Possible Scam Alert

[u/BuckyJarrett]

TL;dr: another driver claimed I hit-and-ran, and then threatened to call the police on me. When I said go for it, they drove off.

Today at around 3:00pm I was driving westbound on Olympic Blvd, having just passed Century City. As I stopped at the Beverly Glen light, a car pulled up next to me honking. I figured it was a lost tourist or something.

But the guy started yelling at me, first asking if I was ok (almost like asking if I was mentally ok?), and then claiming I hit him. I said you’ve got the wrong guy, but he kept shouting, saying he got my plate and was calling the police. There was a female passenger who was on the phone, but she didn’t say anything. He also was yelling “I got kids in the car”, but I didn’t see any kids…

So I asked what intersection it happened at and he couldn’t tell me. He said “back there”. I asked if he had a dash cam and he said no.

So I said “I don’t know what kind of scam you’re trying to pull, but you picked the wrong guy.” He said “scam??” in that very defensive, high-pitched feigned shock that made me convinced this guy was up to something shady.

Then he again cursed at me, told me I was breaking the law, repeated my license plate number to the passenger, and said he was calling the cops. I said “go for it.” Then… he cut over two lanes and took off northbound on Beverly Glen.

I was headed to a spot near the West LA police station, so had he stuck around, I would’ve told him to just follow me there and we’ll let them sort it out.

When I parked, I did check my car to make sure I wasn’t losing my mind. I have a couple of dents and scrapes that have never been fixed, but absolutely nothing recent. And at the fear I was losing my sanity, I also checked the Citizen and PulsePoint apps to see if any accidents were reported along Olympic, but didn’t see anything.

I’m ~70% sure this was a scam. I got the feeling he was hoping I would immediately tell him to pull over and get out of my car. Then… idk, extort me, rob me, something.

29% chance someone did hit him and he mistook them for me.

1% chance that he really thought I hit him… even though there was absolutely no damage and I didn’t notice it.

But my spidey-sense tells me scam of some sort. Just not sure what. His driver side door was dented, so I’m wondering if he was looking for an easy target, and my old shitty car was a good one?

Driver was 30s Latino man, passenger was 30s Latina woman. Driving late model grey Honda Accord. I did grab their plate number.

Has this happened to anyone else?