Scammer Alert Vol. 764

Photo by PoPville flickr user Wayan Vota

“Dear PoPville,

A woman stopped me as I was walking toward Farragut after work and said she’d been in a car crash and her car was totaled and that she didn’t have enough cash for the cab ride home, which she said was 1.5 hours outside of DC. She said she worked for a law firm in the area but that no one was in the office and that she had just recently moved to DC from Georgia and didn’t know anyone. She was using a cane and was crying while telling me this story.

Did I think this was a scam, of course. But the sliver of me of me that was hoping it wasn’t a lie felt sympathetic. So I gave her $100 for a cab, and she gave me a phone number and I took a photo of her (attached). She told me she would call me today and give me the full amount back– I didn’t expect to ever see the money back again but was of course, hopeful that I was wrong.
Anyhow, haven’t heard from her since, and none of her story really checks out (the law firm she told me the name of doesn’t come up on google).

My take away is that I’d rather be naive and kind than jaded and cruel — the possibility she was telling the truth was more important to me than the money. But it’s clear it was a scam and so I wanted to let others know, in case they come upon her as well.”