[JVH]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

I was approached by a guy with a lady and a kid.

Originally Posted by ancientmariner

7 years back I was approached by a similar 'family' near Forum Mall, Kmgla.

These so called families are spread over Bangalore. A friend of mine got duped by them for about 1000 bucks 9 years ago and reading you guys looks like they continue to operate the same modus operandi. IIRC, they are marathi speaking folks and my friend being a marathi got emotional and helped them.

[jeeva]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Not sure if the following incident was an attempt.

I was approached by a guy with a lady and a kid.

This happened at J.P.Nagar on 24th Main today. First they approached me and asked if I know Hindi and then they started a story saying that they were from Pune and lost Rs. 4k on the train.

I don't think its a mugging attempt. Majestic railway station/bus stand and even Madiwala has lots of these people. For the first time, I actually gave them some money as I thought they were genuinely in trouble. But later when I saw more of such people, realized that its another of that trick. Usually they roam around in families.

[ventoman]

Originally Posted by ancientmariner

7 years back I was approached by a similar 'family' near Forum Mall, Kmgla. Ever since I have been running into such families near that junction. Once I offered to take them to the police station and they refused the offer.
I was once approached by an Indian near Times Square, NY with a similar story. I offered to take him to a 'Krishna Ashram' nearby. He refused.
This trick certainly has withstood the test of time across the world.

Ya..I guess its everywhere!
I regularly notice a guy in Liverpool street, London performing the ¨family¨ trick, whenever I go there on business trips.

[ch.nathan]

Originally Posted by jeeva

I don't think its a mugging attempt.

Yep - this is not a mugging attempt. But a different form of begging. Quite an old trick though.

[AstonMartin]

The family losing money and getting stranded in Bangalore is an old trick. I experienced it myself in 2004. Now I don't fall for it. But, the genuine ones are suffering due to these fakes. Because of my bad experiences, I once ignored a guy who said he came from Bangladesh and wanted to reach CMC vellore for his daughters operation. But after seeing him sitting in a Vellore bus with wife and kid and luggage with airline tags brought me to tears and repentance.

[Googleman]

Originally Posted by P1tBull

I just got caught by the guy hitting the back of the car trick, in broad daylight on Residency road. I knew about the scam and even then fell for it.
They had scoped my car out when I stopped at the signal and the target was my N97 cellphone which was in the passenger seat beside me.

One guy hit the side of the car when I started moving and I stopped. Unfortunately my passenger window was open and the other guy grabs me from the drivers side making me look away. Guy No 1 reaches through, grabs my phone and they run for it. I chased after them until Brigade road while yelling thief. Not a single person on the road stops them though. No cops either. I lost them on Brigade road when they ran into one of the gulleys. Placed a complaint with the cops but thats the last I expect to see of the phone .

I'd expect this in ORR at midnight but MG road area at 11 am? Crime seems to be getting pretty bad in Bangalore.

Were they on a bike? or running all the way from residency road to MG road? Did u notice the Registration number?

You know if something like this happens. I will leave my car locked in the middle of the road, get down and chase the guys on foot. This would create more havock in the traffic and chances of catching the robber would be more. Not a full proof plan though.

Originally Posted by AstonMartin

The family losing money and getting stranded in Bangalore is an old trick. I experienced it myself in 2004. Now I don't fall for it. But, the genuine ones are suffering due to these fakes. Because of my bad experiences, I once ignored a guy who said he came from Bangladesh and wanted to reach CMC vellore for his daughters operation. But after seeing him sitting in a Vellore bus with wife and kid and luggage with airline tags brought me to tears and repentance.

Tears? Seriously?

[P1tBull]

Originally Posted by Googleman

Were they on a bike? or running all the way from residency road to MG road? Did u notice the Registration number?

You know if something like this happens. I will leave my car locked in the middle of the road, get down and chase the guys on foot. This would create more havock in the traffic and chances of catching the robber would be more. Not a full proof plan though.

Nope. On foot. I pulled the car to the side and ran after them but the time it took gave them a head start of about 200 ft.
I chased them all the way from the Good Shepherd's end of Museum Road (not Residency Road) to the Brigade road signal but lost them in one of the gulleys,

[zazer]

Date 3rd September 2010
Place : Silk Board Flyover Junction From HSR Side
Time : Around Elevenish
Event : I was on my way to my college, as I had exams going on I wanted to relax and the only time left was on the way to college. So with my windows rolled down I was listening to "KYA MUJHE PYAR HAI". As I continued to wait for the signal to turn green, I noticed a group of sellers and beggers heading my way . Instaneously out of habit I rolled up my windows as I did not want to take chance with my laptop and my phone which lay next to me at the passenger seat. As the signal turned green and I released my handbrake I saw a guy standing in front of my car pretenting to cross the road. He stepped back in front of my car instead of crossing the road so I honked !
Next thing I see is him bending down and shouting and hitting on my window. I Choked! For never have I faced an accident before. The guy in question was accusing me of running over his feet. He wanted me to roll down the windows. As I was about to switch off and get down something stopped me ( I guess it was my T-BHP`th sense) I looked at the rear view mirror and could see around four random guys around my car, in an instant I remembered this thread and a couple of posts I had made earlier on in this thread.

Result : I honked once ,revved up to 5K the second time and as the guy moved away I zoomed off. But in the process I did make sure to check my rear view, and I wasnt suprised to find my apparent victim talking to all four guys without the slightest feel of pain.

Flaws In The Plot:
1. I never moved my car so I could never have hurt him, unless putting the handbrake down put all my 145 horses to work
2. Even If I Did I should have hit him with my bumper and he should have fallen down or over my car . And Under no circumstance can my wheels go over a person`s leg whos standing bang in front of my car.
3. Why did he step back when the road opposite was empty and he could easily cross ?
4. How come four randomly dudes walking on the road all of a sudden forget their destination and start boxing my car from all side a split second after this guy cries ?

Guys if this can happen to me on a working day at a place like silkboard during rush hour traffic it can happen to you too! Staying patient and letting the logical part of brain to work is the best thing to do. Drive Safe! Stay Safe !

Cheers
Abhi

[Captain Slow]

Abhi you were really lucky you got away! Your quick thinking saved you.
This was in the morning? Lot of cars and people around ?

[zazer]

Originally Posted by Captain Slow

Abhi you were really lucky you got away! Your quick thinking saved you.
This was in the morning? Lot of cars and people around ?

Yep! It was around eleven o clock with hundreds of people around. Btw these things work on a totally different principle. The more the number of people the better it is for these thugs. These people set up such an elaborate show that most of the times the victim panic`s and does a mistake of letting these guys into his/her car and driving to a lonely area thereby losing the advantage of crowd and thus ending up getting mugged.

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Not sure if the following incident was an attempt.

I was approached by a guy with a lady and a kid.

This happened at J.P.Nagar on 24th Main today. First they approached me and asked if I know Hindi and then they started a story saying that they were from Pune and lost Rs. 4k on the train.

I just walked off. Not sure if they needed any real help, as I did not hear the complete details, but police station was very near to this place and if they needed any help they would have got it anyway.

If I did not read the posts here, I would have probably listened to him at least. But after reading the posts here, I just did not want to take any risk. I was alone and I do not know Kannada. And if they lost something they should have approached the police at the railway station. J.P. Nagar 24th main is quite far from any railway station.

This is the perennial Marathi scam that has been running in Bangalore for many years now. Around 7 years ago I was approached by a similar group with men, women and kids, some of them infants, in Indira Nagar. They asked if I knew Hindi and they said they had come from Nagpur and were stuck in Bangalore after losing all their money. Since I know Marathi, I felt sympathetic and they said they had been without food, I bought some packets of biscuits, bread and milk. Then when they asked for money to get back to Nagpur, I decided it was time to call it quits.

So in a sense what you did is the right thing.

The other two scams where I have been the victim are:

A couple of well-mannered English speaking guys coming to my house seeking donation for some school or hospital. They will not get the name of the school or hospital fully right. For instance instead of Bethany School they will say Bethany Hospital in Bomanahalli. This is so you don't call to find out. When I asked if this hospital is affiliated to Bethany, they said yes. I gave a pile of newspapers which they asked for. Then they asked for money and I gave some too. A few minutes after they left, I felt something was wrong and called up Bethany to find out that I had been suckered. I later called the cops to find out that this is a common scam by drug addicts.

Then there is this common scam where a couple of guys, one with a helmet, will approach you saying that he needs Rs. 100 odd to get his bike released after the traffic police took it for illegal parking. They will promise you that they will repay the money by money order and take your address and all that but its all a charade. Happened to me in Cambridge Layout and one of the residents told me the same 2 people have been doing this for some time now.

[gou]

Originally Posted by zazer

Date 3rd September 2010
Place : Silk Board Flyover Junction From HSR Side
Time : Around Elevenish
Event : I was on my way to my college, as I had exams going on I wanted to relax and the only time left was on the way to college. So with my windows rolled down I was listening to "KYA MUJHE PYAR HAI". As I continued to wait for the signal to turn green, I noticed a group of sellers and beggers heading my way . Instaneously out of habit I rolled up my windows as I did not want to take chance with my laptop and my phone which lay next to me at the passenger seat. As the signal turned green and I released my handbrake I saw a guy standing in front of my car pretenting to cross the road. He stepped back in front of my car instead of crossing the road so I honked !
Next thing I see is him bending down and shouting and hitting on my window. I Choked! For never have I faced an accident before. The guy in question was accusing me of running over his feet. He wanted me to roll down the windows. As I was about to switch off and get down something stopped me ( I guess it was my T-BHP`th sense) I looked at the rear view mirror and could see around four random guys around my car, in an instant I remembered this thread and a couple of posts I had made earlier on in this thread.

Result : I honked once ,revved up to 5K the second time and as the guy moved away I zoomed off. But in the process I did make sure to check my rear view, and I wasnt suprised to find my apparent victim talking to all four guys without the slightest feel of pain.

Flaws In The Plot:
1. I never moved my car so I could never have hurt him, unless putting the handbrake down put all my 145 horses to work
2. Even If I Did I should have hit him with my bumper and he should have fallen down or over my car . And Under no circumstance can my wheels go over a person`s leg whos standing bang in front of my car.
3. Why did he step back when the road opposite was empty and he could easily cross ?
4. How come four randomly dudes walking on the road all of a sudden forget their destination and start boxing my car from all side a split second after this guy cries ?

Guys if this can happen to me on a working day at a place like silkboard during rush hour traffic it can happen to you too! Staying patient and letting the logical part of brain to work is the best thing to do. Drive Safe! Stay Safe !

Cheers
Abhi

Originally Posted by zazer

Yep! It was around eleven o clock with hundreds of people around. Btw these things work on a totally different principle. The more the number of people the better it is for these thugs. These people set up such an elaborate show that most of the times the victim panic`s and does a mistake of letting these guys into his/her car and driving to a lonely area thereby losing the advantage of crowd and thus ending up getting mugged.

Abhi, you acted smart. Really worried about it. I live nearby and cross this place frequently. If they can try this in crowdy area like Silk board, I don't know if any other place which is safe.

[jagan0677]

Originally Posted by mooza

Thanks for sharing this incident. Will have to ride with all windows up, especially while driving alone, I guess.

And doors locked. Especially if you are alone.

Cheers
Jagan

[Driver2000]

There is another version of this tale. Not very dangerous, but a cheat nevertheless. I drew money from the Citibank ATM at Brigade Road and as I came out, a well dressed guy approached me and asked for 50 bucks (4-5 years ago) - saying that he had lost his wallet and needed auto fare to go back to wherever. I hesitated a little, but since the amount was small, gave it to him.

A week later, I draw money at the same ATM, and the same dude turns up with the same story. I felt really sad, more than angry. Told him that he's already told me his story once, so he really should be home with the money I gave him last time. Dude doesnt seem to understand, just stares past me for the next person.

Since we are raising awareness levels while driving - just wanted to reinforce that we need to be alert at ATMs too. I am sure there are newer and possibly more dangerous versions of this story around now.

[bblost]

Driver2000. The exact thing happened many years before at the Besant Nagar Beach in Chennai.

I am sitting and talking with my friends. When this well dressed guy pushing a scooter asks us for money as he lost his wallet and his scooter was out of petrol.

We gave him nothing as I knew who he was.
He belonged to my neighborhood. Nice respectable family. Drug addict. This was his way of funding the habit which eventually killed him.

Reading that post of your just reminded me of that very sad story.

Sorry for going OT.