Here’s How Bold They Are In My City:

@NativePortlander1970 Yes I have heard about their scams. There was the diaper scam with men holding up signs at busy intersections saying their baby needed diapers etc Then I would see handwritten ads for diapers for sale with the brands, sizes and prices posted on bulletin boards in laundromats here. When people got wise to that scam they’d hold up signs saying they found a job in Oklahoma City but needed gas money for their vehicle to get up there to work. A man even approached me early one Sunday morning at a DIY car wash asking for gas money. I was the only person washing my car and was scared that he might try to carjack my car. So I yelled at him “Are you supposed to be up here begging from people? I don’t think so!” He turned around to walk away then the elderly attendant walked over and told him to leave.

My sister told me about their scams and how they’d brag about duping people out of money. She is a scammer too but does it to people she knows by manipulating them with sad stories mentioning certain things she doesn’t have but doesn’t directly ask. They will fall for that too.

@cherokeepatti Several years ago there was a family sitting by a minivan with cali state plates near mini mall parking lot exit stop sign claiming to be stranded, in the middle of nowhere north central iowa. It was nearing dark in winter, about to snow, and I called non emergency police to let them know. I have friends on the local force and I was told that as soon as a squad suv appeared they took off, the dispatched followed them to a nice house in the better part of town, the parents were then arrested for unlawful soliciting and larceny. They may have gotten away with it in california, but in iowa, no dice.

@NativePortlander1970 Good. I saw a family in the hottest part of summer sitting under a tree at an intersection. The man was holding a sign saying his job had laid him off and he needed a job to support his family. Pretty sure he found one quickly because I never saw them again

@cherokeepatti Or the adults got arrested.

@NativePortlander1970 I don’t think so. People are very sympathetic for families and people who really want jobs. They weren’t asking for money. Just a job for the breadwinner of the family.

@cherokeepatti That's part of the scam, familial tear jerking.

@NativePortlander1970 I believe they were legit. They didn’t have that scam look. Anyway if someone offered the man a job and he twisted it around they’d be wise to him very quick.

@cherokeepatti Hopefully they were legit.

@NativePortlander1970 Last summer there were a number of women and some with children or even babies begging outside of businesses with some sob story. They wanted money. Come to find out they were roving gypsies traveling down the interstate highway near the city and also south OKC (saw one sitting next to the door of a large Asian grocery store that same week). They tried different locations and within a three weeks all were gone. They looked unkempt as though they were living in a van. Some were acting like Hispanics but I don’t believe they were. They were just pretending to be. It was really hot around the last of July and they moved on, probably north.

@cherokeepatti When I lived in northern Delaware 20+ years ago, my late ex fiancee was friends with a large Gypsy clan that had theirbown evangelical pentecostal style church. TBH I'm very surprised they let her into their group. However in february 2004 she had a bad falling out with the preacher's wife, Jane's adult younger son had failed to come home after a night out with friends so she called Sylvia asking for prayer, instead she berated Jane for being a bad mother and raising Alex wrong and other things. When I heard Jane yelling at her, I told Jane to give me the phone, then told her may her own sons turn into heathens and then spat on the floor loud enough that she could hear me over the phone, I gave her a Gypsy curse, then hung up the phone. When I looked at Jane she was white as a ghost and asked me why did I do that, that they had been friends since Alex was a baby, so I asked her if real friends condemn and criticize like she did, she said no, they don't. Less than five minutes later we got a call from a Westchester, PA hospital, Alex and his best friend had been badly rearended on I95 south, but that they were ok, no broken bones, whiplash, or concussions, just bumps and bruises.