on my way as soon as I could. Perhaps I should have offered to phone an ambulance, but assuming it is a scam it is quite effective.

This wasn't in ED, It was the north side of London Bridge, but I wondered if anyone else has encountered this or knows of a website which keeps tabs on this sort of thing. Is it a real wound? Does he aggravate it every morning before ?work'?

[HonaloochieB]

Self-harming seems a bit extreme even for a scammer,

Wasn't this what the Vagrancy Act was introduced for, so that soldiers couldn't beg for money by displaying their wounds.

[Jeremy]

johnnyc - I got exactly the same thing today in the City, it must have been the same bloke.

The wound looked nasty and deep, but the blood round it was dark and dried... it looked like it had been re-opened on purpose.

He was asking for a taxi fare to Homerton Hospital. I suggested he walked to Barts instead - I started to give him directions but he just ignored me and walked off.

Edited to say - according to the guys in the office, he is quite well known round these parts. So either it is a wound which he never allows to heal, or it is just makeup.

[johnnyc]

Yes Jeremy, that would be the one. He mentioned Homerton Hospital to me. I was pretty sure he was scamming me but once I saw the cut I figured that if he was not serious then he was seriously desperate and to give him a couple of quid and move on was the best course.

Oh well, another one to put down to experience I suppose...

[Jeremy]

There is no shame in doing what you thought was the right thing.

[HonaloochieB]

Ulp, seems self-harming isn't extreme at all for a scammer.

You lives and learns.

[buddug]

Hi - I've been had by this one. It was near Old Street tube a few months ago. As he approached I began to do the 'avoid beggar shimmy', but was stopped in my tracks when he showed me the gaping wound. When I asked what he'd done, he said he'd just fallen off his bike and needed a taxi to get to hospital. I was really shocked as it's quite big and looks dreadful. I gave him a ?10 note as that's the only cash I had! Needless to say he didn't hail a cab there and then. Later I wondered if it was a scam, but came to the conclusion no one could be that desperate, and if they were then good luck to them. Opening the wound constantly, if that's what he does, can't be doing him any good either.

[paragon]

could it not be some cleverly applied make-up? the like they use in such films as rob roy or braveheart?

[Jeremy]

Indeed it could, one of the guys I work with thinks this is the case.

[HonaloochieB]

So we reckon this is an out of work special effects expert then.

[ianr]

Try out 'latex wound prosthesis' on your favourite search engine.

[Ted Max]

Listen, everyone has to make a living.

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/05/02/bryan_brown_narrowweb__300x477,2.jpg

[HonaloochieB]

Remember him from Crossroads.

[rgutsell]

HI all

I thought that I would add my experiences to this subject.

I have been working in Drug and alcohol rehabilitation for 16 years, and I don't ever give out cash.

In a sense, whether you give it or not, does not actually matter, since it will not actually do anything to alleviate the conditions that cause the begging etc. Give out cash if you will feel better, but don't feel guilty if you do not.

It's been a common experience to encounter people wanting money on the trains, especially later at night, "to get into a hostel place for the night".

Just so that you know, from a person working in the field, hostels for homeless people do not charge for a person to stay overnight, ESPECIALLY (those very rare)hostels who have places still available late at night.

Places for homeless people are booked up and taken in advance that day, (or by early entry) many of them being referred by local agencies and councils, and social services. Some places are held over for late night admissions, in a registry system, in which vacant beds are notified to a clearing service, so that anyone who presents to Social Services and is in need of a place to stay, has a chance of getting one. Often they have to travel a long distance to it, and they are not charged at the door. Think about it logically; homeless people are very unlikely to have any cash, how could a legitimate homeless hostel charge?

For this reason, crisis beds are rare and difficult to find, and almost all are taken up by referred clients from other agencies. So, do not fall for the story being given to you. If they are asking for cash late at night its too late for a bed, and anyway they aren't charged for. Almost always, the money you give goes to drug or alcohol use.

There are exceptions to this; people in crisis who are struggling to get by without drugs etc. They usually do succeed in getting to regular overnight beds by using the referral agencies, or other means, which means that you don't get to see them so much. For these people, provision from LA's and Govt agencies etc, has vastly improved.

A friend of mine who was also a drug worker, had a different approach. If someone approached with a story that they needed dosh, he would tell them that he would not give them cash, but that he would go with them to the nearest caff and get them a meal. His reasoning was that although they would spend the money on drugs, they truly did need food. You can guess that he was rarely taken up on his offer, and usually was abused. C'est la Vie. Us drug workers get used to it!!

[Ted Max]

This woman should move her pitch to LL. She'd clean up.