# The Latest Scam or is it you tell me?



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Driving out of the last major services on the A26 (the BP one), we were stopped at the exit by a Scottish man in a UK registered Volvo 340 at the exit slip road.

He claimed he had run out of money and needed to get back to Strasbourg. The main sob storey was that he had had to get a new water pump fitted and could we spare him 20 $Euros with a plea that he would return the money if we supplied our details.

If you cannot spare any Euros, any coins or UK sterling would be very much appreciated as they accept this at all the filling stations.

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So here we all are on the Autoroute Des Anglais, returning home after a wonderful holiday in France, pity on a fellow Brit Stranded with no money and oddly enough not on his way home to the UK?!

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So I thought oh well in for a penny in for a pound and paid my £10 subscription to motorhomefacts.

Replies please..................


Trev


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## richard863 (May 1, 2005)

*he Latest Scam or is it you tell me?*

Hi Trev

Beggars belief maybe genuine. 
I only say this because I to have caught in a situation when I was hit by a Kamikaze cloggess in Den Hague and the wife was at the camp site with all the money passports etc, needless to say not within walking distance, nor did we have mobile phones then. I was very grateful, and later drove to his house in Eindhoven to pay him back. But that was some 30 years ago now.


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## Guest (Jul 11, 2006)

20 Euros for fitting a new water pump seems a good price to me. I'd have been tempted to offer to accompany him whilst he arranged for the job to be done for that price, watch it done and then hand over the cash. If the guy was genuine he would accept the offer. 

However, I've heard similar tales of events like this in the UK as well as in Europe so I reckon it was a scam


Graham


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## Rapide561 (Oct 1, 2005)

*Scam*

Hi

Heartless as I am - scam.

Rapide561


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## Pusser (May 9, 2005)

Scam. This has happened twice to us in Calais. As I look stupid I am a magnet for this sort of thing. I also got ripped off at the big supermarket at the junctions to St. Maxim, St. Trop etc. They were immigrants from Yugoslavia I think collecting money for those made homeless in their country. Tehy went straight into the supermarket and got themselves some food and alcohol.


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## 92046 (May 1, 2005)

Scam, 
2004 just of the M6 near wolverhampton, we had just come out of toys-r-us and just closed the doors and about to start heading north, when a guy comes up and asked in a very courteous manner if we could help him out, he had run out of petrol the other side of the roundabout, had his baby in the car!!! left his wallet and phone at home, and the garage would not help him, so could I lend him the price of a gallon of petrol !!! ((I had locked my doors and only opened my window a small amount)) looking around I could see a filling station the other side of the large roundabout, so I said, I do not carry money on me, but if you walk over to the garage I will buy you a gallon of petrol and help to put it in the car, then I can return the empty can, I then drove to the garage, less than a minutes drive, waited for 15 minutes, no show, so decided to ask in the garage if anyone had tried to get a gallon of petrol on loan? in the past hour or so, and was told not yet today, but we normally get 2 - 3 a day trying it on, and you also get people asking drivers returning to the cars in the big car park over the roundabout, is that why you are asking.


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## JustRadio (May 21, 2005)

Cowly said:


> Scam,
> I said, I do not carry money on me, but if you walk over to the garage I will buy you a gallon of petrol and help to put it in the car, then I can return the empty can, I then drove to the garage, less than a minutes drive, waited for 15 minutes, no show.


I'm impressed, good thinking. I'm sure a version of that would work in many situations and well worth trying. Avoids being scammed whilst not becoming a heartless ****e.


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## altair (Mar 25, 2006)

*Scam*

Yes it's a scam

We got caught on the aire south of Calais last year on the southbound side.

We were approached by an englishman after watching him talk to another driver.

"I've taken the wrong turning and have not got enough fuel to get on to the next turning and then back to the UK, and I've run out of money. Could you help please?"

You get a much beter hit rate if you ask when the punters have just arrived with money than if you ask on the return side when they have spent it all. 
They trade on the "There but for the grace of god " ploy

Ask to see there driving license and then tell them you will phone the local gendarmarie as you are sure they will be able to send help to a distressed traveler.

Phone home from inside your vehicule and have an animated conversation for a minute or two. Then if they are still there after you have finished then you can help out


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## fdhadi (May 9, 2005)

Give them your address to get your money back, but remember to tell them not to send it yet because your away for 2wks.

"Why not just give them the keys to your house, save them doing any damage to doors or windows"


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## boatyard (May 1, 2005)

We had a similar thing in a service area near Metz last year. Young female drove quickly alongside us and apparently in a distressed state said she needed money for fuel to get home. I'm sure she had only just driven off the motorway but said the service staff wouldn't help her when I suggested asking them. I asked my other half what she thought and she wasn't convinced ( I think the woman might have had more luck in that direction if she hadn't been quite so young and attractive ) Anyway while I was trying to work out how much fuel she would get for the money she wanted and how far her car would go another car parked up and she started the same routine on them just as distressed again although she had calmed down while talking to me. I decided she was a very good actress and my usualy very sluggish old merc engine was surprisingly quick off the mark. I still worried she may have been genuine but am 99% sure she wasn't, it's a sad world though when you cant help those in real need because of all the con artists. 

Stuart


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## Texas (May 9, 2005)

Scam!

There was a suspect looking fellow in a beat-up UK registered Sierra doing the rounds of the Calais 'sans billets' car park a couple of years back. 
We watched him as he toured round the car park tapping all the Uk registered vehicles. Some gave, others didn't, we included. His story was he had missed his scheduled ferry and would have to pay the higher fare - for which he had run out of money...for all I know he could be still there.

Texas


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