It’s not easy being a Good Samaritan. There are people out there who are out to take advantage of your kindness.
Flor dela Torre shared a story of how a Caucasian man in UN Avenue in Manila allegedly scammed her and her friends. He had gotten their attention when he asked for help because a cab driver allegedly drove off with all his stuff inside the cab’s trunk.
The man claimed that his cab driver dropped him off at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay even if his requested destination was Makati. The man said he was planning to walk all the way to Greenhills, where he was staying, because he only had PHP10 in his pocket.
Dela Torre offered several options to help the man like bringing him to the police station or booking an Uber car for him, but he came up with excuses to reject the offered options.
Since it was Dela Torre’s birthday and she was looking for a special way to celebrate, she decided to go out of her way, and drive the man all the way to Greenhills.
During the ride, Allan, as the Caucasian man called himself, talked about various subjects, He also claimed that he was 35 years old and that he was from Massachusettes.
When they reached Greenhils, Allan tried to ask for PHP250 (about US$6) from Dela Torre since he said that he needed to have the masterkey of his condominium unit copied at Mr. Quickie. Dela Torre pretended not to hear him. He politely thanked them before getting off the car.
When Dela Torre and her friend were about to leave the Greenhills area, they saw Allan talking to a jogger, who stormed away from him. Dela Torre talked to the jogger to ask him what happened.
The jogger explained that Allan asked for money to go to Solaire, where he supposedly had a room. He was aware that it was a scam so he stayed away.
That’s when Dela Torre realized that she just let a con-man stay inside her car.
But the story does not end there.
Dela Torre and her friend went out of their way to look for Allan and expose his ways. The second time around, they were prepared.
She again they ran into him at a bank in Ortigas Ave with his new targets — a group of guys who were going to play basketball.
“I went to him and warned the people he’s been talking to that he’s a fraud and he has told us a different story and keeps on doing that to people,” she related.
In that particular encounter, Dela Torre and her friend caught everything on video and shared it on Facebook in a post that has now gone viral.
The interesting part? There were several other victims of this Allan guy who posted their experiences on the comments section of Dela Torre’s post
One womanl said that Allan scammed her in a convenience store in Maceda. He asked for help and and she gave him money and booked an Uber ride for him.
Another one said that Allan cursed her group when they refused to give him money.
About a year ago a similar post about a Caucasian guy with the same modus has already gone viral.
Journalist James Deakin encountered a bleeding foreigner who seemingly needed help. The Lifeline Ambulance Rescue Inc., even got involved.
Deakin also exposed the scammer through a video he was able to take through his Google cam.
You may read Deakin’s post here.
