Possible scam South West France
Please be aware of very plausible Irish family seeking financial help to return home after "having all money and bank cards stolen".
We were having lunch at J9 Aire on the A65 to Pau yesterday 17th July 2019 approached by Irish man, hot, bothered and very apologetic with above story. It smelt of a scam from start to finish however after speaking with his wife and seeing three very unhappy looking children presented us with a moral dilemma to which we succumbed, lending the family some money to help in their return home.
After settling into the club site near Pau I decided to check the internet for scams and there it was "Irish French Autoroute Scam" with an identical scenario but in 2016 and the perpetrators had been caught. Are this family at it again?
We are 99.9% certain that we have been well and truly scammed and are kicking ourselves. We hope that we are wrong but PLEASE BE AWARE.
Moderator Comment - Moved from the Story Section
Comments
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It is common - and we've been approached by 'an Irish family' in the past near Toulouse. I think they have also been seen in northern France, on the approaches to the Channel. ~~
Some time this year I'm sure I read an almost identical story with actual photographs of the man and his car - a blue, perhaps Ford Fiesta???
Thanks for posting the warning! Are you a member of any other forums, or would you like someone to share it elsewhere, so that word can be spread more widely of the need to be vigilant.0 -
I've now found the story I referred to, above, which was in June 2019 on the A1 motorway near Lille - and the man was driving a UK registered Ford Fiesta, with the registration number including 06. The story was then that he had been to Disneyland Paris and had all his cards and money stolen. On another story there is a photograph of a very similar looking man taken in 2016 when he was driving an older Volvo - but with a very similar story.
Beware - he's managed to convince quite a lot of people to part with some money.
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Thanks Max - have just poosted it to two other forums and will add it to some Facebook groups in the morning.
Do you know what sort of car he was driving this time?
Apparently, according to someone from Ireland, it happens all the time in Ireland too.................!0 -
I gave £20 to a similar family at a service station on the autoroute near Calais at least 15 years ago. They said they needed fuel to get back to the port but I have no idea if they were honest or not. I would probably do the same again in case it really was a family genuinely in need and I would not refuse help to someone who asks.
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It is quite common in the UK for young women to stand outside railway stations looking distressed and beg for some cash to buy a ticket, claiming they have been robbed, lost their purse etc. I have been approached twice and a lady was a regular outside Paddington station near where I worked. We saw her in the act of convincing a guy to give her money and went up to her “didn’t we see you here yesterday with the same story .... etc”.
It happens all over the world and it is easy to be conned.
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Oh bejesus, fair play to ya, yer bang on, me covers blown, so it is Sor.......
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It does beg the question, how did this ‘destitute’ family come to be in motorway service station, after all they’re not exactly easy to access without a car. If they’d been robbed at the Aire then you’d assume the Police would be involved?
Motorway service stations are a magnet for all forms of thieving low-life and we should suspend our polite, nice British manners for absolutely anybody telling a sob story or taking an undue interest in you or your vehicle. Scams and distraction crimes at these locations are commonplace. I don’t let the van out of my sight at such places - they are very high risk locations.
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A friend of ours was approached by a man in a similar fashion here in the UK in a local town. He convinced our friend they'd met and was about to start the "work" on his house (which by sheer coincidence was about to happen.) To cut a long story short the man followed our friend back to his home where luckily his wife realised something was wrong. Our friend had been ill and wasn't quite up to the mark at the time. A very unpleasant episode that could have been worse, so these things are a reminder to be alert to potential risks.
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If we are talking about French motorway service stations I have to disagree on this one - I don't find them "a magnet for all forms of thieving of low life" at all. And we always leave the caravan and go inside.
For example the Aire des Monts de Gueret which has a real bookshop and another area which sells all sorts of local produce. We never knew there were so many things could be made from chestnuts. We bought a recipe book and brought it home, but haven't used it.
But in first place is the Aire des Verites at Lapallise which has a real restaurant with tables laid up with cutlery and wine glasses - and offers five or six full multi course menus from €19 to €36 - so business men, tourists and truckers are eating side by side at 12 noon prompt. Where else does a service station restaurant offer turbot on the list of starters? And then has a self service coffee machine which grinds fresh beans before it gives out tiny cups of espresso to overalled HGV drivers.
So I just hope newcomers travelling across France won't be made paranoid by posts urging them to be afraid. Be bold.
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You and I clearly have different experiences. I wasn’t just commenting on France, but all motorway service areas. France, in my experience is relatively safe, but it’s a very different situation in some other countries. I wasn’t encouraging paranoia, just awareness and vigilance. Being the victim of crime abroad and dealing with the aftermath is inconvenient to say the least.
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