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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:
AlternativePerspective · 26/04/2022 17:15

And no. Don’t give £90 then block. If 10 people do that he’s earned himself £900. If out of his thousands and thousands of contacts 100 people give him just £90 then he’s earned 9 grand.

See how easy it is?

TeeBee · 26/04/2022 17:16

This is a well known scam!! Don't be silly. They are trading on people believing the sob story.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 17:16

BlindGirlMcSqueaky · 26/04/2022 17:05

I've been the person on the street begging for cash and yes I do think people who ignore people asking for tiny amounts of money they can easily afford are cunts.

I'm not prepared to give money to strangers when I don't know what it will be spent on - fling whatever insults you like at me 😂

FloraPostePosts · 26/04/2022 17:16

If he takes the number of one tourist family per week, and works 50 weeks of the year, and asks them all for money, and they all send him their €90, he’s €4500 a year up.

OP, even if he seems nice person, and a good taxi driver, he could still be a scammer. There are lots of other people and organisations he should be approaching for help before you, if he’s genuine. Please don’t send money.

tortadicarote · 26/04/2022 17:17

He's just some random man OP barely knows from years ago! It seems very sketchy that he'd turn to her for help. Is he just going through all the numbers in his phone? It's strange.

I'd rather donate to a reputable charity or help someone I know is struggling. I don't want even casual "friendly" messages from someone who happened to drive me in a taxi, once upon a time. That alone would've been enough for me to get rid of that contact! But now he's taken it up a notch and is asking for money? It's weird, sounds very scammy, and I wouldn't want to do it.

elisenbrunnen · 26/04/2022 17:22

BlindGirlMcSqueaky · 26/04/2022 17:05

I've been the person on the street begging for cash and yes I do think people who ignore people asking for tiny amounts of money they can easily afford are cunts.

Yeah? that makes me a cunt, thanks. I work hard for my Minimum Wage job and I think I should be able to spend it on my own family.
You seem to assume entitlement to some of my money, as it's only a 'tiny' amount - how much are we talking? £1? That's my £1.

I'm sorry you are/were on the streets; it's not my problem, I've got plenty of my own.

3WildOnes · 26/04/2022 17:22

My husband pays for the schooling of a Sherpa s children. He employed the services of the Sherpa when he was climbing, they became friendly and it isn’t a massive amount of money for us but it makes a big difference for this family

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 26/04/2022 17:23

TeeBee · 26/04/2022 17:16

This is a well known scam!! Don't be silly. They are trading on people believing the sob story.

The fact that he will have struggled hugely during covid in a country which closed the borders for almost the entire period and whose second largest industry is tourism isn't a sob story. Of course nobody is obliged to send him money but it's not a scam, rather it's a massive cheek, but an understandable one.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 17:25

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 26/04/2022 17:23

The fact that he will have struggled hugely during covid in a country which closed the borders for almost the entire period and whose second largest industry is tourism isn't a sob story. Of course nobody is obliged to send him money but it's not a scam, rather it's a massive cheek, but an understandable one.

Show quote history

Just because Morocco has struggled due to COVID, doesn't mean that this isn't a scam 🙄

StorminNorma · 26/04/2022 17:26

He's probably not even a taxi driver.

Justleaveitblankthen · 26/04/2022 17:27

CharityShopChic · 26/04/2022 16:22

You can't remember how you got his number? I bet you can't. I also bet he put it into your phone under some pretext. You and hundreds of other northern Europeans perceived to be rich.

Why ON EARTH would you pay money to some chancer you met once or twice, four years ago? If you're concerned, Google charities/foodbanks in Morocco and send them a donation.

Never ceases to amaze me just how many gullible people there are out there prepared to fall for a sob story.

And the whole "oh well, he's maybe not genuine but i'm prepared to take the risk" slow handclap to all of you virtue signallers. Because responding to this sort of blatant scam just encourages more scammers and next time it might not be you making a conscious decision to kiss goodbye to your cash, it might be your mum with dementia or your neighbour barely getting by on their pension.

This. 100% this.
Am astonished at PP'S advising you to give him money as a one-off!

worraliberty · 26/04/2022 17:30

CharityShopChic · 26/04/2022 17:11

So, so many gullible people on this thread. No wonder scamming is such a problem.

God I know. Even the Mumsnet begging threads still get offers of money, clothes and food when someone turns up with zero posting history and a sob story.

And to think these people are often parents, whose job it is to teach their children to be internet savvy.

Original poster
Autumnterm · 26/04/2022 17:31

NotAScoobyToBeSeen · 26/04/2022 17:02

Ive always wondered why scammers keep trying, as surely most people arent that gullible, but if you're capable enough to be on mumsnet and you'd still fall for it, then I must be in the wrong job!

It is not like I am counting on getting anything in return, except a free taxi ride in the unlikely event we go back any times soon.

Nor do I think he is in love with me or that I owe him anything.

OP posts:
BlindGirlMcSqueaky · 26/04/2022 17:32

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

If this is aimed at me, no. Although presumably you think people with addictions are scum.

StorminNorma · 26/04/2022 17:34

Hello pretty lady plsc send cash and levits for my family

Neverforgetwhothisisfor · 26/04/2022 17:34

3WildOnes · 26/04/2022 17:22

My husband pays for the schooling of a Sherpa s children. He employed the services of the Sherpa when he was climbing, they became friendly and it isn’t a massive amount of money for us but it makes a big difference for this family

Exactly

CloseYourEyesAndSee · 26/04/2022 17:35

StorminNorma · 26/04/2022 17:26

He's probably not even a taxi driver.

She knows he's a taxi driver ffs that's how she met him

JanisMoplin · 26/04/2022 17:37

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.

JacquelineCarlyle · 26/04/2022 17:39

Ratrick · 26/04/2022 16:15

I think I’d probably give the money.

Either he’s genuinely desperate, and a relatively small amount of money from you will be a big help, or he’s trying it on but you won’t miss the money anyway.

If the request is repeated in future, I’d be more weary.

And FWIW, his story seems entirely plausible.

I'd do this too - if there are future requests then I'd say no and block him (but would struggle to say no the first time of asking)

Theimpossiblegirl · 26/04/2022 17:40

I sent £50 to a Moroccan woman I know. It's really tough over there at the moment.

Original poster
Autumnterm · 26/04/2022 17:43

update

I asked him “aren’t schools free there” and he’s now explained it is (as someone here suggested might be the case) for a private pre-school that the elder one had started attending before lockdown.

but that he is very sorry for asking yesterday and he says not to worry, he hopes to get another job soon inshallah

OP posts:
fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 17:43

JanisMoplin · 26/04/2022 17:37

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.

You can feel guilty and still be gullible, though.

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

VerifiedBot2351 · 26/04/2022 17:49

I wonder how many other gullible people are sending him money. Don’t be stupid.

BlindGirlMcSqueaky · 26/04/2022 17:50

Autumnterm · 26/04/2022 17:43

update

I asked him “aren’t schools free there” and he’s now explained it is (as someone here suggested might be the case) for a private pre-school that the elder one had started attending before lockdown.

but that he is very sorry for asking yesterday and he says not to worry, he hopes to get another job soon inshallah

😭

ninnynonny · 26/04/2022 17:55

If you do want to do it, can't you suggest that pay the money directly to the school (s)?

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