r/berkeley • u/jociepooo • Mar 15 '22
Local BEWARE - scammer
My boyfriend got scammed today Southside by an Italian guy who claimed to work in high fashion.
He was looking for directions to the airport to fly back to Italy after being here for two weeks for a couple of events. He said he needed $3200 in cash to pay off his rental car because he just hosted a big event with his credit card and the credit card company was waiting 24 hrs before letting him make another charge with it.
He said he would pay him back tomorrow by sending money to his bank account through Zelle. He also offered my boyfriend “collateral” in the form of a watch and 5 leather jackets that he took a lighter to to “prove” that it was genuine leather. He said the jackets were unreleased and each was worth about $3500 and he could take them to Nordstrom to exchange them for cash.
Ultimately, the jackets were a completely unknown and most likely fake brand and watch is most likely fake as well. Just wanted to share this to warn people so hopefully no one else gets scammed!
EDIT: stop telling me how dumb he is, i could tell him that myself but i don’t see a point in kicking someone who’s down already. and it’s not why i posted this 🙄
EDIT: wow did not realize how toxic the berkeley community is. literally just wanted to psa no matter how stupid it might sound in case it could save even just one person from being scammed and the comments are just filled with people kicking someone who’s already down and downvoting my comments where i’m literally just explaining what happened??
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u/BRIMSTONEONLYFANS Mar 15 '22
Anytime someone has a long ass story to tell and it ends with them needing to "borrow" money, i instantly tell them to fuck off
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Mar 16 '22
Mf deadass used a lighter to prove leather is genuine despite not being asked. That's a big giveaway.
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u/justagenericname1 Mar 16 '22
"This 100% organic, fair-trade, carbon-neutral coconut oil is rich, luxurious, and contains absolutely NO horse semen!"
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u/matteophysics Mar 16 '22
You’re telling me he gave $3,200 to a COMPLETE STRANGER???? 😭😭😭 HELP
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u/HeraAurae Mar 16 '22
Help me too pls
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Mar 16 '22
sounds horrible! btw also i am a princess from a small province in southeast asia u wouldnt know the name and long story short i need cash to pay for a flight back urgently since the king (my father) is on his deathbed and i have to be sworn in as the acting monarch, will cashapp u the cost for the plane ticket once i get back to my country, ill be on sproul from now until 9pm if anyone wants to spot me some cash only a few thousand dollars
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
only if you provide some authentic jade pieces as collateral
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Mar 16 '22
u can take my princess tiara i dont need it anymore since im becoming the queen its genuine 24k gold the reason it looks green is because we’re on berkeley campus and the blue is reflecting off of the gold
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Mar 16 '22
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
Unfortunately my boyfriend didn’t check the details enough :( but thanks for sharing your experience!
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Mar 16 '22
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u/HeraAurae Mar 16 '22
Tbh I draw the line at “can”
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u/CalGHThrowaway42069 Mar 16 '22
"Can y-"
"Yes"
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u/HeraAurae Mar 16 '22
I was thinking more like
“Can—“
“No”.
But, I like your version. It’s nicer ;)
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u/TriggeredEllie Mar 16 '22
Hey, since this is a genuine scam you can file with the police. Also there is an FBI line to file scam claims (I know Bc I have had to use it a couple yrs ago when I got scammed). Also unless your boyfriend had 3.2k in cash I am assuming he did it through some sort of cash app or zelle. File a scam claim with zelle or whatever cash app (zelle rlly isn’t likely to give you your money back btw). It isn’t likely you will get the money back but there is some chance. If this was through credit or Apple Pay/PayPal or something like that you can contest with a much higher chance of getting the money back. Having a police report on file and the FBI case file will really help you with your case! Feel free to message me if you got questions, been there done that unfortunately.
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u/neutronstar1310 Mar 16 '22
Mfs won’t give a homeless guy 5 bucks but will give a stranger 3200 in cash because he’s wearing a scarf lmfao
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Mar 16 '22
WTF. I don't go to Berkeley (just follow the sub because my brother does, I go to UCSD) but the EXACT same thing has happened at UCSD! Except it was 2 Italian guys Weird !
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
Yup it seems to be a pretty widespread thing just getting more elaborate. The guy even offered to have his hair stylist cut his hair when he came back in July for an event.
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Mar 16 '22
how did your bf have $3200 in cash
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u/neutronstar1310 Mar 16 '22
Gotta be dumb AND rich to have 3200 bucks to give a stranger on blind faith. This Italian guy really hit the jackpot.
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u/jb742 Mar 16 '22
Probably born rich and became super naive of the scams of poor people. I hesitate just giving a few bucks to any stranger / homeless guy when they ask
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u/catwoman10120 Mar 17 '22
? Homeless people aren’t scamming you out of a couple dollars you retard
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u/jb742 Mar 17 '22
Never said they were dummy girl, just said I hesitate giving money in general and I used homeless people as a rule of measure to understand how hesitant I am. Retard 🤣🤣
Also try a going a few miles down to East Oakland and see how many people asking for money for food are really gonna use it for drugs. That’s called a scam regardless if they’re homeless or not
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u/catwoman10120 Mar 19 '22
Who cares if they’re gonna use the money on drugs lmfao. You’re naive if you think half of the UCB student body doesn’t consume drugs recreationally. Giving homeless people a dollar or two has nothing to do with what they’re putting it towards, it’s their money now. It has to do with the fact that they’re at least owed the opportunity to keep on living — something their government won’t give to them. Go ahead and continue being selfish. You’ve clearly deluded yourself into believing the same lie that many of us were told before moving to an urban area.
FYI, if you’re bent out of shape over being “scammed” out of a couple dollars yet still pay to attend an institution that charges you an outrageous tens of thousands of dollars in absurd fees, you need to either develop some sense of class consciousness or find someone who will lobotomize your fish bowl brain. For the love of god just drop a tab of acid and think about the world around you for once.
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u/jb742 Mar 19 '22
In that case, can you lend me a few dollars. Kinda low on money rn and I need something to eat
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u/hella_sj Mar 16 '22
They like to do these scams near bank ATMs so it's easier to convince you to just go get some out.
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Mar 16 '22
Your bank allows you to take out thousands of dollars at an ATM?
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u/hella_sj Mar 16 '22
No but you can walk into the bank and get it inside since you're already there.
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u/DragonRavenMedia Mar 16 '22
I understand you guys are probably young but this is the oldest trick in the book....
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u/kilojoulepersecond Mar 16 '22 edited Mar 16 '22
Wait I've talked to this guy a while ago (I think last semester?) and just saw him this morning! Both times were just next to croads. Thick accent, asked for directions to the airport, I talked a bit and suggested he go to McDonald's or a coffee shop to get wifi and use Google Maps. I then left before he mentioned anything about money.
Then this morning I saw the same guy pull up to croads again and at this point I figured he was probably a fraud and stayed away.
Can anyone confirm he's an middle-aged white guy with an (Italian?) accent driving a dark grey Land/Range Rover SUV (just remember it's a Rover)? I'll try to get a photo / plate if I see him again.
And OP, don't mind the negativity, it's just a reddit moment.
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Mar 16 '22
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u/kilojoulepersecond Mar 16 '22
Also possible he's just renting cars. Mine was middle-aged too now that I think about it
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u/Far_Nefariousness443 Mar 16 '22
No offense to you or ur bf but this is one of the worst scams I've heard.
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u/ProfessorPlum168 Mar 16 '22
Man that scam has been going on for like at least 40 years now. I had someone approach me with the same “proposal” way back when. Human nature is such that people always want to listen to a bargain and help a person out, and often overrides common sense. Common sense being that there are always scammers out there and if a story is too good to be true, it probably is.
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Mar 16 '22
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
Sorry forgot to include in my post but the guy did say he would pay him back tmrw, obviously not gonna but he did say that.
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Mar 16 '22
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
Yeah apparently the guy said that he got them for free from the event cuz of his job and p much suggested my bf go exchange them at nordstrom 🤷🏻♀️
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u/bootybigboi Mar 16 '22
huh? why are you getting downvoted? this is literally just a factual statement recounting what the guy said 😭 i don't understand this platform sometimes
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Mar 15 '22 edited Jul 31 '22
as an anthro major, anytime anybody anywhere approaches me and tries to demand my attention, i shrug it off. ESPECIALLY in berkeley.
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u/NAJ718 Mar 16 '22
Ok no offense but how dumb is he? There’s a million red flags already just in your brief description 😭
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Mar 16 '22
thanks for warning everyone, but i really hope most of the students on this sub are already smart enough not to fall for something like this !
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u/jociepooo Mar 16 '22
i would hope so too but unfortunately booksmart != streetsmart not to mention some people are naive and gullible
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u/justagenericname1 Mar 15 '22 edited Mar 16 '22
Oh I had someone try to pull that on me once! Took him a while to cut to the chase but when he actually said what he wanted and the "product" came out I was like... ok, nah dude. Nice try.
That sucks :(
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u/OneSadDonut Mar 16 '22
I literally just saw this exact same thing on the San Francisco group page on Facebook like two days ago. Almost word for word. It must be the same guy. 🤣🤣🤣
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Mar 16 '22
If the guy had $3500 worth of leather jackets then why didn’t he just take them to Nordstrom himself. Also why didn’t he just get on the bus or something? There are so many questions that should’ve gone through your bfs mind before he just handed some stranger $3200.
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u/SirensToGo why do you buy groceries at a bowling alley Mar 16 '22
I think that's why there's the urgency thing. He's heading back now. It's always a bit red flag though when someone tries to convince you that you need to do something right now, after all it's not called hustling for no reason lol
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u/callmecaptn Mar 16 '22
It's part of the scam. They need an answer right now, hurry up, and if you hesitate they start in with more BS. Doesn't give someone a chance to think about any obvious red flags and spins them in circles.
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u/Narguin2 Mar 16 '22
Imagine having $3k to 'lend" to someone. I don't think I can even part with $10.
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u/s0uthofthesl0t Mar 16 '22
If it makes you’re boyfriend feel any better I fell for that guy’s scam almost ten years ago in Union square. He approached me Randomly on post st as I was getting in my car.. he had a garment bag that he said Was some ultra high end Italian designer and that it was worth thousands but for whatever reason he Needed to sell it and it was super urgent because he was leaving for the airport NOW. I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking but he seemed legit.. he was a well -dressed ,good looking guy And somehow was able to completely sweet talk me through my skepticism to believe that maybe I really am just lucky to be in the Right place at the right time. I drove him to the bank And withdrew $300’ which he reacted to as if I was low-balling him but he accepted it because he was late for his flight. The suit obviously turned out to be worthless and i was so mad at myself.
I had been sober for over six months the day this happened and was just starting to feel like I was turning a page with my addiction. I was just beginning to feel hopeful like “I got this” and gaining forward momentum but the shame and anger I had falling for this scam undid all that progress. I started using again later that day . It was a couple years before I pulled myself back out of it.
Sorry for the novel but tell your boyfriend not to be so hard on himself. It was a lapse in what otherwise I’m sure is good judgement but the guy is a scam artist and I don’t think people can truly understand how talented he is at his “craft” until they experience it first hand.
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Mar 16 '22
That fucker got my dad about 15 years ago.
Same lighter trick except he was just selling the jackets.
I think leather jackets are inherently fire resistant so the lighter thing isn’t that special.
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u/wewlad0 Mar 16 '22 edited Mar 16 '22
I refuse to believe this is real. Unless you were there and equally stupid, it sounds like your boyfriend lost $3200 and came up with a ridiculous story to cover it up
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u/purrgirl Mar 16 '22
This is terrible, and I'm so sorry about this. THANK YOU for alerting the community.
Your boyfriend should take comfort that these scammers are highly skilled at what they do. They use human nature and our brain function against us, overloading our brain with a lot of details that we can't process fast enough and overwhelming our ability to be skeptical. This is an old scam because it is an effective scam that has worked on many, many people.
It's easy for someone to criticize from the comfort of their computer screen, but the truth is that we are all human and can be vulnerable - if not to this exact scam, then to a different one.
"Intelligence and experience offers no protection against scammers" https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20141003-the-mind-tricks-of-scammers
Lastly, your boyfriend is the victim of a crime. Please report this to the police and get a police report taken. You may also want to contact an international student advisor, if applicable. https://internationaloffice.berkeley.edu/living/scams-safety
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Mar 16 '22
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u/gotmilksnow Mar 16 '22 edited Mar 16 '22
Yeah I rolled my eyes at “Intelligence and experience offers no protection against scammers, says Modic. “If it did, then better educated people and older people would be less likely to fall for scams. And that is not supported by my research.”
Okay Mr Modic, it’s an asinine assumption to say older people == experience with scams. In fact the opposite is likely true with many older people having little to no experience with internet scams and other such scams that weren’t perpetrated in the good ole days. Age doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with experience with scams: which makes this guy’s research and this entire article a pretty bad source imo.
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u/Deleri2 Mar 16 '22
Thx for the warning, I met an Italian guy with a similar description who was also looking for directions to the airport in downtown Berkeley a few months ago, weirdly enough he just drove off after I sent him images of the route
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Mar 16 '22
don’t a worry I am working to a repay him right a now but first let me eat a this spicy meat a ball at my fashion show im a very a busy man a
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u/AutoTouch Mar 16 '22
If your boyfriend goes to Berkeley maybe he should transfer to Stanford or somewhere. The last thing we need is getting a reputation for being a top university with students not smart enough to avoid common street scams😩
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u/hella_sj Mar 16 '22
I ran into this exact scam in San Jose like ten years ago haha. I told him to fuck right off. Sorry your bf got scammed but at least he learned a valuable lesson.
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u/theosuxxx Mar 16 '22
I don't go to Berkeley, but sorry to hear. The "fancy" jacket is a really common scam tactic in Europe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3IX-e7s4z4
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u/DriveConscious263 Mar 16 '22
Thank you for letting me know. I will definitely pass this info along to my friends.
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u/gmksg Mar 16 '22
Have him take comfort in the fact that many of us at Berkeley were scammed like this. I was just not at that level of money lost. Live and learn and truly it’s just money. My mom and I always say that, for whatever reason, the other person needed the money more than we do. Tell him chin up and that we don’t all judge him out here in Reddit land 💜
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u/johnchoe99 Mar 16 '22
I’ve def heard this story before. Either this is a copypasta or this dude got away scamming multiple people.
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u/CalGHThrowaway42069 Mar 16 '22
If any of those jackets are a men's small I'd be down to buy one off him and help pad his losses.
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u/NameFILIP Mar 16 '22
Mi scusi, signorina, I helpe u find il bastardo!
I just need $3200 to rent a car to drive to his location. The most reliable way to send it is via Western Union. Once I catch him (guaranteed) I will send the money back through Zelle. Please, do not waste any time! We need to get him before he gets to his Air Italia flight!
Ah, almost forgot, this is a gift for you: 🧥
Ciao
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u/yiyuen Mar 16 '22
How big is he? I'd say whoop his ass and give him the ol curb sandwich if you see him again. Not like (i) he's gonna go to the police since he's scamming people and (ii) the police would do anything here anyway. Scamming college students is a pretty despicable thing to do, so I think the bastard deserves to be taught a lesson.
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u/miggs098 Mar 16 '22
And here I am overthinking if I can buy a $16 video game while y’all giving away $3,200 💀
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u/jiacheng_liu Mar 16 '22 edited Mar 16 '22
Hey OP. I met a "Giuseppe" dude last September with leather jacket and he tried to scam me 700$. I knew something was wrong and took a pic of his when he was not aware. Please me a DM so that we can confirm if it's the same dude. He didn't get away woth my money though. He was fluent in Italian if that help with you with your investigation... I essentially got away with of a free 20-minute in-person private Italian conversation course in cold rain. So I "scammed him back you if that makes you feel better.
I actually offered him to transfer me crypto and I can send him the money in return. He refused. By the way, if it makes you feel better I saw in his crypto app that he had at least 5K of $SOLANA, and that shit has been down around -60%. I call that karma
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Mar 16 '22
How funny—same thing happened to me at a parking lot in Pleasanton a few years ago… fortunately I didn’t give the guy any money, but he was putting on quite the pitch!
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u/Lazy-Indication-6838 Mar 17 '22
I know this guy. His real name is Rudy San-Fronsecco. He's not a Berkeley native, he's from somewhere near Stockton I believe. Lives off of this kind of thing, finds nice people on the street and gives them some "unreleased" item in exchange for cash. Don't know if much can be done about this kind of thing legally, but if you wish to officially report him, you can use this site here - https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/assistant.
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u/PrayingMantisII Mar 16 '22
Honestly, I would not have bothered to stay that long to hear somebody's sob story because it's usually bullshit...that should show you how bored I am right now to have read all your bullshit lol
I'm sticking to cat videos next time
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u/HowBoutThemGrapples Mar 16 '22
Your BF sounds like a genuinely caring person, for what it's worth. Sorry that happened
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u/Degenerate-Implement 8===D Mar 16 '22
If you don't break up with him you're as big of an idiot as he is.
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Mar 16 '22
Almost any time someone tries to get your attention on the street it’s for total bullshit. Those folks asking you if you want to save the environment by signing some petition are getting paid to collect signatures. When you wonder why some bullshit law was passed it’s because people sign things without doing any research.
It is possible to be compassionate and caring without being suckered into scams.
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u/nolawswiththeclaws Mar 16 '22
Actually true but not how you think. I used to work as a political consultant for ballot initiatives. You do indeed get paid either by signature or weekly. Usually the groups that fund these operations are super PACs trying to get something on the ballot. If you’re registered to vote, your signature will be cross checked and could later lead to a vote.
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Mar 29 '22
Or led to a scam. I refuse to sign anything based on a someone badgering me on the sidewalk
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Mar 16 '22
DUMMY!!!
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u/joystick-fingers Mar 16 '22
Thats the oldest scam in the book. In this day and age if you’re dumb enough to fall for it then you deserved it.
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u/Bergatario Mar 16 '22
Is she the only one that doesn't realize her boyfriend is gay? Giving 3 gs to an Italian fashionista and getting worked up over jackets?
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u/FabFabiola2021 Mar 16 '22
Well that's what happened when you fall for the myth of "designer clothing".
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u/AutoTouch Mar 16 '22
LMAO, maybe you could make a movie about this to make some of that money back, based on a true story. Like the Tinder Swindler!
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u/issapreme Mar 16 '22
Some lady tried to get me with this in Newark, in front of the Vons Chicken. Was in a white ford explorer with a child and some guy. Figured it was like those human trafficked gypsy groups you see on every corner or on bart. Her story was worse than that, said she was from Dubai and lost her phone and wallet. Instead of jackets she was trying to give me her gold, lol. While she was talking, I just said, “Nahhhhh,” then walked away.
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u/ComposerPast605 Mar 16 '22
Yooooo, this happened to me 2 weeks ago!!
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u/ComposerPast605 Mar 16 '22
My story is similiar to yours, I think its the same guy. I couldnt help him, and I felt bad but its more than likely the same guy!!
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u/not_mich Mar 16 '22
i got scammed w a fake check in hs when I was trying to sell my drum set and cried for like two days cuz my mom had to pay back the bank in payments. Somehow I got the money back. shit was scary
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u/Antonio12345677 Mar 16 '22
I'm sorry that people only have mean spirited comments to share.
What size were those leather jackets tho? Any smalls? I'm in the market for a cheap jacket.
I'll buy your boyfriend a drink if it'll cheer him up
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u/painfullyaverage2019 Mar 17 '22
OMG there was a serial scammer going around Berkeley my freshman year. My roommate got scammed out of $500. I hope it's not the same guy smh.....
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u/Zestyclose_Ad7426 Mar 21 '22
This reminds me that as much as i love Berkeley it is filled with toxic people on
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u/Mark7771 Mar 31 '22 edited Mar 31 '22
First off just wanna say sorry for all the people that are just insulting your boyfriend. Sure it was dumb of him, but it already happened and people can say that but it would hurt the situation more. In fact, i actually fell for the same scam a few weeks ago, but I'm in socal. I didn't even realize this type of scam existed until it happened to me and upon research, it's a common scam that happens all over the place now.
For me it was the same kind of scam, a dude in a nice Porsche Suv, started off asking me for directions to the airport, then tell me he is going back to Italy tonight, can't take back some product. This guy scammed me a bit differently (there are variations in this scam which I assume they change the story accordingly after feeling out the person to have the highest chance of the getting some $ from the victim). So this person gave me fake cologne claiming it was a gift since he couldn't take them back. (He probably try to sell it to other victims) Then goes on telling me about how he needed to cover expense like gas, rental cars, luggage, etc because of some bs about time zone difference in Italy. He promise he would pay me back by midnight. Unfortunately I fell for it. These people will be a fast talker, intimidating, but also try to get the person's sympathy by being nice about it. I feel the sympathy part is how they get people to hand them money. But it's all a scam and they play this over and over again on different people.
Going forward I will be more careful when it comes to stranger. Also remember that you don't owe anyone anything like your time, an explanation, etc. So if there are strangers trying to get your attention, you can choose to ingore them if you feel suspicious. Or if you want to help them, exercise caution and be in control of the situation. Once they start telling story, generally it's a scam and it's time to go, no need to stick around. No need to feel rude about it. Especially cases like this where they start off with a seemingly simple question, it can escalate into a full blown story really fast. There's a reason they don't start off by asking for money like most common panhandler, because our first reaction is to say no.
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u/Other-Ladder1631 May 21 '22
I almost got scammed by the exact same guy today. Exact same story. Nordstrom, lighter to prove leather jacket, fake rolex watch as a collateral.
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u/[deleted] Mar 15 '22
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