On Saturday December 20th 2014 at about 12:10am in Anaheim California on Brookurst and Orange, I fell victim to the So-called "beggar's Con".
Two women in a sand colored Nissan Altima flagged me down, looking like they were in distress. One of them (told me her name was Gina) starts speaking hastily about how she just caught her husband cheating on her, took everything from her, and now she needs money for her friend to get back to San Diego. Basically a massive sob story that actually sounded real, at least enough for me to buy in.
They asked for exactly $120 (at first, they later on asked for more money to get food along the way, and I ended up giving them $139 total) for gas money. I should have listened to my insticts which kept screaming this is an absurd amount of money for gas, just to get to San Diego, and I should just turn around and run to my car. With gas prices at about 2.50 a gallon, 120 is enough for 48 gallons, and there is no way you need that much to just get to San Diego. Although they were throwing a lot of emotional energy at me, getting offended that I would even inquire about why they need so much gas money, I couldn't think straight with the tugs on my heartstrings and I folded with naivety. I wanted to do a selfless thing and genuinely help complete strangers who looked like they were in distress, and it bit me in the A**. This was a very expensive life lesson, but now I know. It seemed unlikely that they would rip me off based on how much information they were willing to give me, like phone numbers, license plate, driver's license, but now that I have tried to report them to the police and they are not willing to do anything, and how Small Claims court may have juristiction issues if they are out of state, I'm not sure how much good this information is going to do me.
They promised they would meet me the following day to pay back the Money I gave them, they give me their phone numbers, and Christina Nadrowski gave me her license to take a picture of. I also took down their License Plate number. After I texted them to meet me at a Starbuck, they said that would be fine. The Next day, they didn't show up to the Starbucks, and they seem to have started blocking my calls.
I have made peace with the prospect that it is very unlikely that I am going to get my money back, but the least I can do is make sure no one else falls prey to their cons. I am going to haunt them for life. If there is any information you can provide, or any justice you think you can help me get using the information about them that I have, please let me know. I really don't know what to do, and I hate to think there is nothing I can do about this.
Now here is some information I have about them:
The Driver, and the Woman claimed her husband left her etc, she told me her name was Gina. The Phone Number she gave me is 562-xxx-xxxx and the license plate of the car she was driving is 4FVK975... I didn't see what state the License Plate number was, but I am assuming it was California. Car was a Sand Colored Nissan Altima, and it sounded a bit funky, like it needed a tune up.
As for the Woman Sitting Shotgun, I got a picture of her Driver's License, so I have more full details about her:
Christina Nadrowski Reviews
On Saturday December 20th 2014 at about 12:10am in Anaheim California on Brookurst and Orange, I fell victim to the So-called "beggar's Con".
Two women in a sand colored Nissan Altima flagged me down, looking like they were in distress. One of them (told me her name was Gina) starts speaking hastily about how she just caught her husband cheating on her, took everything from her, and now she needs money for her friend to get back to San Diego. Basically a massive sob story that actually sounded real, at least enough for me to buy in.
They asked for exactly $120 (at first, they later on asked for more money to get food along the way, and I ended up giving them $139 total) for gas money. I should have listened to my insticts which kept screaming this is an absurd amount of money for gas, just to get to San Diego, and I should just turn around and run to my car. With gas prices at about 2.50 a gallon, 120 is enough for 48 gallons, and there is no way you need that much to just get to San Diego. Although they were throwing a lot of emotional energy at me, getting offended that I would even inquire about why they need so much gas money, I couldn't think straight with the tugs on my heartstrings and I folded with naivety. I wanted to do a selfless thing and genuinely help complete strangers who looked like they were in distress, and it bit me in the A**. This was a very expensive life lesson, but now I know. It seemed unlikely that they would rip me off based on how much information they were willing to give me, like phone numbers, license plate, driver's license, but now that I have tried to report them to the police and they are not willing to do anything, and how Small Claims court may have juristiction issues if they are out of state, I'm not sure how much good this information is going to do me.
They promised they would meet me the following day to pay back the Money I gave them, they give me their phone numbers, and Christina Nadrowski gave me her license to take a picture of. I also took down their License Plate number. After I texted them to meet me at a Starbuck, they said that would be fine. The Next day, they didn't show up to the Starbucks, and they seem to have started blocking my calls.
I have made peace with the prospect that it is very unlikely that I am going to get my money back, but the least I can do is make sure no one else falls prey to their cons. I am going to haunt them for life. If there is any information you can provide, or any justice you think you can help me get using the information about them that I have, please let me know. I really don't know what to do, and I hate to think there is nothing I can do about this.
Now here is some information I have about them:
The Driver, and the Woman claimed her husband left her etc, she told me her name was Gina. The Phone Number she gave me is 562-xxx-xxxx and the license plate of the car she was driving is 4FVK975... I didn't see what state the License Plate number was, but I am assuming it was California. Car was a Sand Colored Nissan Altima, and it sounded a bit funky, like it needed a tune up.
As for the Woman Sitting Shotgun, I got a picture of her Driver's License, so I have more full details about her: