Sunday, August 09, 2009
Conman in NYC Nearby Central Park
The following was written on August 9, but I never got around to posting it:
This morning, I decided to walk from my hotel to the Whole Foods Market at The Time Warner Center for breakfast. On my way there, I was stopped by a young man who claimed to have dropped his car keys in the sewer grate. As a result, he needed money to take a bus back to his university (USD $7.50), and in short this was his story.
He provided more details to make it all sound very convincing, though the story in itself seems rather implausible. Rather poorly dressed, why would a student own a car and drive it from a school located over 1.5 hours away? Why would you leave your car without your wallet? Finally I asked him what was his license plate number, and he plainly told me that he had no idea. I walked away, and he apparently gave up.
While clearly not particularly educated, the young man showed signs of emotional intelligence. He shook my hand and introduced himself, also asking for my name, thus ensuring that we were no longer strangers. Additionally he made some references to not being a weirdo or a black criminal (his skin color was black), so by refusing him I would feel prejudiced or perhaps even racist. In hindsight it is easier to see that the guy was simply a conman, and it will likely seem obvious to anyone reading this blog. However, when meeting a conman in real life, it is much easier to get fooled.
This morning, I decided to walk from my hotel to the Whole Foods Market at The Time Warner Center for breakfast. On my way there, I was stopped by a young man who claimed to have dropped his car keys in the sewer grate. As a result, he needed money to take a bus back to his university (USD $7.50), and in short this was his story.
He provided more details to make it all sound very convincing, though the story in itself seems rather implausible. Rather poorly dressed, why would a student own a car and drive it from a school located over 1.5 hours away? Why would you leave your car without your wallet? Finally I asked him what was his license plate number, and he plainly told me that he had no idea. I walked away, and he apparently gave up.
While clearly not particularly educated, the young man showed signs of emotional intelligence. He shook my hand and introduced himself, also asking for my name, thus ensuring that we were no longer strangers. Additionally he made some references to not being a weirdo or a black criminal (his skin color was black), so by refusing him I would feel prejudiced or perhaps even racist. In hindsight it is easier to see that the guy was simply a conman, and it will likely seem obvious to anyone reading this blog. However, when meeting a conman in real life, it is much easier to get fooled.
Labels: conman, conmen, new york, scams
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