cnidocyte wrote:
I don't isolate myself from the outside world and I have been robbed enough times to know not to trust everyone someone tells me but I still nearly fell for a scam once. If people didn't fall for them then they'd stop trying, its as simple as that. Not just aspies that get scammed. I never fell for those email or PM ones but once at Penn station in NYC some guy was telling me he was from Burkina Faso (his accent was 80% American so I was suspicious) and came to the US to collect the death insurance of family members who died in the US. He said the money would be confiscated if he tried to bring it back to Burkina Faso with him and he wanted me to donate it to charity for him cuz he didn't have the time to do it himself. I rapidly worked out what I'd do if he gave me a large wad of money like that and I admit I planned on taking a small bit of it and donating the rest (not that bad some people woulda taken the lot) but I knew he was trying to scam me when he started insisting on me telling him how much money I had on me so I just told him to get someone else to donate it for him. I'm guessing the rest of the scam woulda gone like this: after I told him I had $20 or whatever he'd say "alright give it to me and I'll put it all together" and if I gave it to him being a scammer he wouldn't just rob me up front, he'd give me back what I thought was a large wad of money then tell me not to count it there because it was a busy bus station and I'd be likely to get robbed. I've gotten emails involving Burkina Faso and large sums of money and never even read them but cuz this guy was telling it to me face to face I found it much more believable for some reason. I think we all learn the hard way when it comes to things like this. People don't get streetwise by reading books or listening to people tell them how it is, you become streetwise from dealing with con artists and the wide range of other opportunists you run into.
As for the idea that people with ASD can't manage in India thats ridiculous. Plenty of people with ASD grow up on the streets of 3rd world countries and learn to survive there. I've been to Jamaica, a country where white people can't walk 5 metres down the road without having people trying to hustle them and I could manage alright there. Something you have to know well though is that friendliness isn't always a sign of good intentions. Seems like common sense but I often get lulled into a false sense of security cuz the person I'm talking to is treating me like a friend. Its all a matter of learning but the problem when it comes to things like this is it may be a matter of life and death. If someone is proposing that you "step into their office" which is down a dark alley at 3 in the morning you never know what it is they're planning and you have no idea how desperate they are to execute their plan so stepping into his office could be the last thing you'll ever do. I find this particular thing hard to deal with because my social skills aren't the best and when I refuse to do something someone insists on me doing I can sound beligerent and disrespectful which can instigate a fight. The best way to do it is act like you're in a hurry and haven't even taken the time to think about what it is they're asking of you.
Yes you are right on when you mentioned the friendliness in combination of face to face interaction. This is exactly what made me fall for this scammer, as I never fell for online ones.
By the way, just out of curiocity, what do you think would have been his excuse if your scammer said he needed "20 dollars to put it all together"? I mean, normally scammers "need money" in order to "get an access to something", or "bribe some officials", and so forth. But in your case, the scammer presumably had his bag of money "in his hands", so what would have been his excuse to get your 20 dollars?
Also, if he were to tell you you can't open bag of money in a crowded place, what would have happened if you have responded "well, it is my choice and I choose to take this risk" and then go ahead and open it. Do you think he would physically stop you from opening it? Or if you open it and there is no money, would he get angry and then do something like saying "there is a good reason for me to cheat you since you white folks are all rich and greedy" and then beat the crap out of you?
By the way, my scammer was never angry or physical. He was always calm and collected. But I am just curious what do you think would have happened in your case?
17 Apr 2011, 10:07 pm
