A hard, hard lesson to learn ...

[pearl]

JP arrived home late from work tonight extremely distressed. A man had stopped him & said his car had broken down with his two granddaughters inside & he needed some cash to sort the situation out. He took JP to an ATM & JP withdrew �160 and gave it to him. The man shook his hand, thanked him for his help & said he would return the money to JP's place of work first thing tomorrow. At least he had the presence of mind not to give his home address.

 

We phoned the police immediately, & a lovely policewoman came round & took down all the details. Before JP came into the room I asked did she know he has Aspergers, yes she said but I don't know anything about it, so I gave her a 30 second brief before he came in & she was really great with him. He remembered loads of helpful details (of course!) and they think they have the guy on CCTV. They are going to get him to look at some footage, and video his statement rather than write it down.

 

He is feeling so stupid, and annoyed at himself that he had no idea how to extricate himself from the situation. He was prepared to be attacked: he wasnt prepared for someone asking him for "help".

 

Now we have all calmed down we are trying to be as positive as possible. Its only money. He could have been mugged. And I doubt he'll be conned like this again. He now has a script for possible future events "sorry mate I cant help" and has decided to leave his cash card at home in future.

 

He ran the entire two miles home from work

Edited July 21, 2008 by pearl

[Flora]

Oh my goodness..... what an awful thing to happen <'>

 

I was in Devon the other day and there were police signs at one of the service stations describing this very type of crime... apparently it's a new thing... where people flag down motorists etc, and get money out of them for petrol pretending they have children in the car etc.

 

Hope JP can get some or all of the money back via insurace or something. How awful, makes you feel sick.

 

Flora X

[pearl]

I think we've seen the last of it Flo If they catch him they can order him to pay it back at tuppence a week or something. He only gets a little wage as an apprentice & he's been saving so hard. Makes my blood boil.

[Flora]

I think we've seen the last of it Flo If they catch him they can order him to pay it back at tuppence a week or something. He only gets a little wage as an apprentice & he's been saving so hard. Makes my blood boil.

 

Pearl it makes you sick doesn't it? I can only imagine your anger People who do stuff like that are scum of the earth.

 

Flo' <'>

[Tally]

That's horrible. I bet JP's feeling awful <'>

 

This is something that is becoming more and more common, and it's certainly not just "vulnerable" people who are being fooled. Hope he feels better about it soon.

 

It's probably not necessary to leave his cash card at home, and could leave him in a situation where he can't get cash himself. But he has to do whatever makes him feel most comfortable. He might feel differently and change his mind after a few days anyway.

 

Sounds like the policewoman was wonderful. If they have this man on CCTV, that would be great. Even if they can only make him pay it back slowly, I still think you should press for this to happen, otherwise people will think they can get away with this kind of thing.

[warrenpenalver]

I hope hes feeling better now! <'> ><

 

the feeling when you get tricked like that is horrible!!

 

Even with CCTV unless hes well known or traceable back to a car or address on CCTV, then the chance of catching him is slim.

 

This type of crime is increasing with prevalance of chip and pin and other security measures. Tricking people is best way to get money now.

[Enid]

That is just soo awful, to happen to anyone, but to a vulnerable young person! you must be soo mad pearl but just soo grateful he is home and safe and wiser, Its despicable, probably sat at home all day on income support with nothing better to do than think up good scams. Enid

[baddad]

[bid]

Poor JP

 

Bid <'>

[Kathryn]

Poor JP.

 

As you say he won't fall for this one again and it's a relatively small amount of money compared to, say, his life savings.

 

K x

[Frangipani]

So sorry Pearl & JP

 

<'> <'>

[LicklePaulie]

This sort of thing never fails to get my blood boiling - first I ask myself why it's always the vulnerable that get targeted and then I realise it's self-explanatory.

I hope CCTV gives enough evidence to trace the culprit and that JP recovers quickly from his ordeal <'>

[ASue67]

So sorry Pearl, hows JP this morning??

Big hugs for both of you <'> <'> <'>

[oxgirl]

Aw, poor lad, what a rotten blow to his confidence. I hope it doesn't affect his ability to trust people in future. <'>

 

~ Mel ~

[pearl]

Thanks all. We didnt sleep well last night. JP said yesterday it was the worst day of his life & he'd never feel cheerful again but was a bit brighter this morning. Accepted a rare lift into work from me so he must be shaken.

 

We are hoping that mr p will be able to look at the footage, as, working at the JobCentre, he knows so many people & may be able to put a name to him. Worth a try.

 

He's going to have a word with his supervisor this morning to explain why he might be distracted, but I advised him not to tell everyone - going over & over it will only wind him up.

 

We were scammed over a dodgy car when we were young & foolish & lost every penny we had, so we told him all about it to make him feel a bit better. Also, there have been another couple of incidents in our city recently - in one, an autistic girl was scammed in a similar way by a woman & marched to a cashpoint, also a lad with learning difficulties was robbed by two youths outside a game shop.

 

Coming on top of my mum being scammed by the double glazing sharks recently, we have a pretty jaded view of humanity at the moment.

Edited July 22, 2008 by pearl

[ScienceGeek]

Hey Pearl,

 

I have only just seen this thread. I hope JP is ok, glad he wasn't hurt (physically I mean). Really hope they catch the person involved.

 

SG

 

<'>

[lorryw]

What a horrible thing to happen. Im always shocked that people can sink so low.

[pearl]

Thanks SG & lorry <'>

 

Had a lovely email from his apprenticeship supervisor, he was supposed to be having his review today but they may postpone it as there were a few "issues" they wanted to discuss & didnt want to upset him further. She said, nothing drastic, but oh gawd I'm worried about that now as I dont think JP realises there are any work problems. Sheesh I cant concentrate at work today. (its brew time at the mo)

Edited July 22, 2008 by pearl

[Clare63]

Awwww Pearl,

 

I am so sorry to hear this <'> <'> <'>

 

Its a wicked world

 

Clare x x x

[Kinda]

pearl

 

How awful for him and hope everyone Ok, on a positive note no one hurt at lessons learnt unfortunately.

 

Kinda

[alanm]

Indeed appalled to learn of this, had just posted on ScienceGeek's thread too. Best regards to Pearl and JP.

 

Alan

[Mumble]

 

Sorry to hear this Pearl and JP. And I hope everything's OK with JP's placement. <'>

[smiley]

Pearl & JP

 

That's heartbreaking - thank goodness he wasn't hurt <'>

[pearl]

They were lovely with him at work today. Only his supervisors know. Theyve put back his review for a week. And he got the bus home tonight at his supervisors suggestion - he ignores me when I suggest it

 

The autistic girl I mentioned who got scammed - mr p found out today she is the client of one of the disability advisors at the JobCentre. They caught the woman & she has been ordered to pay her back. JP v cheered to hear this.

[V1971]

Poor thing, what a horrible thing to happen. It happened to my husband a few years back too, but it was only �10 or so. I am glad to hear that the man that scammed the autistic girl got caught!!

[warrenpenalver]

good to know Mr P has some inside sources he might be able to use to catch the criminals. The other way is CCTV outside the job center and look for the new BMW or Merc parked up as these criminals always seem to be well off!!

[pearl]

Its times like this when we really miss college as the support there was sooooo good & it meant he didnt just have us to talk to. Anyway I emailed his apprenticeship supervisor & asked about workplace counselling. We've avoided it so far as there have been no real crises & wanted to see how he'd get on without, but to me this is a good enough reason to see whats on offer. Turns out she is one of the two workplace counsellors! Wouldnt be appropriate in terms of boundaries for her to see him but she has given us details of the other person so will encourage JP to go for it. A safe person to talk to with no implications for how he is perceived in the office.

 

So some good may come out of all this mess.

Edited July 24, 2008 by pearl

[pearl]

*UPDATE*

 

Well, after THREE WEEKS, JP has finally given his statement.

Admin ###### up - crime happened in one area, reported in another. We would still be waiting if I hadn't got VERY assertive with a number of people.

 

He did soooo well. Provided an amazingly detailed description. Found sequencing the events & recalling what was said much harder. Completely wrung out afterwards. PC now looking for CCTV footage & is going to interview the newsagent where the ATM was.

 

I feel very let down by the police. After 3 weeks the newsagent is unlikely to remember anything. I'd be amazed if his CCTV footage has survived. And the one piece of evidence, a piece of paper with a fake name & address on that the guy gave JP, I suspect is lost. JP gave it to the first PC, second PC had no idea where it was but promised to track it down

 

We just aren't high up the list of priorities.

[warrenpenalver]

Shame nothing has come of it. It annoys me that the police prioritys leave these crimes unsolved as im sure a bit of decent detective work ASAp after the crime may have provided some results!! At the very least you would have had CCTV footage and a hand written note that could be matched to the criminal possibly by DNA and highly likely through handwriting specialist analysis, should he be caught at a later date, but no!! police prioties elsewhere has meant the evidence is lost!! ###### pathetic but unfortunately common amongst police forces all over the country.

 

Deception crimes may not be in the same league as armed robbery in conviction terms but in terms of mental damage they are much worse. Its crimes like this if tackled successfully would help win back the confidence of the public.

 

Hows JP coping with it now??

[TheNeil]

British policing, best in the world...as if

 

How on Earth can they 'lose' evidence (as you suspect)?

 

Whether the police do anything is kind of in the lap of the Gods but hopefully you and JP are managing to cope with it and put it behind you.

[pearl]

Thanks guys.

 

Warren, he is coping remarkably well, has stopped obsessing about it & to all intents & purposes is back to his usual self. He hasnt talked to many people about it as he feels so stupid & is worried he will be judged.

 

I've been much less ok. Kind of been the last straw. But I'm off on leave now till September so hope I'll regroup before then. Its not like me to feel so low.

[TheNeil]

Its not like me to feel so low.

I don't do hugs as a rule but... <'>

[pearl]

Accepted, appreciated & reciprocated <'>

[brooke]

just read this pearl so so sorry <'> <'>

This is something i know my lad would do too, it is a disgrace that people pray on the kindness of others <'> <'>

[Tally]

At least he's done his bit and he can put it behind him now <'>

[gladysmay]

another one to beware of is the charity fundraiseres who stop you on the street - they can be very skilful in requesting signatures for DD's and before youknow it, part of your loved ones DLA is going to a small charity somewhere (ps - I am not knocking donating to charities persay)

[Diane]

Hi Pearl,

 

Just read all that has been going on. so sorry. It really is awful.

 

Diane

[pearl]

Theres been some progress. They have a statement from a pub landlord who he tried to scam on the same day. They have him on CCTV doing that.

 

Police came sunday evening with 12 photos for him to look at. He picked out two completely different looking blokes! The only thing I noticed they had in common were big eyebrows. So the policeman said he'd find some more photos.

 

Was telling mr p about it, and he said straight away, face-blindness. It simply hadnt occurred to me as I dont think he has it badly, but if for instance we are watching a western & there are several similarly dressed cowboys, he finds it v hard to tell them apart. And the eyebrows are a detail - something he'd notice rather than the whole face. So I'm going to explain next time I see the policeman. Makes an ID quite difficult.

[warrenpenalver]

Will they allow him to see a photo fit with clothing based on the CCTV footage??? he might recognise the clothing better than the criminals face.

[pearl]

He gave a superb description of what the guy was wearing Warren, pc was so impressed & hence puzzled when he bombed at the photo ID. I'll talk to him about it & see what they can come up with.