jeffro Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Read this on another forum and thought id pass it along. I was approached by a 50 year old war vet outside my house and he said, "sorry to meet you under these circumstances but my wife was just in a car crash... ... I have Parkinsons, my name is Glen and I need someone to drive me to the hospital so I can find out if she is okay. I locked my keys in my car and it was towed the other day so I have no way of getting to her. Could you give me a ride and some cash so that I can take a cab back here? I will pay you double what you give me and I live on the house on the corner right over there so I will be able to pay you back tonight. So I give him 40$ and a ride to the hospital where I hope that everything turns out ok for him and his wife. I come back home and do some redditing and two hours later there is a knock on the door. The guy is back and he says his wife has cracked three ribs and has a punctured lung. His voice is rough and he asks. Theyre taking her into surgury in about an hour. Can we hang out and just chat so that I dont have to think about this so much? Fine. Thats fine I say. We sit down in my living room and chat about his life and what he does for a living a stuff. We live in nice part of downtown Columbus Ohio with really expensive houses around. The home pointed to as living there is at least 400,000k. So he says hes an artist and has work in galleries down in the gallery district. He says that for my kindness he would like to give me a painting to hang in my house. I thought that was too kind and refused but he insisted. To make a long story short he needed a ride back to the hospital and needed to borrow another 90 to get his car out of tow and access to his wallet and keys which were in his glove box. Fine. Ok fine. So I do all this. He gets my number and says hell call about and let me know how his wife is doing after surgery. Later that night after about 6 hours I head over the house that he indicated to find out if he was home and how his wife was doing. After about two minutes of knocking a little old lady comes to the door and I ask her. Is Glen here? How is his wife doing? Her response: "There is no Glen that lives here." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I fell for a con once. I was 18 in downtown cincy going to a jazz club, and this guy comes around the corner with his pregnant wife saying they ran out of gas a couple blocks back and can they get some gas money or cab fair. He had a whole speech about what they were doing that and how it was such a ridiculous chain of events that happened to leave them stranded without money. About a half our later it suddenly hit me that they were full of shit. I wasn't upset about the $20 I had given them, but I was pretty annoyed at myself for believing their bullshit. I'm guessing she wasn't even pregnant. Anyway, I considered it a pretty cheap life lesson about how convincing someone can be, even in the face of a born skeptic. Since then I've gotten the "Man you wouldn't believe this, but I ran out of gas and I don't have my wallet" routine a few times since then. I still give them money but I tell them they shoudn't con people. Not that they care. When you're desperate, you do what works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brrcats Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I had a guy attempt to con me out of money once. He said that his car was at the gas station down the road and that he ran out of gas and didnt have his wallet. I told him I'd give him a lift back to the station and fill him up with $10 or so with my credit card, enough to get him where he needed to go. He declined and went on to find a sucker that would give him cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I was going to post this but you beat me to it. Another reason why I won't give anyone money unless I know them personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I just look at them and say that I don't carry cash, I don't care who they are, unless you're a good friend of mine you shouldn't bother asking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sully Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Just last week, I was getting ready to leave my house to head into work around noon. As I went to get the mail, an older Jeep crawled to a stop at the end of my drive. An older guy got out and said he ran out of gas and asked if I had any to spare. I told him that I don't keep spare gas in the winter because I don't need it during this time (which is all true, I did not lie to him). I told him that I was sorry about his situation, but I was running late for work and had to leave. I took the mail into the house. As I went back outside to get in my car, he was driving away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I told him I'd give him a lift back to the station and fill him up with $10 or so with my credit card, enough to get him where he needed to go. This is what I do when I get the "I ran out of gas" story and I feel like giving them something. Just make sure to complete the entire purchase before you leave. :lolguy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustlestiltskin Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Lol at anybody who falls for this. Sounds exactly like what these Somalians were pulling over In Indianapolis when I was there for work. I watched them walk up to multiple ppl around my hotel and even had the balls to pull this con on people in the hotel. I lold the whole time and even started asking them if I could borrow money since my car was also towed and that I lost my wallet :gabe: . They didn't find that too funny lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wease Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 My favorites are the guys that get pissed at you when you offer to get them actual food, when they tell you they're hungry and need something to eat. So you offer to buy them something, but what they really want is cash. You know, pretty much this guy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 When I see someone begging, and in the rare occurance I have cash, i usually give it to them. I figure if they need to beg/con people they need it more than I do. Pay it forward. I've had friends and strangers alike help me more than once and I'm blessed in so many ways. Financially is not one of them, but I'm ok with that. If I have it, I give it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 When I see someone begging, and in the rare occurance I have cash, i usually give it to them. I figure if they need to beg/con people they need it more than I do. Pay it forward. I've had friends and strangers alike help me more than once and I'm blessed in so many ways. Financially is not one of them, but I'm ok with that. If I have it, I give it. Thats called enabling, and it doesn't help anybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87GT Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 When I see someone begging, and in the rare occurance I have cash, i usually give it to them. I figure if they need to beg/con people they need it more than I do. Almost all of the time it will be spent on something other then food/gas. You are not helping them by giving up your spare change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otis Nice Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 Ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenger1647545502 Posted March 5, 2012 Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I had somebody try to pull the gas scam on me last summer, he wasn't even honest enough to shut the car off and get out.... I told him I didn't have any cash, but he was welcome to my change. I had to pull my shirt aside to get to my pocket, and I "inadvertently" showed off my .45...turns out his car had enough gas to peel the hell out of the station. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffro Posted March 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2012 I had somebody try to pull the gas scam on me last summer, he wasn't even honest enough to shut the car off and get out.... I told him I didn't have any cash, but he was welcome to my change. I had to pull my shirt aside to get to my pocket, and I "inadvertently" showed off my .45...turns out his car had enough gas to peel the hell out of the station. LOL. Isn't this against the law? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan9381 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 scum. there was a guy who came up to me at walmart on morse rd (before i decided to stop shopping there a couple years ago)...was like 11pm at night and he had a tattoo of a jaguar or something on his face...when he started walking up towards me, first action was my hand on my gun, tried to hustle me for the "im out of gas" shit, told him i didnt have any money, he looked at my hand in my pocket and was like "ok man, we're cool". about 6 months later, tried to pull the same shit on me at UDF down the road...since it was no problem to remember the stupid tattoo on his face, as hes walking up he goes "hey" and i cut him off, told him he already tried this shit on me a few months back, and he said nevermind and turned around. dumbass...at least do it with no stupid tattoo thats easily recognizable. my favorite though, was in FL when i was like 11-12ish, me and my younger brothers, (would have been 9 and 6 at the time) were walking through a shopping area as our parents were talking to friends, bum comes up asking for "a couple bucks for a cup of coffee"...i was smart enough to tell him i didnt have any, my youngest brother though says "sorry, all i have is a $10 bill"...the bum goes "oh that's fine, i have change for a $10"...my brother seemed cool with it until i pointed out if he has change for his 10, he doesnt need his $2 to get coffee. :lolguy: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brrcats Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 This is what I do when I get the "I ran out of gas" story and I feel like giving them something. Just make sure to complete the entire purchase before you leave. :lolguy: exactly. just pull your car up, i'll even pump it for you, just like in jersey I'm all for helping out someone in need, but blindly giving money to strangers isnt the answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Thats called enabling, and it doesn't help anybody. And your practice is called being a selfish dick. It only takes a few seconds to figure out if a guy is trying to scam you, like others have said. If the person is truly hungry or down on their luck, I will help them however I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hal Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 LOL. Isn't this against the law? Yeah, pretty much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicranium Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Called the cops on some scammers at the Speedway in Pickerington a few years ago. The whole "I'm a church janitor and our bus broke down a little ways down the road and we need to raise money for this $4xx part from NAPA." Unfortunately for the guy, my friend I was with had these exact same people try it on him and his family at another place just a couple weeks earlier. So we declined to help, called the cops and stuck around to watch the fun. Great part was when the cop did show up they were walking out of a restaurant there by Speedway with food and drinks they just bought with the money they had scammed off people. I'm fine with helping people. I really don't carry cash ever (have 2 $1's on me at the moment) so I don't lie. In HS my friends and I were approached by a man outside of K-Mart who wanted money for food. No cash but we were going in to get some Little Caesar's and he ended up getting a whole left over pizza from us. Then a few years ago, my personal favorite, friend won something from CD101 and we went downtown to pick it up and they had ice cream stuff in the station (ice cream sandwiches, bars, etc.) so we took some but didn't actually want to eat it. Found a homeless guy and gave the ice cream sandwiches to him. Was over 90 that day and he said in maybe the happiest homeless person voice ever... "I haven't had one of these in so long." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bahd-ler Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 My favorites are the guys that get pissed at you when you offer to get them actual food, when they tell you they're hungry and need something to eat. So you offer to buy them something, but what they really want is cash. You know, pretty much this guy: This happens a lot to me. I've had guys walk up to my work truck and ask if I have any spare change for some food, when I open my lunch pale or offer to give them a left over McDouble they usually decline... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gbracing81 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Maybe I am a selfish dick, but I usaually tell them before they get thier whole pethetic story out Sorry dude, but I can't help you. I have a job that I got on my own, a house I bought on my own and a house payment I make on my own. The food in my house I bought with the money I EARNED form either my full time day job, my part time night job or other money I EARNED through side jobs or cashing legally attained scrap metal. Sometimes people really do need some help. Unfortunatly for them there are too many other people that are lazy liars who would rather scam people than go out and solve thier own problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 My favorites are the guys that get pissed at you when you offer to get them actual food, when they tell you they're hungry and need something to eat. So you offer to buy them something, but what they really want is cash. You know, pretty much this guy: Years ago when I worked in Grandview, I kept seeing this guy standing at the Lane Ave onramp to 315N holding a sign. I decided one day to pack 3 extra sandwiches and a bag of pretzels. Sure enough that afternoon there he was. I called him over and gave him the food, he thanked me and he turned around and called out behind him and his wife and 2 little kids came running up and he gave them the food. I almost cried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Years ago when I worked in Grandview, I kept seeing this guy standing at the Lane Ave onramp to 315N holding a sign. I decided one day to pack 3 extra sandwiches and a bag of pretzels. Sure enough that afternoon there he was. I called him over and gave him the food, he thanked me and he turned around and called out behind him and his wife and 2 little kids came running up and he gave them the food. I almost cried. Yeah, I've never had a panhandler turn down food. Then again, I've never offered someone nasty-looking leftover McDoubles. In fact, 99% of the homeless people I've encountered have been extremely polite and grateful. I'm sure there are some bad apples, but they're not typical. I don't understand why people feel the need to characterize every beggar that way. If you don't want to give, don't give, but don't pretend like they're all assholes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Chief2011647545501 Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I had a guy give me the I'm out of gas story I gave him $5 to help him out. A couple hours later I see him walking in a park asking others for money. From that day forward I ignore panhandlers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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