Forum Topic

Possible repeat scam

I got stopped at the corner of Disraeli Road/Oxford Road by someone asking me if I spoke French (both in French and English). When i shook my head he then asked in quite reasonable English if I could read the parking instructions for him. I thought the next step was to possibly say he didn't have a credit card, etc. So I said, sorry, I was in a hurry.  Of course he might have been genuine and thinking how unhelpful the British are ... but just too many con artists around at the moment ...

Michael Ixer ● 1636d4 Comments

I'm surprised the French speaking parking man is still about.  He tried that out on me near the Lower Richmond Road months before Covid.  The French thing was what puzzled me, as when I laboriously headed into a sort of French, he continued in English.  I left him to it.

Christine Crawshaw ● 1634d

Yes, we do seem to be heading towards the IT/Cyber security model of "Zero Trust" - or as one security vendor says "Zero Trust equals Zero Worries". I'm not sure that's true or achievable in the Internet of Things but it would be somewhat worrying if it applied to all our personal relationships as well.To be honest I'm not too worried about the French speaking man. I rarely drive these days but if I'm going to another borough in London I usually check the parking availability and rules in advance (they're different in each borough for Zipcars!), so I'm pretty sure I'd check the rules in Paris if I was going there - wouldn't most people?

Michael Ixer ● 1636d

Uh oh!Hammersmith & Fulham had warning notices on their parking machines which we thought was an extraordinarily thoughtful local authority action (never seen it anywhere else)!https://conversation.which.co.uk/money/parking-meter-lebanese-loop-scam/It is a shame that our natural good nature is being taken advantage like this and we are all ending up such cynics.

Philippa Bond ● 1636d

Friend of mine was caught by that exact scam in Putney a while ago - I think pre-Covid.  He offered cash to repay her if she would use her credit card.  And lo it got 'stuck ' in the machine.  He said he knew how to get it out with another credit card. Which she handed over!  Then he gave her a telephone number to ring to get an engineer to come and get both cards out.  Said he was reading the number to her from the side of the parking meter.  Later inspection showed there is no number on the side of the meter.  Someone responded to her call and said he would be along in an hour and to meet him at the meter.  When she went back to the meter there was no one there.  By the time friends persuaded her to stop the cards, money had already gone.  It's hard to reject someone who seems genuine and in trouble in a foreign land - but I think you were wise.

Judy Allen ● 1636d