AIBU to wonder if giving cash to a stranded tourist was naive

[LovingLilacDuck]

I just got approach by a tourist woman in Paddington who said she got her purse stolen in Oxford Street. She asked me for some cash as she had to put blockage on all her bank cards because they were stolen. And she needed the cash to go to her hotel or something like that. She was good looking, she said she was a lawyer from Amsterdam and was soft spoken but also a little nervous. And she was so happy when I gave her the cash that she gave me a hug and thanked me in a genuine way.

I helped her because she seemed genuine. Of course, there is a chance she could be a scammer herself so a part of me feels a bit sad and naive. But I just want to hope that she wasn’t and I helped a woman in need.

What would you do in this situation? I am just curious. xx

I didn't know there was still so much unawareness about scams or that there were so many gullible people about.
Tempted to take it up myself, seems like there's a decent living to be made.

Is she was a lawyer she would be well aware of how to deal with getting robbed.

C’mon, she was your common or garden well dressed scam artist. They can spot a gullible tourist at a 100 yards.

I’d rather donate to a homeless person sleeping on the street than those tax dodging scammy bastards.

Wherever you are in the UK people will have a similar story. My concern is if you reach for your purse they could then steal it. I always say Sorry it looks like you will be walking home and usually they find they have some money after all.

If its thw woman I think it is, she's been doing this for years. I gave her money for a fare the first time she approached me, said oh dear, you've been robbed again? the second time a few weeks later. She gets weepy if refused and is very credible, its not anything to blame yourself for, kindness is kindness.

It was some years ago now and I can't exactly remember all the ins and outs of the situation. The explanation seemed vaguely plausible as I recall, something about her coming without her mum knowing with a dodgy boy.

Scam. Happened to me once in my 20s, so the 1990s. I see it’s still alive and well!!

Oh I think she was a scammer, but I also don’t think the suggestion in the PP was plausible.

But she could have asked! I mean, what was she planning to do as she left the police station in tears?

Coming out of a police station crying is very different to a woman loitering around a train station with a sob story asking strangers.

It reminds me of an unpleasant situation when I was at college. I was leaving work, it was really late. Possibly the last bus. Bus fairs had just gone up. I paid mine, literally counted my pennies and sat down. This was before buses took cards but my bank account was empty anyway. Another girl got on, late teens, but she didn't have the additional fair and the driver wouldn't let her on (which was harsh even then given how late it was). She was asking people on the bus of they had the extra. I didn't have any money on me at all. A man paid it and pointed at me and told me I should be ashamed of myself for not helping. I was too shocked/upset to say anything. I'd like to think that if I could have, I would have. He didnt do it to the men on the bus obviously.

I’m a born Londoner, lived here all my life. There are E.European criminal networks operating across the city.

Are they specifically Roma though? Nope. That’s just a naive and lazy slur. There’re not linked to any particular ethnic group.

There is a lot of trafficking of young women and children here for sex work and criminal activity - particularly retail crime and pickpocketing. Typically they may live in HMOs - 30 to 40 in one house, sleeping on mattresses in dirty rooms, being used and abused for financial gain.

Now in this particular case, I looked at the woman and her kids and my gut feeling was she needed the money. Whether she had travelled here off her own bat and it was simply to feed her kids; whether it was to give to her handler to avoid being beaten; or she was trying to raise money to get away from her traffickers - who knows what her circs were. I felt like she needed the money and I gave it to her. It was a one off and I am comfortable with my decision.

Nope. You were scammed. I would have sent her to her embassy, it's part of their job to help stranded tourists - which she wasn't. Don't be so naive in future.

Surely a genuine person would have asked for your details so she could return the money? That said I’d be loath to give a stranger my bank details anyway 🤷‍♀️

It's a scam !!!
Happens all the time here !
Everyday on the tube people with cups asking for money for some sob story whilst drinking or under the influence of alcohol or drugs !!!
You won't help by giving them money ! 😞

No way on earth was it genuine. Sorry but you don't ask strangers for cash in these circumstances. You can get money from a bank branch or a code sent to use a cash machine. Or you'd contact friends or family. If she needed a transport ticket of some description you should've bought it for her. Not given cash.

But hey, you were being kind and she got to spend it on drugs which stopped her from feeling sick and maybe stopped her shoplifting or robbing someone, at least temporarily. So you did help her which is ultimately a good act. So don't feel bad.

I might have given her a couple of quid
But i wouldnt give a stranger £30 .

Pretty privilege is real it seems.

Can't pay bus with cash I don't think

What do you think they could do with them?

She was most likely a scammer, dressed the part. It’s a lot of money to throw away.

Nice thing then.

My point remains the same. It does matter if it's a scam.

This person makes a very good point:

This thread is making me angry. It is NOT KIND to give to these people. It’s propping up criminal networks and gangs who are exploiting these poor women. If no-one gave them money, this would not exist. So please stop congratulating yourselves for being ‘good people’ and give to actual charity not to abusers of women.

I can't believe you gave her £30, £10 perhaps.

It was a scam, no doubt about it. There's no way this articulate well dressed attractive(!) woman had to resort to asking random strangers on the street for £30 in London.

And far from you feeling all warm and fuzzy about being such a good person and thinking well of others, you have basically enforced her approach to continue scamming other people now.

There used to be a guy at London Bridge station with a suit, a smart wool coat and a briefcase. Some story about having his wallet stolen and needing to get home to his family. All very plausible, but I got used to seeing him several days a week.

Definitely a scammer.

There’s a well dressed woman who works the road between Victoria station and Victoria coach station. She says she’s a few pounds short for her coach fare, only asks for £1, but that soon adds up during the day.

I’ve passed her three times now over the last few months and she’s still not managed to get on a coach!

"Lawyer from Amsterdam? Liar from AnyWhere more likely "

There was a man standing at an Underground car park claiming he had a flat and needed "£5 for a new tyre"

He was there the next week , same story . I said to him "Your £5 tyre is shite , it was burst last week too"

I should've said " What a bargain, here's an extra £20 get four for me too "