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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to send money to a Moroccan taxi driver

554 replies

Autumnterm · 26/04/2022 16:08

Back in 2018 I went to Marrakech on holiday with my son. I can’t remember exactly how but I ended up getting the phone number of a friendly local taxi driver who took us from A to B several times. When we went back the following year we used him for our airport transfers both ways.

Since Feb 2020 we haven’t travelled abroad anywhere but I would occasionally get a text from him saying hello or how are you, to which I would respond hello/salaam/labas and that was that. I didn’t think much about it except that he was checking in just in case I was headed to Morocco and was tempted to use another taxi driver....and I did at one point recommend him to a relative going there but their trip was recently cancelled due to COVID.

Anyway cut forward to this week. He texted again and said hello my dear friend how are you and your family, and I responded as usual.

But this time he went on to say that life is hard for him, he has had no work due to the collapse in tourism and as a result he cannot pay for his kids to go to school. He sent me a picture of them - a boy and a girl, they look to be about 3 and 5 years old so I presume he means nursery school.

Stupidly (maybe) I asked how much was school and he said €90.

He has since sent me several texts asking if i will help pay for his kids to go to school. His English is not perfect but it sounds like he wants €30 a month for three months and he says in return if/when we go back he will drive us anywhere we want.

On one hand I know that Marrakech is one of the scam cities of the universe (lots of the people who run investment scams targeting UK pensioners are actually based there). I have no way of knowing if the kids in the photo he has sent me are really his and if there really is a charge to go to school and if he really has no work.

On the other hand €30 is affordable for me and I genuinely do feel sorry for people who rely on tourist revenue who have had a very hard time of it over the last two years. Morocco is open for tourists now but it was locked down for the whole 2020 season and some of 2021.

Would I BU to send him some €?

OP posts:
Sawadeekaka · 27/04/2022 04:39

The story sounds plausible as do the amounts. i live in a country with a similar development level to Morocco and many parents do send their kids to private schools which charge those kind of amounts. Government schools are often crap and anyone who has aspirations for their kids will tend to avoid them.

I don't think YABU either way. It's not huge amounts if you can afford it but you'd have to expect that the money may be used in ways you don't know for sure and it may indeed be a scam.

Where I live, I do give to elderly/adult disabled beggars as life is extremely hard for them. I don't give to children or mothers with babies. There ARE limited social services here, especially for children, and there's too much risk of kids being exploited, including having been trafficked from poorer neighbouring countries, for me to give to children or people using children (I will give them food). It's a personal choice. Of course, the money I give to adult beggars may be a scam but I see local people giving so I figure it's OK.

augustusglupe · 27/04/2022 05:15

My parents befriended a few locals when we went on holiday to Sierra Leone in 1978. Months after we got home came the begging letters. There was going to be a wedding and they thought my mum & dad could pay for most of it...

Do not send any money OP

Terven · 27/04/2022 05:45

He using your “white saviour complex” to scam you!

dustandroses · 27/04/2022 05:58

I don't think you would BU to send it if you wanted to, when you can easily afford it and have kept in touch for years without any requests. You could have said no and blocked him if the requests kept coming.

We had a chef from Sharm on our social media from a hotel we stayed in a few times. It would be messages like happy birthday, eid muburak, how are you, when are you visiting, that sort of thing. We were there when the plane blew up and afterwards I messaged him to see if he had found work elsewhere, he had. During lockdown he told us how he had gone home and we transferred some money, we could afford it. I didn't regret it and if every person he had kept in touch with over the years had sent him money or if he had spent 4 years grooming us for a very small pay off I really don't care.

Mummyoflittledragon · 27/04/2022 06:02

I think I’d send the money as a one off. The more people, who know a little of the country, the more it seems plausible.

Eggshelly · 27/04/2022 06:02

You're way overthinking it. Give the money to a charity if you feel bad. But I'd stop contacting him. He's not a friend, he was your taxi driver.

GhostofMaudFlanders · 27/04/2022 06:12

I'm absolutely stunned by the number of posters who think there's no harm in this.

The breathtaking naivety is how scammers thrive and survive.

Justdiscovered · 27/04/2022 06:28

It’s not naive. Op can afford it and why got if there’s a chance of helping someone out. This is a known person who you have had a ‘business’ relationship several times,
you can easily say no to future requests and bless vi the number. You can send the money through western union and they won’t have your bank details.
all in the chance you just be giving a you g person good opportunities.
There is no potential harm to the op in this.

Justdiscovered · 27/04/2022 06:29

Block the number not bless it!!!

dustandroses · 27/04/2022 06:30

GhostofMaudFlanders · 27/04/2022 06:12

I'm absolutely stunned by the number of posters who think there's no harm in this.

The breathtaking naivety is how scammers thrive and survive.

Does it matter, if you do it with your eyes open, can afford it and choose to do it? What harm has come to me by sending someone I liked a one off payment? I've lost more paying for a concert ticket where the performance was rubbish, and then I really did feel scammed.

notacooldad · 27/04/2022 06:50

I think he has played the long game. He has kept in touch with you but I bet you are not the only one.
I bet if you sent the money he would repay it as it is a relatively small amount to build your trust and then ask for a larger amount because some crisis has happened. You wo t see that again.
I know I'm cynical.

cloudcats · 27/04/2022 06:53

Cervinia · 26/04/2022 16:11

Google says education is compulsory and free in Morocco to 15.

Education is free and compulsory in the UK.

We still pay massive nursery fees, though. don't we?

I do think the OP should be suspicious, but this isn't the gotcha you think it is.

Wheniruletheworld · 27/04/2022 07:00

TweetTweetMF · 26/04/2022 16:21

I would he's made the effort to be friendly and check in on you. 90 euros isn't much to us, but a lot for them.

90 euros is a fuck of a lot of money to many of us in this country. What an entitled comment that is!
And when will British women stop falling for these scams? They have been going on for decades; plausible story... for family, train fare, food, education, gas bill - the list goes on. Never a 'grear deal' of money, but lots of small amounts add up to big amounts.
OP get a grip, don't send anything
TweetTweetMF, please don't assume that nearly £80 is a small amount. More importantly, don't encourage scammimg

Beautifulmonster87 · 27/04/2022 07:03

No way. Don’t be crazy! He kept in touch to bet money from him, he didn’t genuinely care how you were!

Sally090807 · 27/04/2022 07:07

It’s people like you they target, don’t part with any money, they try this countless times with many women. My family member is sick, I have no food etc etc.

Tunisia is bad for this too.

Sally090807 · 27/04/2022 07:08

GhostofMaudFlanders · 27/04/2022 06:12

I'm absolutely stunned by the number of posters who think there's no harm in this.

The breathtaking naivety is how scammers thrive and survive.

This a billion times

Moodycow78 · 27/04/2022 07:08

He saw you coming, block number, do not send money!

Mungojerry69 · 27/04/2022 07:11

It's a con. Don't fall for it.

TokyoTen · 27/04/2022 07:12

I'd not send any money and block. Education is free in Morocco anyway.

Sushi7 · 27/04/2022 07:20

@Autumnterm he has sent the same message to everyone in his contact list. He’s sent the updates to anyone who has replied. PP have said school is free in Morocco so he’s definitely lying. The kids probably aren’t his.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 27/04/2022 07:24

Scianel · 26/04/2022 22:39

he’s a bit pissed off that you were (sensibly) checking for some extra information

He's offended that his honesty is being called into question.

If he was genuine he'd understand that OP was sceptical for good reason.

If someone I met a couple of times four years ago from any country asked me for money I would be cynical!

grapewines · 27/04/2022 07:27

He has been running a long con on you, and now he's offended that you called him on it. Why do you think a taxi driver, who doesn't know you from Adam cared how you are? He didn't, but he figured if you thought he was genuine you would feel guilty when he asked for money. He was right.

It's shocking that people still fall for this. Save your money and block.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 27/04/2022 07:29

Does it matter, if you do it with your eyes open, can afford it and choose to do it? What harm has come to me by sending someone I liked a one off payment?

Of course it matters.

You have zero idea where that money is going or where it will end up. You don't know whether it will end up in a bank account that's related to crime, for example, or whether it will end up being spent on drugs or worse.

The more people think "oh, it doesn't matter as I can afford it", the more these scams will thrive. Next time it might be your mum with dementia or Alzheimer's that they target and get money off, or your granddad living on a tiny pension who then ends up with nothing.

Stop giving strangers money! And yes, this man is a stranger - OP met him a handful of times four years ago - she doesn't know that anything he's told her is true. It's his job as a taxi driver to befriend the tourists as that's how they make their money!

Scianel · 27/04/2022 07:31

This thread very much has a "what about are own" vibe, I'm out. It's also bordering on racist.

Enough4me · 27/04/2022 07:31

The throwing in religion part could be taken lots of ways, it gains an upper hand on you, suggests that money will come from a good source so may make you rethink to be good.
He will probably still keep in contact either way and have a sick mum soon.

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