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SCAM ALERT: Watch out for guy who will ask if you speak English


Waking life
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Saw him this month near Plaza De Armas.  Did not realize what was happening till we had come abreast of the scammer and an older American man who were blocking the sidewalk.  As we passed by I saw the older man hand the younger man something and he said he was sorry but that was all he had on him.  The scammer replied that he should not be sorry and thanks.  The scammer then took off at a fast clip and I watched him till he was out of sight.  I wish I could have heard the whole transaction.  I might have warned the older gentleman. 

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  • 3 months later...
On 3/18/2019 at 12:56 PM, LittleYiaYia said:

Saw him this month near Plaza De Armas.  Did not realize what was happening till we had come abreast of the scammer and an older American man who were blocking the sidewalk.  As we passed by I saw the older man hand the younger man something and he said he was sorry but that was all he had on him.  The scammer replied that he should not be sorry and thanks.  The scammer then took off at a fast clip and I watched him till he was out of sight.  I wish I could have heard the whole transaction.  I might have warned the older gentleman. 

 

 

We are staying at this hotel. Time to brush up on my high school French. Parlez vous Francais? 

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As many times as we have been to SJ and cruised out of there (and stayed multiple days before and after the cruise) I have yet to meet this famous person!

 

However, we got split up from my son in law when we were there in May and ....he fell for it and gave the guy money. We laughed about it afterwards but he didn't care and he's willing to help anyone at any time. That's just his nature and even if the guy would have told him the truth, he probably still would have done it. LOL He actually gave him $20

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On ‎6‎/‎24‎/‎2019 at 5:12 PM, mitsugirly said:

As many times as we have been to SJ and cruised out of there (and stayed multiple days before and after the cruise) I have yet to meet this famous person!

 

 

We haven't either - after 10 trips to Puerto Rico and probably 25-30 times to Old San Juan.  I'm feeling left out:classic_tongue:

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  • 1 month later...

We were just there this week and was approached by him. He asked if we spoke English .  Then he made a joke about only speaking  Wisconsin.  He told us that his brother was in the bad part of Puerto Rico and got beat up and mugged. He was taken to the hospital.  My husband said “sorry to hear , good luck with that” and walked off. All we heard him say is “jeez”. Lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks everyone for posting your experiences - I'll make sure to give my group a heads-up before we travel to OSJ in December. None of us normally give money in any case but just in case anyone is feeling the Christmas spirit...

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  • 1 month later...

We met him yesterday morning just off the Plaza de Colon.  His story was back to him and his father being mugged.  I hadn't told my wife about his popularity, or story yet, so she was unhappy that I tried to keep walking and wouldn't help.  After we left him, I told her about his popularity here and she wished she'd asked for a selfie for me to post.

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  • 1 month later...

😳👍Just a heads up to cruisers...the same guy with a story about being "robbed" along with his father approached us yesterday near the Starbucks close to the port. This is the same man with almost the same "line" who was asking for assistance the last time we were in San Juan !! The first thing he asks is if we speak English... and tells us he's off the ship ...then he says how unsafe the area by the Castillo San Cristobal is, etc....as soon as I heard that I told my husband "let's go"...he just keeps looking for unsuspecting tourists! 😳

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  • 1 month later...
On 10/26/2019 at 2:50 PM, garlictown said:

😳👍Just a heads up to cruisers...the same guy with a story about being "robbed" along with his father approached us yesterday near the Starbucks close to the port. This is the same man with almost the same "line" who was asking for assistance the last time we were in San Juan !! The first thing he asks is if we speak English... and tells us he's off the ship ...then he says how unsafe the area by the Castillo San Cristobal is, etc....as soon as I heard that I told my husband "let's go"...he just keeps looking for unsuspecting tourists! 😳

This same person approached us on November 26.  Be aware and Beware.  

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Ten years after first post the scammer is alive and still banged up. Still from Wisconsin but tonight (Dec 4 2019) as we were walking in to CVS he needed $4 to get his dad out of the hospital via taxi. Said he was at the Sheraton and got lost and ended up in La Perla where they were robbed and he was beat up. Didn't fall for it because I know you can't get anywhere in OSJ for four bucks! 

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16 hours ago, Rinderoo said:

Ten years after first post the scammer is alive and still banged up. Still from Wisconsin but tonight (Dec 4 2019) as we were walking in to CVS he needed $4 to get his dad out of the hospital via taxi. Said he was at the Sheraton and got lost and ended up in La Perla where they were robbed and he was beat up. Didn't fall for it because I know you can't get anywhere in OSJ for four bucks! 

This guy never gives up! Wondering how many "fall" for his line? He seems to know when the ships are in, LOL ! 

Katie

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  • 1 month later...
On 8/18/2019 at 12:35 PM, sawcochran said:

Guess who was in port behind the Sheraton this morning? Heard him telling a group he was from Wisconsin. 

88B79210-EB9D-406F-99C1-09048D490EA5.jpeg

This is the same guy I saw in 2011.  He told me to go to hell after I outed him as the San Juan Scammer!

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1 hour ago, airlink diva said:

While we are aware of him from this group and possibility others online, just a many more that are not.  And if he's still doing this for close to a decade, has to be making a good income from people.  

He no doubt will continue his scam operation until enough people stop falling for his sad story. Will see if we run into him in March. 

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