I'm army and have just been dropped off in the 'worng place'... scam?

Meridian · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:12

mattyg said:
Special forces gets dropped in city and can't make his way home.

I think he's from the "Special" forces

Best reply so far. But to point out the obvious: anyone who says he is/was Special Forces, is/was not. The genuine article would never say.

Nitefly · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:17

Meridian said:
Best reply so far. But to point out the obvious: anyone who says he is/was Special Forces, is/was not. The genuine article would never say.

Not true - I'm in the special forces.

mattyg · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:21

Meridian said:
Best reply so far. But to point out the obvious: anyone who says he is/was Special Forces, is/was not. The genuine article would never say.

This+1

I know a few Ex special forces. I also know a couple of lads who wont tell you what they do.

One of my dad's oldest friends is Ex SAS. Whilst he wont ever tell us anything operational he does talk about what they got upto. Obviously with bits blanked out.

The funniest story is what the serving regular guys do booby trap wise (undoing beds so they collapse etc) whenever the old timers have a reunion at Hereford.

Mynight · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:23

Pro tip: If they say they're special forces throw a punch at them. If you're on your arse in under a second take them more seriously.

(still unlikely they are telling the truth but makes for a more interesting story

)

dowie · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:39

Meridian said:
Best reply so far. But to point out the obvious: anyone who says he is/was Special Forces, is/was not. The genuine article would never say.

apart from the RAF Regiment, they'll tell you how 'special' they are at every opportunity

FoxEye · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:43

Sounds legit, OP. Btw, did I tell you I'm a Nigerian prince? Yeah, if you would give me £2000, or ... £5000? ... I'll have enough to ... erm... buy a metal detector to... ahem... find the family jewels that I buried in a beach in... Morocco... and I'll give you 50%. Family jewels that I was forced to hide when the government were going to ... well, listen, I'll tell you the rest of this totally genuine story when you send me the first payment. I need to know I can trust you.

Rroff · 10 Jan 2015 at 18:56

GSWAudio said:
I bit rough but didn't look homeless, didn't look like the army type either. Not that I really know what that is. He was wearing a poppy pin which was the only convincing thing so he must be a pro scammer.

They'll try all sorts - when I was living in London one of the local schools was organising a charity funding thing for the deaf and had posters up around the area - cue 2 guys appearing at the door claiming to be collecting for it - my neighbour was involved in it however and knew they weren't genuine and called the police.

neil_g · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:22

Southampton train station always has the same old people scamming for money.

One has a loud conversation on the phone about a poorly relative and how he's stuck at the train station with no money, wrong ticket or some other reason. Then proceeds to con people within earshot.

They normally get pretty peeved when you butt in and warn the target

mmj_uk · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:57

There's some girl who runs a similar scam in our neck of the woods, hangs about outside the train stations/taxi ranks looking all sexy and then starts crying her eyes out towards random men, saying that her date dumped her with no money to get home, then she asks to borrow £50 or so to get home with a promise that she'll pay them back. I think she's been locked up a few times but just keeps coming back.

Mynight · 10 Jan 2015 at 19:59

How sexy and is she open to trades?

.

Nutella33 · 10 Jan 2015 at 20:45

Ayahuasca said:
Stolen valour

The videos of soldiers catching those in the US doing it at shopping malls for discounts are a good laugh.

Its called walting over here. Stolen valour is the US's very typical phrase

Meridian · 10 Jan 2015 at 22:28

dowie said:
apart from the RAF Regiment, they'll tell you how 'special' they are at every opportunity

Rock Apes are very special.

Brutal biff · 10 Jan 2015 at 23:02

One I used to get when in Hanley a guy asking for money to get to Stafford as his wife has been admitted to hospital in Stafford to give birth

must have had a lot of kids as it was the same bloke asking every week for at least 2 months

me227 · 10 Jan 2015 at 23:09

Happens in Edinburgh, always the same younger looking guy needing £1 for the bus. Can't believe people fall for it!

Nutella33 · 10 Jan 2015 at 23:11

me227 said:
Happens in Edinburgh, always the same younger looking guy needing £1 for the bus. Can't believe people fall for it!

considering the bus's in edinburgh are a flat rate he hasn't thought that through.

Still, maybe its not people "falling" for it..but just giving money to someone obviously begging.

Von Smallhausen · 11 Jan 2015 at 02:19

You should've asked him about the boathouse in Hereford.

mejinks · 11 Jan 2015 at 05:08

Von Smallhausen said:
You should've asked him about the boathouse in Hereford.

What colour is the roof?

Lil old me · 11 Jan 2015 at 06:48

I had almost the exact same experience in Birmingham last year. Actually started to help the guy as he didn't ask for money straight away and all he really wanted to start with was to find a payphone (I'd left my mobile at home). He ran off pretty quickly when some police appeared nearby however

bitslice · 11 Jan 2015 at 09:16

Brutal biff said:
One I used to get when in Hanley a guy asking for money to get to Stafford as his wife has been admitted to hospital in Stafford to give birth

must have had a lot of kids as it was the same bloke asking every week for at least 2 months

Actually that's just the waiting time to do anything at Stafford hospital, she was probably sent home with a cork.

Efour · 11 Jan 2015 at 09:30

Had a guy begging a quid off every person at the bus stop (back when bus rides were only £1) People in earshot/eyeshot(lol?) would even give him money after seeing the previous person giving too... Dumb Idiots in my part of London.