I was offerred $500 to drop him off..then I called the cops.
- Thread starter LouisLady
- Start date
MUST READ!!!
I told my friend about this and she told me this story (this happened in Vegas):
me and my cousin had just gotten to this restaurant. and the car that i had parked next to had this oldish man under the hood.. we had paid him no mind.. so we ate and came back out to the car.. and at this time.. it had to have been around 8-9 o'clock at night. well.. as i was pulling out.. i noticed that old man yelling something to me.. so i stopped and pulled down my window.. he was saying that i had a flat tire. so we get out of the car. and sure enough..it was flat.. like sitting on the rim. me and my cousin get out.. and old dude.. says he'll fix put on my flat tire for me.. at the time.. it sounded like a good idea.. well.. as he was trying to find tools to woirk with.. he was telling us how he
's been stuck there waiting for his friend to come get him b/c his car broke down.. well.. then he figured out that i had lug locks on my rims.. so he couldnt get em off.. he then took like a hammer.. and started banging them! i was like WHOA hold up.. i got AAA.. no need for that. i got out my phone and started dialing.. and he got extra loud all of a sudden.. and was like.. i said i was going to help you.. u better hang up the phone right now.. (in vietnamese). then he said.. come with him. and he'll take us to his friends auto shop.. and that he could get me a free tire.. i was like hell no.. im on the phone already. that we didnt need his help anymore..
then my cousin had texted our friend.. and they came out there.. and when old dude saw that we werent alone.. he hopped it his car.. and started it without problem
!.. i was freakin out.. it was so crazy.
well.. come to find out.. when i took my car to the shop.. that my tire had like a 3inch slash in it.. that was definitely done by a blade. and not only that.. but the guy that came to tow my car.. said that.. he's heard our same story like a week ago.
I told my friend about this and she told me this story (this happened in Vegas):
me and my cousin had just gotten to this restaurant. and the car that i had parked next to had this oldish man under the hood.. we had paid him no mind.. so we ate and came back out to the car.. and at this time.. it had to have been around 8-9 o'clock at night. well.. as i was pulling out.. i noticed that old man yelling something to me.. so i stopped and pulled down my window.. he was saying that i had a flat tire. so we get out of the car. and sure enough..it was flat.. like sitting on the rim. me and my cousin get out.. and old dude.. says he'll fix put on my flat tire for me.. at the time.. it sounded like a good idea.. well.. as he was trying to find tools to woirk with.. he was telling us how he
's been stuck there waiting for his friend to come get him b/c his car broke down.. well.. then he figured out that i had lug locks on my rims.. so he couldnt get em off.. he then took like a hammer.. and started banging them! i was like WHOA hold up.. i got AAA.. no need for that. i got out my phone and started dialing.. and he got extra loud all of a sudden.. and was like.. i said i was going to help you.. u better hang up the phone right now.. (in vietnamese). then he said.. come with him. and he'll take us to his friends auto shop.. and that he could get me a free tire.. i was like hell no.. im on the phone already. that we didnt need his help anymore..
then my cousin had texted our friend.. and they came out there.. and when old dude saw that we werent alone.. he hopped it his car.. and started it without problem
!.. i was freakin out.. it was so crazy.
well.. come to find out.. when i took my car to the shop.. that my tire had like a 3inch slash in it.. that was definitely done by a blade. and not only that.. but the guy that came to tow my car.. said that.. he's heard our same story like a week ago.
Woah! Both of those stories are really scary...you can't go anywhere anymore w/o someone bothering you! I'm glad you called the police..at least now they are aware that there is a situation, so if they get a similar call later, they'll know who it is and how to deal w/ it. I'm so glad you are safe!
OMG thank you so much for these 2 stories, and props to you and your cousin for acting intelligently and on your feet in the situations. Not to be dramatic, but you probably ended up saving your own lives.
What scares me about these stories is that both males (and the female) OFFERED something first. You know they wouldn't do this if they weren't positive they'd be getting it back shortly, or that they didn't have it at all ($500? a new tire in a "friend's shop"?) Their intent was probably very, very bad, not JUST to rob you. I'm so thankful that neither of you fell victim to anything
This is a personal story, but I want people to read it as well. Last summer, I was in Spain with a group of students from my college. We were walking in Madrid and an American man ran up to us FRANTICALLY talking- out of breath, very dirty, clothing all dirty and frumpy- he looked like he had just been in a car accident or out in the wilderness for a week. He said he was backpacking with his friends through Europe and that somehow, they had gotten split up. He had no money, no passport, nada on him. He asked us to give him a fixed amount of money (maybe 50 Euros? don't remember) so he could walk to the Embassy in Madrid and pay for something to do with his passport, which he no longer had. I think he wanted them to contact his home in the USA and wire over money or something. He also said he had a car at one point that had crashed, and he was concerned about getting in trouble for not returning a rented car, and would be arrested then basically screwed forever. He made his story seem like there had been so many horrors go on and that there was NO ANSWER for his plight. As if the least WE could do, as fellow Americans, was help him out in a foreign country, like WE were the only answer (lol... 4 18-21 yr old girls... sure). We ended up giving him like 5 Euros (8ish USD at the time) and he got pretty angry at us for not giving him the amount he wanted "Don't you understand what I'm telling you?!? I'm LOST here with NOTHING! I need HELP!" pulling his hair, making a scene (and the Spaniards are walkign by thinking... damn crazy Americans coming here..j/k). We eventually got to "We're sorry for you, I hope it turns out okay, just head towards the Embassy, they will be able to help you better than us."
I have heard of this type of a scam before. It seems just for $$, no other ulterior motive like in the other 2 stories. However, we, as a dead-giveaway as American girls in a foreign city, were an easy target, even for another "fellow American." Part of me felt sorry for him ("Who knows, maybe it's true? Maybe he needs help? Maybe even if he made it up, he's a pathological liar and needs to see a therapist and can't afford it?") I think of all crazy reasons why people need to help each other. But the bottom line is - there are people who try to take advantage of others and some who ARE OUT to HURT you.
What scares me about these stories is that both males (and the female) OFFERED something first. You know they wouldn't do this if they weren't positive they'd be getting it back shortly, or that they didn't have it at all ($500? a new tire in a "friend's shop"?) Their intent was probably very, very bad, not JUST to rob you. I'm so thankful that neither of you fell victim to anything
This is a personal story, but I want people to read it as well. Last summer, I was in Spain with a group of students from my college. We were walking in Madrid and an American man ran up to us FRANTICALLY talking- out of breath, very dirty, clothing all dirty and frumpy- he looked like he had just been in a car accident or out in the wilderness for a week. He said he was backpacking with his friends through Europe and that somehow, they had gotten split up. He had no money, no passport, nada on him. He asked us to give him a fixed amount of money (maybe 50 Euros? don't remember) so he could walk to the Embassy in Madrid and pay for something to do with his passport, which he no longer had. I think he wanted them to contact his home in the USA and wire over money or something. He also said he had a car at one point that had crashed, and he was concerned about getting in trouble for not returning a rented car, and would be arrested then basically screwed forever. He made his story seem like there had been so many horrors go on and that there was NO ANSWER for his plight. As if the least WE could do, as fellow Americans, was help him out in a foreign country, like WE were the only answer (lol... 4 18-21 yr old girls... sure). We ended up giving him like 5 Euros (8ish USD at the time) and he got pretty angry at us for not giving him the amount he wanted "Don't you understand what I'm telling you?!? I'm LOST here with NOTHING! I need HELP!" pulling his hair, making a scene (and the Spaniards are walkign by thinking... damn crazy Americans coming here..j/k). We eventually got to "We're sorry for you, I hope it turns out okay, just head towards the Embassy, they will be able to help you better than us."
I have heard of this type of a scam before. It seems just for $$, no other ulterior motive like in the other 2 stories. However, we, as a dead-giveaway as American girls in a foreign city, were an easy target, even for another "fellow American." Part of me felt sorry for him ("Who knows, maybe it's true? Maybe he needs help? Maybe even if he made it up, he's a pathological liar and needs to see a therapist and can't afford it?") I think of all crazy reasons why people need to help each other. But the bottom line is - there are people who try to take advantage of others and some who ARE OUT to HURT you.
I had no idea that Spain had enacted pedestrian fees. You and your group are very fortunate that authorities did not catch you walking without having paid and obliged you all to spend the rest of your visit standing still.
What was this dude thinking? People who cannot come up with something better than "I need money to walk to the Embassy" are not likely to be successful as robbers of unsuspecting tourists, and should probably choose a different occupation.
That is a bit scary. I would have never spoken to anyone on the phone for him. I would have directed him to go in a store or something and ask to speak to someone there. He had a phone and money. I would have said, I will call the police and perhaps they can help. Thanks for telling us this story. I will pass this along to the women in my family to be alert to someone coming up to them with a story.
Next time ladies try to get the license and make/model of car to report to police and also snap of pic of him with your phone. This is so very helpful.
