Saturday, March 15, 2014

Reader report: 'my kids are in the car and I'm out of gas' scam guy arrested


You recall the "my kids are in the car and I'm out of gas" scam guy who has been made the rounds in the neighborhood, right?

A quick flashback to a reader report last month:

He's the white guy who approaches folks on the street and his M.O. is usually something about his wife and kids being locked out of their car. He says he'll give you his driver's license or car keys or cell phone (probably all stolen items) for you to hold as collateral to prove that he's honest and will pay you back. Then he asks for anywhere from $10 to $50 or more.

Anyway, we hear that the man was arrested last Friday at Penn Station. The story is that he was posing as "an Orthodox Jew and needed to get home before Sabbath" … and he was short on cash to accomplish this, of course…

Previously on EV Grieve:
East Village grifter alert: Beware the broken vodka-bottle scam!

East Village grifter alert: Beware the man with the sob story who offers you a wedding ring as collateral

Snowy afternoon grifter alert

8 comments:

  1. And someone formerly married to a rabbi, anyone knows a REAL orthodox Jew would just run to the nearest shul and demand assistance, as happened to us when we lived as far away from any other Jewish place. But in NYC< pulling that scam shows rank amateurishness.

    Anyway, glad he's finally been caught,

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  2. How'd ya hear about the arrest?

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  3. @IzF

    From a reader with info on the arrest… there wasn't a lot of info other than that he was arrested...

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  4. heard him on the street working and failing his scam on a young woman that fortunately had enough common sense and guts to say no and walk away. Okay its not the most hideous crime in the world and I am almost nostalgic for this type of scam that was so abundant a couple of decades ago. Part of living here is developing a sense of who is dangerous, scamming or in honest need of help. I as a rule only give to those that don't ask.

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  5. Interesting junkie scam. A 7 for creativity mainly due to his offering his (stolen) iPhone as proof he'll come back with the money.

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  6. Are you sure it's the same person? It's not such an original scam, to imagine only one person could be conducting it.

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  7. That same dude appproached me on the Metro North platform on 125th street.. When I laughed in his face he made a beeline outathere !!

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  8. I was on Avenue B last Sunday and was approached around 7th St. by a guy who claimed he was a "local priest" who had been mugged on Avenue D a few minutes ago. He wanted 5 bucks to do...something? That part was unclear.

    Not sure if it's the same guy, he was a 55-60 year old white man with gray hair.

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