Thieves, swindlers, conmen....etc.

Hi, I am an American currently living in Metz, France, and I had a curious encounter with a guy name Ivo Akrap yesterday (February 27, 2007). He stopped me on the street and related to me this long story about how he needed help: he said that he has been travelling around Europe with his younger brother (the other guy who was with him), claimed to be from Greenland, and told me and my friend that his bag had just been stolen with all of their money, their only credit card, and both passports. His only identification was an International student card (which, mind you, is very very easy to forge). They said that they missed their flight back to Greenland and were desperate to get home, and that the only option for them to leave was immediately out of Germany, via amsterdam (where they said the only "greenland" embassy was located, which i highly doubt considering that greenland is part of denmark and there must be a danish embassy in paris). The problem was that they needed 238 euros to pay for the difference in their airfare, which they had to pay in cash at the airport. They would then put the money back in my bank account with my international banking number; the money for them was not a problem, it was simply the time, as there is no western union in greenland to wire them money immediately, and they couldn't miss their flight that the embassy had arranged for them. They were so convincing, and their story was so convincing (and their english was very good!), that I almost loaned them the money.....until I googled them and saw his name on a website, and followed by things like "this is a bad man, i loaned him money in germany", etc. !! In retrospect, I realize (or am very convinced at least) that it was all a con, and he was almost too good at his job...i didn't realize that the classical "conman has come to town!" bit really existed! If you run into this guy, DO NOT GIVE HIM YOUR MONEY, unless you just want to do a charitable thing for someone who appears to be a swindler. just my advice... though i realize i can't accuse them of anything, as i have no proof...i can only warn others that if they run into this pair, it is evidently a great scheme. Reply to this

Unfortunately, this type of scam is all too common. A friend of mine fell for a similar scam "I need 200 Euros" to get to a job interview in Nice I have absolutely no money here but I'll send it to you...." The real losers are people who are really in distress and need help but will not be trusted because of people like this. Reply to this