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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:
Ratrick · 26/04/2022 20:44

AlternativePerspective · 26/04/2022 20:34

And what about those men who befriend women on similar holidays who talk them into marrying them and then it turns out to all be a scam for a visa?

I’m not sure that having a taxi from this bloke equates to knowing someone in person.

Equally, I met my DP on holiday, and we’re now happily married (though it was ultimately me that ended up getting the visa).

I suppose it’s about your personal risk tolerance but if I’d met someone a couple of times, they seemed pleasant enough, and one day they asked me for a small amount of money that was inconsequential to me, I’d be happy to do it as a one off.

Were it a significant amount of money to me, or a repeat request, I would likely feel differently.

josil · 26/04/2022 20:45

You're being scammed OP. Don't do it.

Scianel · 26/04/2022 20:52

OP I would send him the money and I suspect, in contrast to most on this thread, that he's being genuine.
I'm from a Least Developed country and the poverty is desperate. When I visit home I hand out money left, right and centre. A small amount to me can be huge to a destitute recipient.

I can imagine only too well how much Moroccans have suffered during the pandemic, it's a poor country and a lot of people rely on making money from tourism. Most of them wouldn't have had much financial resiliance even pre covid. There was no furlough and grants for them, that's for certain.

I can also well believe that he's got no-one else to ask, they'll all be as skint as he is.

It's your money not mind, but I'd send it. I sent 100 quid to someone I only know from an online group at Christmas, as her and her grandmother's roof blew off their home in a storm. I'm glad I did, it was a much better use of it than presents no-one needs or too much food.

I do feel a bit sad at the general attitude to people in less wealthly countries. Both the complete lack of understanding of just how poor people are and how lacking a safety net, and the assumption that everyone is a dodgy scammer.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 20:57

Ratrick · 26/04/2022 20:27

But he’s not a total stranger - they have met several times in person.

Show quote history

But they're not friends.

He's a taxi driver they met a few times on holiday. OP says she doesn't even know how or why she has his number!

She doesn't know any more about him than I know about you.

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 20:58

I do feel a bit sad at the general attitude to people in less wealthly countries. Both the complete lack of understanding of just how poor people are and how lacking a safety net, and the assumption that everyone is a dodgy scammer.

People DO understand, but that doesn't make it any less risky to send money that you barely know.

JanisMoplin · 26/04/2022 21:00

Scianel · 26/04/2022 20:52

OP I would send him the money and I suspect, in contrast to most on this thread, that he's being genuine.
I'm from a Least Developed country and the poverty is desperate. When I visit home I hand out money left, right and centre. A small amount to me can be huge to a destitute recipient.

I can imagine only too well how much Moroccans have suffered during the pandemic, it's a poor country and a lot of people rely on making money from tourism. Most of them wouldn't have had much financial resiliance even pre covid. There was no furlough and grants for them, that's for certain.

I can also well believe that he's got no-one else to ask, they'll all be as skint as he is.

It's your money not mind, but I'd send it. I sent 100 quid to someone I only know from an online group at Christmas, as her and her grandmother's roof blew off their home in a storm. I'm glad I did, it was a much better use of it than presents no-one needs or too much food.

I do feel a bit sad at the general attitude to people in less wealthly countries. Both the complete lack of understanding of just how poor people are and how lacking a safety net, and the assumption that everyone is a dodgy scammer.

I hear you on this. PP wondering who approaches a total stranger: desperate people with no social security, that's who. Not all of whom are scammers.

Currently the Sri Lankan economy has collapsed and I am getting appeals from people I met on holiday 3 years ago. Not scammers. Genuine people who run hotels, restaurants and tourist services.
I still think it isn't a good idea to donate this way. But they aren't all scammers.

XingMing · 26/04/2022 21:02

There's a chasm between people who are determined to think everyone is trying to scam people and people who would like to help the people that they like who are less advantaged do better and aim higher. That is all we have ever wanted. I don't want that lass to come to work in the NHS. I'd much prefer her to to stay in Sri Lanka and improve Sri Lanka, but for her own advancement she may decide to buy a ticket to the UK, and aim for a career that raises her whole family out of tourism earnings. Her dad's English is rudimentary but competent, her mum has no English.

Scianel · 26/04/2022 21:07

People DO understand, but that doesn't make it any less risky to send money that you barely know

There's no risk though. OP will presumably not send more money than she can afford.

Indoctro · 26/04/2022 21:09

Personally I would send him the money. Who knows if he is genuine or not but you have met him and did like him

Covid has seen many people struggle greatly if £90 is easily affordable to you I would send it.

It's is not like he is a wealthy man is he, so regardless of what it's for it will clearly help him out.

A one off donation isn't going to break the bank, but it could really see him ok for a bit.

Send him the money.

Electriq · 26/04/2022 21:10

Op, if you can spare/lose the money, then there is no harm in you sending it.

Although if he is doing this to multiple people, he could be earning a pretty penny considering the average wage in morocco and the exchange rates.

Life in a developing country isn't like living here.

Ratrick · 26/04/2022 21:11

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 26/04/2022 20:57

But they're not friends.

He's a taxi driver they met a few times on holiday. OP says she doesn't even know how or why she has his number!

She doesn't know any more about him than I know about you.

Show quote history

I also have a taxi driver who I met on holiday in my Facebook. I couldn’t actually recall how he had my details but DP reminded me that our AirBnB host (with our permission) provided our info to him and vice versa. He likes some of my posts from time to time but that’s about it - I don’t think the OP’s failure to recall how he got his number is a big deal.

Also, you and I know nothing about this person, but the OP does know that he was certainly working as a taxi driver, in a place with a large tourism sector that is likely to have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. They may not be friends but they are acquaintances, which does put him a rung above ‘stranger on the internet’.

XingMing · 26/04/2022 21:13

I don't think anyone likes asking for help, because it's an admission of personal failure, so if you like a person and they trust your goodwill, and you don't doubt their need to ask for help, then if you can help, I think you should. Obviously if you can't pay for your own electricity, you should feel free to say so.

Glitterbiscuits · 26/04/2022 21:16

I'd send it. If the loss of the money makes no discernible difference to you I'd chance it.

Dunnoburt · 26/04/2022 21:16

If you thought that it was genuine, you would not have asked for an opinion..... Therfore... No.... I would not send money

pixie5121 · 26/04/2022 21:21

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request.

Dcfabyty · 26/04/2022 21:25

If you have the money and can afford to lose it then it’s no big deal to send it.

FrownedUpon · 26/04/2022 21:27

Are you serious? Surely no one would fall for this.

Original poster
Autumnterm · 26/04/2022 21:27

Dunnoburt · 26/04/2022 21:16

If you thought that it was genuine, you would not have asked for an opinion..... Therfore... No.... I would not send money

good q. two reasons I posted I think

  1. I do tend to believe him but at the same time my elderly neighbour was recently a victim of a sophisticated boiler room scam that we have been told originated in Marrakech. Very different scenario but has made me super wary.

  2. I was hoping that someone who knows Morocco might know if there are private kindergartens which charge that kind of money and whether that’s a likely thing.

OP posts:
SirGawain · 26/04/2022 21:28

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.

Don't do this once he thinks you are a soft touch his story will get even more heartrending. He's taking you for a ride; and not in his taxi.

pixie5121 · 26/04/2022 21:29

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at poster's request.

SirGawain · 26/04/2022 21:30

Remember the proverb: "The fool and their money are soon parted."

XingMing · 26/04/2022 21:32

This has turned into such a divided thread. Half of the posters are saying 'if you can afford to be generous, please go ahead' and as many are saying 'it's a scam-- back off fast'. Personally, we will probably never know whether the money we have sent was spent as intended. I think it probably was, but there's no checking and approval so you just end up trusting that the money was spent on food, housing, health, education and to look after family as seemed important at the time.

Lochjeda · 26/04/2022 21:34

Id send it. Wouldnt miss that amount and if it does help him in any way then good.

Indicatrice · 26/04/2022 21:35

AlternativePerspective · 26/04/2022 20:09

It takes a certain kind of person to beg money from a stranger.

Most decent people wouldn’t even beg from teir friends. Begging from a stranger is a bloody nerve.

Love for your children transcends the shame of begging strangers. People do whatever they have to do for their children.

SirGawain · 26/04/2022 21:35

I cannot believe how gullible and stupid people can be. This thread takes the biscuit!

Swipe left for the next trending thread