New Scam Alert!!

[itsbob]

In the past (there is a thread about it) I've been stopped by scammers in the Sheetz parking lot.. "I'm stuck, need money for gas.. sob story, sob story.. " and I'd tell the. "Pull up to the pump, whatever pump you pull up to, I'll go put $10 on at the register!" This, in the past, would make them disappear.. One drove from the 235 Sheetz, SOuth to WAWA to try the same scam again.

Well this morning, another scam, same scenarios, but at the Great Mills Rd Sheetz.. This time they let me put $10 on the pump that they were parked at. So, being the non-trusting soul I am, I decided to hang around (had to wait for my sammich to be built anyways) to see what would happen.

SO, here's the intel I gained. They'll let you put $$ on the pump hoping you use cash (I used my card).. then when they think you've driven off (I stood behind a large panel van with my bike) they go inside and ask for a refund. "Pumps not working." "Gas tank is already full." etc etc

Their scam didn't work this time being that I put it on my card, Sheetz just refunded my money to my card. If I had used cash they would have scored the $10 in cash.

Once they realized they had been had they spotted me in the parking lot and I guess they figured $10 in gas was better than nothing!! "Can you swipe your card again? We tried it twice and it didn't work, but if you swipe it again we can get some gas!" Nope, sorry.. You only get one chance, and you used yours up.

Not a big loss for me, but I still would have been taken advantage of.

 

[glhs837]

Getting tricky, arent they. Good work Bob.

 

[GWguy]

It really is a shame when you have to be that un-trusting and cynical these days. That one person that really could use a hand and is really stuck will be thought of as a scammer.

 

[chernmax]

So you're a scam magnet!

Thanks for the 411, never happens to me at the base gas station though...

 

[itsbob]

That one person that really could use a hand and is really stuck will be thought of as a scammer.

THis is why I TRY to help without being a sucker. If they need the help they'll pump the gas... But I'd be thinking about it the rest of the day (or at least until the next corner) if I didn't TRY to help.

One of these times it really will be a parent or a child in dire straits that really doesn't have a way to get home..

 

[Nanny Pam]

We get them over here too. They bug me.

My line, when they ask for money is..."I never carry cash, but I'd be happy to call a policeman for you and I'm sure he'd help you out.."

Gone!

 

[itsbob]

So you're a scam magnet!

Thanks for the 411, never happens to me at the base gas station though...

I think it's my dashing good looks, and my friendly face..

I've been hit up by ALL of them.. 3 different ones at the 235 Sheetz.. One at the Great Mills SHeetz, and the woman with the daughter at Fairfax hospital in the Wal Mart parking lot (her daughter has been in the Fairfax Hospital for a VERY long time!)

 

[CREResident]

Mama's Advice -- Don't Talk to Strangers

I like your story. That's funny....

I tell my wife that if she is ever approached..... to be loud and mean, and attract a lot of attention to herself (set off the car alarm, yell, curse, etc....) go back in the store if she has to.

We get this all the time around Baltimore.... people walking up (no car) saying they need money for gas.... They wander off the public rail transportation bumming crack money at gas stations and shopping centers.

Most of the time, I suppose, they are just trying to get some cash for drugs, booze, whatever... But it is also a trick to get close to a person and rob them.

The crackhead thugs will ask for something nominal like a quarter, a light, or whatever... "I'm only 50 cents short for the bus fare... etc.". And often, there's more than 1 person.... a woman begging or money to feed her baby... and if you look around, the crackhead boyfriend is pacing just a little bit away.

When they engage you in a conversation, it looks friendly so no one around notices anything out of the ordinary... until they stick you with a knife or grab your purse, etc....

Sometimes, it's just a distraction so someone else can grab your purse or other valuables. I knew someone who had their purse stolen in New York in the middle of a busy restaurant. A couple was at a nearby table, the man was acting drunk and falling out of his chair. Then eventually the woman with him left cash on the table and told the man he was too drunk and she was taking him home, apologizing to everyone in the restaurant on the way out.... meanwhile, no one noticed that they walked off with the purses of people sitting at adjacent tables!!!

 

[lnmarsh]

Dang, good job Bob!

They're getting smarter... I wish I could be as dishonest as some people and still sleep at night. I'd just have to keep in mind to not target Bob at the Sheetz

 

[GWguy]

Dang, good job Bob!

They're getting smarter... I wish I could be as dishonest as some people and still sleep at night. I'd just have to keep in mind to not target Bob at the Sheetz

I can tell you what he looks like and what vehicles he drives so you could hit him up just for the heck of it.....Just for the fun of it.

 

[vraiblonde]

I simply do not speak to strangers who approach me. Or if I'm courteous to them by accident, I don't feel bad about walking away from them. I don't know them, I don't owe them, and their problem is not my problem.

:shrug:

 

[stormer41]

I simply do not speak to strangers who approach me. Or if I'm courteous to them by accident, I don't feel bad about walking away from them. I don't know them, I don't owe them, and their problem is not my problem.

:shrug:

I agree with you 100%

They want money...then they need to go find a job.

 

[FED_UP]

In the past (there is a thread about it) I've been stopped by scammers in the Sheetz parking lot.. "I'm stuck, need money for gas.. sob story, sob story.. " and I'd tell the. "Pull up to the pump, whatever pump you pull up to, I'll go put $10 on at the register!" This, in the past, would make them disappear.. One drove from the 235 Sheetz, SOuth to WAWA to try the same scam again.

Well this morning, another scam, same scenarios, but at the Great Mills Rd Sheetz.. This time they let me put $10 on the pump that they were parked at. So, being the non-trusting soul I am, I decided to hang around (had to wait for my sammich to be built anyways) to see what would happen.

SO, here's the intel I gained. They'll let you put $$ on the pump hoping you use cash (I used my card).. then when they think you've driven off (I stood behind a large panel van with my bike) they go inside and ask for a refund. "Pumps not working." "Gas tank is already full." etc etc

Their scam didn't work this time being that I put it on my card, Sheetz just refunded my money to my card. If I had used cash they would have scored the $10 in cash.

Once they realized they had been had they spotted me in the parking lot and I guess they figured $10 in gas was better than nothing!! "Can you swipe your card again? We tried it twice and it didn't work, but if you swipe it again we can get some gas!" Nope, sorry.. You only get one chance, and you used yours up.

Not a big loss for me, but I still would have been taken advantage of.

Great going But the one to look out for is InMarsh, she has these hot looks that make men fill her gas tank up, don't look into her eyes.

 

[nicole_M]

I like your story. That's funny....

I tell my wife that if she is ever approached..... to be loud and mean, and attract a lot of attention to herself (set off the car alarm, yell, curse, etc....) go back in the store if she has to.

We get this all the time around Baltimore.... people walking up (no car) saying they need money for gas.... They wander off the public rail transportation bumming crack money at gas stations and shopping centers.

Most of the time, I suppose, they are just trying to get some cash for drugs, booze, whatever... But it is also a trick to get close to a person and rob them.

The crackhead thugs will ask for something nominal like a quarter, a light, or whatever... "I'm only 50 cents short for the bus fare... etc.". And often, there's more than 1 person.... a woman begging or money to feed her baby... and if you look around, the crackhead boyfriend is pacing just a little bit away.

When they engage you in a conversation, it looks friendly so no one around notices anything out of the ordinary... until they stick you with a knife or grab your purse, etc....

Sometimes, it's just a distraction so someone else can grab your purse or other valuables. I knew someone who had their purse stolen in New York in the middle of a busy restaurant. A couple was at a nearby table, the man was acting drunk and falling out of his chair. Then eventually the woman with him left cash on the table and told the man he was too drunk and she was taking him home, apologizing to everyone in the restaurant on the way out.... meanwhile, no one noticed that they walked off with the purses of people sitting at adjacent tables!!!

We went to Baltimore for the weekend and walked into a 7-11 to get our kids a drink for the walk back to the hotel.

There was a couple there asking for money, and he said "whatever you are buying we will use our food stamps and pay for it and you give me the cash!" I couldn't believe 7-11 allowed these people to solicit money in their store and allow them to buy other people's stuff w/ their food stamps. They asked every single person who walked in there... Disgusting. I watched 3 people [in a matter of minutes] let them do it, too!

 

[GopherM]

They pull the same crap at the rest stops on the interstates. I had one approach me on I-75 south of Atlanta. Hood up, oil containers out, working hard to fix his problem. Could I loan him some money to get the problem fixed.

Several months later, SAME guy, hoot up, oil container out, working hard to fix his problem on the same car on I-95 about 80 miles away from the first encounter.

Both times I refused to help him he became very rude.

Second time, I went to the maintenance supervisor at the rest stop and he call the state police and was keeping an eye on the guy when we left.

 

[IrishGirl]

I think it's my dashing good looks, and my friendly face..

I've been hit up by ALL of them.. 3 different ones at the 235 Sheetz.. One at the Great Mills SHeetz, and the woman with the daughter at Fairfax hospital in the Wal Mart parking lot (her daughter has been in the Fairfax Hospital for a VERY long time!)

I just got hit up by the lady with the Fairfax story for the 1st time today. Now she just came knocking on my door!! You'd think she'd at least come up with a new story! How long has she been at this?

 

[itsbob]

I just got hit up by the lady with the Fairfax story for the 1st time today. Now she just came knocking on my door!! You'd think she'd at least come up with a new story! How long has she been at this?

At LEAST 18 months..

She hit us up in the Wal Mart parking lot Spring 09. Seeing how she hasn't changed her story, just her location, it must be pretty lucrative.

 

[ewashkow]

I remember one time I was driving to Huntingtown and in Prince Frederick the "hey stupid, you need gas" light came on. I pulled into a gas station and started looking for either cash or a credit card. No luck. I only had my checkbook.

I walked into the station and asked on of the attendants on duty if I could write a check for gas since I had no other way to pay. The guy said the store couldn't accept checks but he would be willing to give me $10 on the pump. I thanked him but I also asked why he was doing it. He said "sometimes you just have to help another person out. I don't need the $10 but you do". I thanked him again, pumped my gas, and drove away.

The next day, I went back to the station and the same guy was working. I handed him the $10 I had used the day before. The guy admitted he was surprised that I returned the money and I said "I know there are people out there who would have scammed you. Just wanted you to know there are still a few decent ones out there."

 

[ICit]

I remember one time I was driving to Huntingtown and in Prince Frederick the "hey stupid, you need gas" light came on. I pulled into a gas station and started looking for either cash or a credit card. No luck. I only had my checkbook.

I walked into the station and asked on of the attendants on duty if I could write a check for gas since I had no other way to pay. The guy said the store couldn't accept checks but he would be willing to give me $10 on the pump. I thanked him but I also asked why he was doing it. He said "sometimes you just have to help another person out. I don't need the $10 but you do". I thanked him again, pumped my gas, and drove away.

The next day, I went back to the station and the same guy was working. I handed him the $10 I had used the day before. The guy admitted he was surprised that I returned the money and I said "I know there are people out there who would have scammed you. Just wanted you to know there are still a few decent ones out there."

cool

at the vet we had a husband a wife pay the WHOLE bill to have a strangers cat seen... and then they paid to have the cat treated over night at the hospital. .... not many people like that out there... they were great people... I wish I was able to thank them ONE MORE TIME for helping someone in need.

 

[CalvertNewbie]

I agree with you 100%

They want money...then they need to go find a job.

Agreed, I never give money to anyone. I tell them I never carry cash, if I bother acknowledging them at all. Often times, I'll just shake my head "no" and keep walking. Way too many scammers out there. And I rarely ever answer my door if I'm not expecting company or a delivery.

I remember one time I was driving to Huntingtown and in Prince Frederick the "hey stupid, you need gas" light came on. I pulled into a gas station and started looking for either cash or a credit card. No luck. I only had my checkbook.

I walked into the station and asked on of the attendants on duty if I could write a check for gas since I had no other way to pay. The guy said the store couldn't accept checks but he would be willing to give me $10 on the pump. I thanked him but I also asked why he was doing it. He said "sometimes you just have to help another person out. I don't need the $10 but you do". I thanked him again, pumped my gas, and drove away.

The next day, I went back to the station and the same guy was working. I handed him the $10 I had used the day before. The guy admitted he was surprised that I returned the money and I said "I know there are people out there who would have scammed you. Just wanted you to know there are still a few decent ones out there."

That was really nice of him. I guess you have an honest look about you. He's probably seen his share of scammers and could tell that you're not one.