From Ald. Tom Tunney (44th):"Dear Neighbors, I want to alert you to a scam that is taking place in every part of our neighborhood. A young man approaches while talking on his cell phone. There is a cab waiting not far behind him. He explains that his wife is going into premature labor or his mother had a stroke (in Schaumburg or Elk Grove Village, etc.) and that he lives just a few doors down and in his excitement, he locked himself out. He asks for a loan of $40.00 so that he can get to the hospital and that he will pay you back as soon as he gets home.
This is a SCAM. If you see this happening, call 911 immediately. This man has been all over the area. Be aware that this is happening and alert everyone you know."
I've been a target of this idiot's scam twice now - and laughingly rejected him both times.
ReplyDeleteHe's pretty convincing initially, but if you ask questions like "so why is your 8-month pregnant wife at a party in Elk Grove Village," he crumbles.
Don't worry - he'll be back to vote for Helen!
It's amazing that people actually fall for this type of routine. There was a guy doing something very similar up in Rogers Park last year, and some local residents started taking pictures of him.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Helen will warn her constituents, or maybe she has too deep an appreciation for clever scams.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the guy look like? I had a big tall white guy pull this a year of so back. He was probably 6'5".
ReplyDeleteMy friends have told me of someone going door-to-door in Sheridan Park and Andersonville telling a similar story, so this has been happening for quite some time now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, this guy has approached me on Leland Ave. Tall white man probably in his early 30s. He was dressed in a button down shirt and slacks. I saw him loitering on the corner with some homeless people at Sheridan and Leland about 15-20 mins before he approached me. This is what tipped me off that he was full of it. He looks clean cut so you want to believe him, but don't. Right after I turned him down he flagged down someone driving down Leland and started telling them the same story.
ReplyDeleteI witnessed an African American male doing something similar just a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteGiving a story about his daughter having asthma and that he needed money to pay for her inhaler. He said he would let me hold onto his cell phone (which I could clearly see was a broken piece of junk). I told him no and he was pretty intense and wouldn't go away until I walked through my apartment gate.
He was feeding the same story to a woman with several children and she gave in and gave him money. Another woman driving by rolled down her window and started yelling at the guy and telling the mother that he was lying and giving the same story.
I had the apartment management call the police on him.
This was at Marine and Margate.
Hey - Brian @7: This guy has been doing this for YEARS. My first encounter with this scam was 4 years ago while in a car. He's a pretty regular fixture in Rogers Park. Sometimes he's on a bike (and will jump in front of your car to stop you, as happened to me the first time), other times he's got a crutch or cane, sometimes he's just on foot. Normally has a crappy broken cell, a dirty old asthma inhaler, and a few bucks in one hand, which I suppose is meant to lend legitimacy to his tale. The last time I saw him was about 8 months ago while walking down sheridan ave north of devon -- I was with my boyfriend, it was either late night or just into early morning, and this time he was incredibly angry and aggressive. I think the broken heart of rogers park blog tracks this guy from time to time. Tried to get the boyfriend and me to take him to an ATM for the "remaining funds" he needed for his daughter's inhaler. Stay away - call the cops if you see him! This guy is bad, bad news
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