to send money to a Moroccan taxi driver

[Autumnterm]

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 €?

This is a well known scam. My (kind, gullible, trusting) aunt got drawn into something similar with a guy in India who'd she'd used as a guide. He kept in touch via Facebook, posted pictures of his kids, said how hard up they were, she started sending him money and clothes for the DC until we told her that he was scamming her. Wise up OP.

If you can want to and can afford it I would send the money, but make it clear it's a one-off. After all, you entrusted your safety to this man. Any further requests you can politely refuse and block his number.

That €90 for 3 months will quickly turn into 6 months then a year..
Also oh my car has suddenly broken down now I can't work, please can I have €200 promise I will pay you back soon.

The gullible people on this thread. 🙄

Yes, because an intelligent, educated, savvy woman who is already dithering about whether or not to give the guy 90 quid is definitely going to end up remortgaging her home and appearing in Chat magazine

I just despair.

Well, you can't say it doesn't happen because it does...

This...

Versions of this have happened several times to me and pals.

Ultimately you have no idea whether genuine or not...

But the thing I came back to... With us... It was an Egyptian cafe owner... From a holiday 7 years ago 😁.... We're we the ONLY people he could ask?? Of course not... It's not difficult is it... Go through your phone book... Then email /text everyone asking for 90 euros... Even if only 10 per cent bite... It's a nice earner....

whoever said donate to a food bank, I already do

whoever said donate to DEC, I already do.

whoever said donate to “proper charities”, I donate to a bunch of them, large and small (although not Oxfam actually since the Haiti thing)

whoever said you’ll get scammed out of your life savings.... I have helped a neighbour who got scammed out of her life savings and it wasn’t by a poor Moroccan taxi driver asking for €30, it was by a bunch of plausible white British people who promised her 10% risk free returns if she gave them £80k.

whoever said don’t go to Morocco again - why?

whoever said “you wouldn’t help a random London taxi driver” - actually I did find a black cab driver on the internet whose earnings were really suffering when the pandemic started. I ended up hiring him to take my son to school every morning (whenever schools were open) which was sometimes the only earnings he made that day. I’d do the same for the Moroccan one if I was there, but I am not.

Why did you post OP as it's fairly clear from your updates that you are perfectly sure that you are not being unreasonable, and that what you were really after was for everyone to gush and say what a lovely person you are.

@pixie5121 - OP has no proof that the "guy" she has been messaging is the person she fleetingly met 4 years ago. Nobody is saying not to help anyone out, ever. Just that a wee bit of due diligence is essential, and if you cannot verify the story, then donating in other ways through foodbanks or recognised charities operating locally is the way to go.

People get scammed all the time, and postings like this - on a very open, widely-used forum, are just fuel to the fire of scammers who will read this thread and see that there are dozens of people willing to part with their money very quickly, no questions asked.

This thread is a perfect example of why begging scams thrive.

No way to sending any money. He may be a pleasant chap but this seems like a scam. Several years ago on a P&O ship my daughter and I were chatting to a waiter on several occasions. They did text after that and then came the request for money! Obviously a user.

I wouldn't sign up to give him an amount per month, but if you've got the cash available then perhaps you could send what is would have cost you for airport transfers. That way you get to help him out whilst not having 'mug' and 'potential future target' stamped on you.

Just saw something along the lines of life getting more expensive here so you don't have much spare money at the moment, but as you know how hard it has been for him here is the money he would have made from a few trips if you were there. You hope to save up and go out there and will make sure that you use his services then and recommend him to any friends etc etc.

@pixie5121
No ‘mental gymnastics’ needed. This sort of thing has been known to happen.
You’re imagining someone sat with a phone, thinking about asking for money every 4 years etc but it’s not just a single person, and all of this can be automated anyway. WhatsApp has an API, messages can be sent programmatically. Numbers can also be spoofed.

This particular taxi driver aside waiting years does happen, if people are repeat/regular tourists they usually wait a couple of visits.

People like to think they are not stupid enough to be scammed.

There was also a comment about white saviour complex, personally I think MN is absolutely riddled with people who feel very guilty about being white. I know racism exists I suffered hugely as a child and my mixed children also experienced racism but I personally think it’s ridiculous to feel guilty for the actions of others who happen to be in your group.

Giant nope.

@CharityShopChic

RTFT, I have explained my reasons for posting. I don’t need people to give me virtual pats on the back and it would be naive to expect any from MNers. But the responses have been useful, particularly from those with knowledge of the country who say that the nursery school set up and fees he is asking for sounds realistic.

We last saw this guy in the summer of 2019, so less than three years ago. And three weeks ago he was supposed to be picking up my relatives from the airport (which got cancelled last minute by them b/c COVID). If I really wanted to check it was him, I could simply ask him where it was we stayed when we were last there.

Not buying it, OP. You have clearly made your mind up. So why post at all?

I honestly can't understand why you are contemplating giving money to someone you hired as a taxi driver.

You've assumed he is struggling financially. He is just as likely not struggling. He may not have children who may or may not go to school. He may be hitting up every single foreign contact in his phone for "only" €30 a month.

You have no obligation to give him money. It isn't "being nice" it is supporting well known methods of scamming people.

I'm also concerned that you are giving money to lots of different people because you can afford it. Do you feel guilty or a need to fix people?

You are also unlikely to get free taxi trips from him if you ever return to Marrakesh. Because I'm sure he won't be there but a friend will be, or he will also you to (quote rightly) pay for the trip you actually take. And possibly even ask for more money and you'll tell yourself you are a good and kind person and give him cash.

Stop feeling guilty and handing money over to strangers. It isn't good or kind. It is very "white saviour" and you are easy prey for future scams.

I am baffled, absolutely baffled, that you think this was ever a reasonable thing to do.

But the responses have been useful, particularly from those with knowledge of the country who say that the nursery school set up and fees he is asking for sounds realistic.

If I'd been naive enough to believe the story and be conned I'd probably tell you this too.

It is NOT a 'scam'. A scam involves trickery, lies, fakeness - this seems genuine. He is asking someone he has met several times directly for a small amount of money. No reason to believe he is lying. This isn't a scam, he just asking to be sent some money from someone he knows can afford it. No big deal. Send it if you want, don't send it if you don't want but let's not pretend that he's some big criminal and will end up leaving OP destitute.

I don't think OP is gullible. It is the guilt that comes from doing relatively 'well' in a country with a welfare system, in sharp contrast to people in a developing country who have nothing to fall back on. It is a very familiar and unpleasant feeling for me.

There are dozens and dozens of charities which are ready to help you assuage that guilt.

*I have never been scammed. I've spent loads of time in the developing world, have made contacts there, some of them have occasionally asked for help or a small amount of money. Not a single one has asked for more or taken the piss, and almost all of them have provided me with help and advice probably worth more than the amount of money I gave them.

I think some people confuse 'cynical and cautious' with 'heartless and cruel'*

Particularly agree with this comment.
I think most people on MN haven't been further than Spain with TUI package holidays. That's fine, but don't pretend you know about the world and how everyone from foreign countries are out to get you. Asking for less than 100 pounds from someone you've met several times and stayed in contact with is not a big deal. From the sounds of it he isn't being threatening or rude, has just asked and given a detailed explanation. So what? I'd send it to him because that money to me is just a meal out or a nice top - it sounds like it would make the world of difference to him.