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 €?

Surely sending money to a taxi driver you used once four years ago is the opposite of an enriching experience.

And it’s really nothing to do with being ‘suspicious of foreigners trying to fleece me.’ I wouldn’t respond to a British taxi driver who drove me somewhere four years ago asking for money either.

People aren't saying this screams scam because they are lonely paranoid folk with a narrow view of the world. They are saying it screams scam because it just does.

This taxi driver is a stranger. He drove OP about a few times, years ago. He sends messages randomly just to make sure the number is still live. Then asks strangers for money.

Saying "oooh, it's just part of their culture" is definitely coming across as racist/White saviour approach to "other people". It comes across as tossing a scrap of cash at the poor foreigner.

Yes, it is paranoid to assume the worst of absolutely everyone. Sorry you don't see that.

You are making more assumptions than me...

I'm sure he's messaging everyone he knows to try to get money off them - block and delete his number

I am sickened by the people insisting this is a scam. It's not a scam, it's a desperate poor person seeking help in difficult circumstances from what he perceives as a likely source. Yes it's cheeky, yes it's presumptuous but it's also almost certainly completely on the level. He may be using school fees as a pretext because he thinks you're more likely to help with this but regardless, he will be in need

is this for real?! On what basis can you possibly know that it’s “almost certainly completely on the level”?!

@pixie5121

The only people I've ever had to block were exes who got abusive and ranty after I dumped them. White, British people. Very odd for people to suggest that a guy you met and liked and are likely to use again sending you the odd message to catch up is somehow 'harassment'.

I suspect a lot of the people posting here are very lonely people with a limited understanding of the world past the end of their noses, but I'm done saying what I think. It's very sad to see how many people have swallowed the 'brown foreigners are all trying to fleece you' narrative from our gutter press, but not overly surprising either.

What the hell have I just read? That load of old twaddle ^^ is somewhere between laughable, ludicrous, and naïve; and offensive, bigoted and disturbing. God help us all if you are serious.

And people who are (for some verrrry strange reason) desperate to defend them. 🙄

My family is from a country mentioned on this thread

it was a kind the poster helped someone out and continued to do so but westerners are targeted

my family when visiting home would not be asked to help out the local taxi driver unless it was to get medication (many have a strange idea that we can get whatever medication we want) or a visa

we help out our family (and extended) it’s expected and we do and we also support a charity

but we wouldn’t be scammed they know who to target and who not to bother with

the taxi driver will have a number of people he shall be messaging.

its quite an assumption to think that those that come from poor Latin America or other poor countries would look at this thread and think people are mean why wouldn’t they view this as a scam too they are well aware scams go on

I’m glad you’ve decided to give him the money OP. If I’d been in the same situation I would too.

Not only is this a scam, but OP and a few who agree with giving money to those scammers have highlighted themselves through this thread. I hope they aren't targeted by scammers who read MN, but name changing may be useful!

Eh - I don't think you'll ever know for sure whether it is a legitimate request coming from a good place. I'd have my doubts/at the least find it a bit cheeky from someone I don't know very well, and would be inclined not to do it. But if you can spare it, want to give it, and accept it might not be genuine then do it and don't think about it again.

its such BS heard it a million times before OP. You’re a fool to send him money

I also read an identical thread on here during lockdown. Except that Moroccan taxi driver had made a bit more effort to keep a conversation going since the holiday.

If that wasn’t you OP, do and advanced search and find the other thread. Should convince you this guy is spinning you a tale.

Oh so pointing out a scam is being bigoted 🙄

applying cultural norms and the norm isn’t to ask someone who has no more than a fleeting acquaintance for money. It’s cultural for families and close family friends to help out and family abroad

people like the taxi driver are thought of as shameful to many as they it’s not a cultural norm to ask for money in this way and certainly not a man asking a woman for money and neither is it the cultural norm for a married man to be friends with a single western women (or any single woman)

maybe you should have a better understanding yourself of cultural norms before calling people bigots

There is a reason helpsites exist, some will be fooled:
www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/money-troubles/scams/a-beginners-guide-to-scams

Yes scammers can be quick, yes scammers can be slow, scammers just need a few to pay out and ultimately seek the jackpots along the way.
Helping scammers makes it lucrative, crime pays.

See my link above, it's easier when people freely give their money away, and yes it can pay for trainers!

You sound very kind

Have you sent him the money? / has he accepted the gift?

Hope it all goes well

*And again we see this mindset.

You do realise that we all have ups and downs in life?

I have an acquaintance in Peru. I consider him a friend, actually, but I probably haven't seen much more of him in real life than OP has seen of her taxi driver. I met him when I was trekking there about five years ago and he joined my group as a chef. Thought he was a nice guy, good sense of humour, we got on well, and swapped contact info in case I ever went back. He likes the odd photo I post, sometimes comments on them, and once or twice a year has asked me how I was and we've had a short conversation. A couple of years ago, he and his wife had their first child, and he sent me a photo...he was thrilled.

With the pandemic, he's hardly had any work and things have been really tough. He got by for a while with savings and his wife still doing cash in hand cleaning work, but it's just not enough. He asked me about a year ago if there was any way I could help at all with some money for things for his daughter - clothes, shoes, etc. I sent a small amount of money and he thanked me profusely and sent a photo of the girl in a new outfit he'd bought her and we had a nice chat. He's messaged since to wish me merry Christmas, say hello and whatnot...no more requests for money.

Peru is now open for tourism again and my sister and her husband recently went on their honeymoon. I mentioned to this guy they were going over there, and he insisted I give them his number and info in case they needed anything. Well...as it happens...they did have a sticky situation in a place they were staying, and this guy rang up and sorted it all out, and invited them to eat at the restaurant where he now works. They basically got treated like family there, full-on multi course meal, drinks, and at the end they were told there was no charge because I was a friend. It made their stay so much better and turned what could have been a crappy situation into a really nice one.

This is how life is...give and take. I helped him out when he needed it and he helped my sister out when she needed it. I have no doubt he'd be more than happy to help with anything I needed, too. I'm sure most people posting here would have written him off as a scammer and a money grabber and that makes me feel extremely sad.*

Your experience is a really nice example of how real things can be - I’d have done the same as you.