What kind of scam could this have been?

CheltenhamLady · 2023-04-25T13:05:05+00:00

Yesterday we were travelling from the south and stopped at Keeele services. My DH went inside whilst I stayed in the car. When he returned he asked me if I had seen a man stop him, I hadn't, but he explained the chap was Irish and well spoken and had told him that he was over in England with his family and urgently needed to go to Peterborough Hospital, but that he needed someone to look after his passport whilst he did that. My DH just said he didn't want to get involved and the chap said no problem and walked off. We are now racking our brains about what motive lay behind it. Why would you need to leave your passport with a complete stranger whilst visiting a hospital? He didn't have any physical contact with my DH so there was no pickpocketing motive, and nothing else was asked for such as a lift or money. Any ideas, we assume it must be some sort of scam, but we cannot think of what it could be.

neverknowinglyunreasonable · 25/04/2023 14:07

This makes no sense. I think it was a cover story your husband came up with in case you saw him chatting. I hate to say this but your husband is a liar who cannot be trusted and I think you should leave him.

Hope this helps.

Ramunea · 25/04/2023 14:10

neverknowinglyunreasonable · 25/04/2023 14:07

This makes no sense. I think it was a cover story your husband came up with in case you saw him chatting. I hate to say this but your husband is a liar who cannot be trusted and I think you should leave him.

Hope this helps.

How on earth did you get that conclusion by what was written?

Im sorry but LOL

AgrathaChristie · 25/04/2023 14:10

It was leading on to something else? How was the passport to be returned, did it involve your DH giving out your address / his phone number. On its own it doesn’t seem to make sense but if it led on to another favour….

mindutopia · 25/04/2023 14:11

It could have been a distraction technique for pickpocketing (that wasn't successful, in this sense). Often they will have someone engage you in a conversation that catches you off-guard (as this would as your brain would be trying to figure out what the hell the catch was) while someone else pickpockets you. You'd be amazed how much people don't even notice when they are distracted.

Alternatively, I am wondering if it could be some sort of thing where this guy hands his passport off to someone and then accuses that person of having stolen his passport, then out steps a friendly 'police officer' or 'security guard' who searches whoever took the passport and doesn't believe the (ridiculous) story about keeping some random's passport safe. And then either pickpockets or gets a 'fine' or something to be paid to avoid any 'charges'. I saw a similar sort of scam in Spain once with very realistic looking fake police officers. Though I imagine without the language barrier, it would be much easier to smell a rat or ask for help.

I'm curious though to know!

Identifyingasadolphin · 25/04/2023 14:13

I would want to report it to Security at Keele Services - so they can monitor cctv and have feet on the ground to identify the vehicle and be proactive with whatever is going on.

userxx · 25/04/2023 14:13

neverknowinglyunreasonable · 25/04/2023 14:07

This makes no sense. I think it was a cover story your husband came up with in case you saw him chatting. I hate to say this but your husband is a liar who cannot be trusted and I think you should leave him.

Hope this helps.

What!!!!! This is the most insane thing I've ever read on MN and that is saying something.

Ramunea · 25/04/2023 14:14

My bet is it was a stolen passport and the guy was trying to flog it or get rid.

TheYearOfSmallThings · 25/04/2023 14:18

I would guess the man was suffering from paranoia or mental illness of some kind.

itsgettingweird · 25/04/2023 14:23

AgrathaChristie · 25/04/2023 14:10

It was leading on to something else? How was the passport to be returned, did it involve your DH giving out your address / his phone number. On its own it doesn’t seem to make sense but if it led on to another favour….

This is probably what was happening.

LakeTiticaca · 25/04/2023 14:31

Definitely odd behaviour and your DH was wise not to get involved. Also good idea to report it to Keele services security so they can keep an eye on things

CardinalCopia · 25/04/2023 15:20

I'm not far from Keele.
In this area there has been someone who needs to get to Stafford Hospital urgently as his wife is in labour. By my reckoning she's been in labour now for about 14 years but you'd be surprised how many people give him money for a taxi. He appears regularly in many of our local towns.

I'd imagine it's soma variation on that, it probably would have gone on to 'lend me £50 for a taxi and i'll give you my passport as a guarantee'. These people are rather good at reading potential victims so probably realised he wasn't getting anything out of your DH and moved on.

userxx · 25/04/2023 15:31

CardinalCopia · 25/04/2023 15:20

I'm not far from Keele.
In this area there has been someone who needs to get to Stafford Hospital urgently as his wife is in labour. By my reckoning she's been in labour now for about 14 years but you'd be surprised how many people give him money for a taxi. He appears regularly in many of our local towns.

I'd imagine it's soma variation on that, it probably would have gone on to 'lend me £50 for a taxi and i'll give you my passport as a guarantee'. These people are rather good at reading potential victims so probably realised he wasn't getting anything out of your DH and moved on.

My dad fell for something similar, a really flustered guy who needed to get to the hospital as his dad had just had a cancer op and something had gone wrong. Twat.

Original poster

CheltenhamLady · 25/04/2023 16:03

Thanks, I agree it was probably leading to him asking for something more because the request was ridiculous on the face of it.

I would have asked for more detail (unwisely and because I am nosy!!) but my DH just stopped him dead and walked on.

Lol at the Ltb post😂

OP posts:

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 25/04/2023 16:07

I think the LTB is a joke.

Tealsofa · 25/04/2023 16:10

neverknowinglyunreasonable · 25/04/2023 14:07

This makes no sense. I think it was a cover story your husband came up with in case you saw him chatting. I hate to say this but your husband is a liar who cannot be trusted and I think you should leave him.

Hope this helps.

what?????????

CardinalCopia · 25/04/2023 16:35

userxx · 25/04/2023 15:31

My dad fell for something similar, a really flustered guy who needed to get to the hospital as his dad had just had a cancer op and something had gone wrong. Twat.

Show quote history

Sorry your Dad was conned @userxx but it is easy to fall for. I recall first time he tried it on me I had DD in a pram, I guess he thought trying Mums would garner the sympathy. Same with older folk sadly. They pick their targets and go from there. I guess it seems plausible.

He did collar me again some years later. I asked him if he'd contacted Guinness but I think it was lost on him.

@CheltenhamLady if it happens again just say no and walk away, I wouldn't enter into much dialogue as they can get quite nasty. I think your DH got it right there. If he was looking for drug money you could end up in a dangerous situation.
I get it though, I'm nosey as well 😂

Swansandcustard · 25/04/2023 19:29

last weekend I had 2 ne’er do wells ask my if I would mind putting my debit card into the card reader so they could retrieve their online tickets. I was more annoyed that I clearly have ‘vulnerable old woman’ vibes than them trying to scam me. Fuckers.

BirdChirp · 25/04/2023 20:44

I think it was a fake passport leading up to asking money for a cab with a "well of course I'll return the money, you have my passport". Seems quite an outlay though for the scammer to have a fake passport.

I got conned a few years ago and I don't think I'm particularly gullible, I've lived in London for many decades and am used to people trying it on but this one got me. Older guy, torn shirt, told me he worked for the Samaritans and had been mugged, needed train fare home. I googled it later and he is well known in the area for the scam.