Just because it’s an old con doesn’t mean it won’t still work on the unwary. This time the target thought she was getting a share of $150,000 from a dropped wallet, but the other participants demanded she put up a good faith deposit of $2,000 before receiving her cut of the found money. More
How the standard pigeon drop scam works Here
My first reaction is: “Why would I need cash to get cash?”
No way, you take my cut from the found money, I’m not forking over anything.
Ya cannot flimflam an honest person.
There is no free lunch.
People are stupid. And if you’re not greedy nor moronic, you will be impervious to scams like this. And intelligent person would know that their $2,000 is real and the promise of $75,000 means nothing until it’s in hand.
I recall reading about this scam over the years and could never figure out why people fell for it, because it just doesn’t make sense.
It must work often enough, there’s been a Nigerian prince that keeps working a version of this. He is still out there trying.
Watch George C. Scott perform this classic scam in “The Flim Flam Man” if you want to see the kind of rubes that fall for the pigeon drop.
reminds me of this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAF9OAO4TtA
The demonstration video shows how the sudden opportunity for a big pay day overrides a person’s common sense to the point where the individual begins to think, “for a small investment, I’ll get a huge return.”
For most people only if you know the scam are you likely to avoid it.
When you find a wallet, look inside to find the persons ID and return it. I don’t care how much money is in it. Does this really need to be said??
People are dumber than anybody.
Remember what your momma done told you, “If it’s to good to be true, it probably is.”
@KMM: It works because it’s based on greed. And greed short-circuits logic. They’ll be running some version of this a hundred years from now.
And the first time she didn’t take a gang selfie.
You can always con a dishonest person.
Greed. I fall on the side of “you deserve this lesson if you fall for it”.
The more you lose the better the lesson.
For the young ones around: There’s this weird, peaceful rest you get when you don’t lie, cheat and steal your way through life.
You get used to it pretty quick and you miss it when you lie, cheat and steal.
Someone faked an email addy of a friend and asked if I would send a certain amount to the Philippines so “she’ could get home.
Recognized what it was by it’s existence alone. Didn’t even need to verify anything. She’s in my phone dammit. We only used our emails for the sailing club.
So I told “her” ‘Sure. I’ll send money, just like last time. You know the verification drill. Name the boat I raced against you in and I’ll send the money tomorrow.’
Sure. I’ll send money, just like last time was added to get the crook all excited.
It’s been a fun few emails.
On the next one I’ll claim this looks suspicious, since no boat name is forthcoming, and ask “her” to send my email $100 through paypal – like last time – so I know it’s really “her”. Then I’ll gladly send the $2,000.00+, pronto.
Let’s see if their greed gets the best of them.
I’ve found a few wallets and pocketbooks over the years. Always made sure the owner got them back intact. Never even entertained keeping them, even at times when I could have really used it.
Dadof4 is right. If you’re always above board you never have to worry about keeping your story straight.
I did find $350 cash in a bank envelope on the side of the road back in the early 80s.
I did keep it. While it wasn’t honest, it felt even more foolish to to not pay my bills and buy groceries. I told myself the real owner would never get it back because someone else would pocket it and forget it – but I didn’t tell the bank on the envelope that I found anything at all. Yes we were in very thin times – but that still didn’t make it right.
It’s too easy to say I’d pay them back several times over if I really knew who lost it now. But it’s true. It’s one of the things I’ll have to answer to God for.