As much as I would like to tell you all that Fran called, she never did. I truly was scammed, but I am ok with that. I did what felt like the right thing to do at the time. I did want to make sure that at least everyone who reads this & lives around me knows that it looks like she has been working this racket for a while & we should beware. As soon as my sister-in-law Katie read my post, she called to tell me that she had a friend who was approached by a woman wearing scrubs in a Wells Fargo parking lot & got the same story - "she was NOT a crazy lady, she needed help, she would pay her back, yada yada yada." Hmmmmmm sounds familiar. I gave Katie a physical description of the lady & she compared notes w/ her friend, & I do believe it is the same woman. Then Lesli commented on my post and said that the same thing happened to her almost 2 years ago in an Albertsons parking lot. Lesli also said that she knew of one other person who had a similar experience. Obviously this "job" pays well & Fran is going to keep doing it. I think that her classic victims are moms. She plays on your emotions & sympathies & she is very good at it. I can't believe she shook my hand! That takes nerve! I wish I could warn more people about her, but at least now you all know. I did call Wells Fargo just to let them know that this happened to me by their ATM, and though there's probably not much they can do, at least they know too. I should have been a little more "street smart", but I wasn't, and now I know too. Lesson learned.
Everett Andrew Duncan, Jr. 9/26/1958-01/02/2015
9 years ago
4 comments:
Well, I am sad Fran is a scam artist! The real horrible thing is it's the Fran's who ruin it for those who might really be in a jam and need help! I hate it when rude people ruin things for everyone else. I think we still have to go with our gut in these situations.
LaRae -
I did not weigh in on this until others had as I was immediately suspicious of her behavior and the way she approached you. I suggest you and Lesli, and Katie's friend go to the local police sub-station and file a police report. This will help the police establish a case if they ever do arrest her and it would help convict her. She is essentially stalking people at the bank, trespassing, and pandering. Also, she has your name and cell number. You may want to think about changing that number as identity theft is a huge ordeal. I don't mean or want to sound like the 'voice of doom,' but you need to protect yourself.
You did a good thing, but she did a not good thing. You should be commended for being kind hearted as not many are like you.
Hi LaRae—
I think it's good that you were willing to contribute $40, even though you knew at the time there was a good chance you wouldn't be getting it back. It shows your heart is in the right place, and Fran's evil intent doesn't diminish that one bit.
I think in a situation like that, you have to decide how much you are willing to give away, and ask them to "pay it forward" when they can. The guaranteed loss of $20 or $40 is equivalent to the tiny chance of losing thousands through identity theft.
That said, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not hard to match names with phone numbers, but criminals don't seem to be exploiting it. Anyway, what's done is done, and que será, será, so what good is fretting? (Yes, an equally pertinent question is: what good is it telling a Zobrist not to worry?)
And, combining the previous analysis with some good old fashioned speculation, let's say there's one chance in 250 (pretty liberal) that Fran will steal your identity and cost you $10,000 in time and money (not likely). Then, it wouldn't be worth more than $40 in worry and hassle now to prevent it.
can you report this to the police? or local news station, they could at least get the word out on a wider scale???
Post a Comment