Last night, I was driving southbound on 5th Ave. in Hillsboro, on my way home. I had no passengers with me. I stopped at the intersection with Washington Ave and waited for the light to change.

A short, somewhat stocky man walked up to my car and motioned for me to roll down the window. I rolled down the window just a little bit and he asked me in very broken English if I could give him a ride to the transit center. I thought about this for about 1/2 of a second and declined, saying that I wasn't going in that direction, and the transit center was fairly close by. The guy walked away. When I went through the intersection, I looked off to the right and saw that that guy only had to walk ONE BLOCK from our location to get where he was supposedly going. He did not appear to have any kind of physical handicap that would have made it difficult for him to walk. Now, why do you suppose that he wanted me to give him a lift???

Big time mark!

Women do it too, claiming they are in trouble, or the area "is hot", or some other thing.

Typically, they will do something to get you to fork over cash, or collude with somebody else to set you up in a liable situation.

For a while, in my old neighborhood, this was going on just huge. Got propositioned in a similar fashion several times a week for a while, then nothing.

I don't know what the scam is, but you can count on there being one for sure. I never bit, so I don't know what the scam is. (hate that too as I love figuring out the scam) It just seemed too dangerous and odd, so I always passed.

...or the guy is mentally ill.

This likely sounds jaded, but I bet his intentions were not good. Carjacking and robbery seem pretty common these days. Unless he had a bleeding child in his arms, I wouldn't have even rolled down my window.

by the way...Hi Alfredo, remember me? We used to work at Crawford together.

Im surprised you even rolled down your window alfredo. He wanted your car and money, and could have been carrying a gun.

This reminds me of my Aunt who still picks up Hitch-hikers today, Ive warned her many times that she is going to get raped and killed if she continues to do it. But she is just so F'ing stupid and continues to do it. Her whole theary is, "As long as they are NOT carrying a bag with them, than she will pick them up. She claims that a bag could be where they stash their weapons.

A friend of mine told me about a time late at night that she was in a WinCo parking lot and some woman asked her if she could give her car a jump with jumper cables, since her battery was dead. The woman pointed way past the end of the parking lot where the car supposedly was. My friend thought about it for a second and declined and went into WinCo. Inside she asked a security guard about it and the guard said security could actually give a jump to such people. My friend went back outside and saw the woman walking away and shouted at her that she should ask WinCo security, but the woman just kept walking and ignored her. Probably another scam.

Andrew

I think someone here said once about panhandlers and I think the same applies to these situations too. Always look at the shoes the person is wearing. If they are clean and nice looking shoes its a scam.

Alfredo I am happy to hear that you didn't fall for it I would have hated to hear about it after the fact in the media!

I always feel bad for the panhandlers at the side of the road that have a dog with them. Having pets with them have increased! I feel bad for the poor pooch that is laying on the ground next to the panhandler. I don't give a rats ass about the panhandler, but he sure as hell better be taking care of his pooch.!!!!!

Hi Maria! Yes I do remember you.

What made me uneasy was the thought that I couldn't predict what that guy would do if I let him get in the car. Would he pull a knife or a gun? Would he try to grab the wheel? At this hour, there weren't any other people around, so if I got in trouble and screamed for help, nobody might hear me. When talking to him, I cracked the window just enough to let the sound in, but not enough to let him stick his arm in.

There was a time, in my early 20s, when I did fall for a few scams from people supposedly in distress.

Scam 1: In the summer of 1995, I was living in a studio apartment in Austin, TX. This was the first time that I had lived in a place all by myself. One evening, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to find a somewhat frazzled looking man who said that he had just gotten into a car accident and he needed some money to pay for a tow truck. Being the naive person that I was, I gave him $20 without much thought to how I would get my money back. I never saw that guy or the $20 again.

Scam 2: It was a hot evening in the summer of 1997. I was living in a studio apartment in Austin, TX (notice how these scammers seem to go after people who live by themselves). There was a knock at the door. I opened it to find an attractive Italian-looking lady who appeared to be in her late 20s. She said that she was supposed to meet with some friends at the "Hempstead Inn," but she didn't know where that was or the phone number there. I said, "I think you're looking for the Homestead Inn. Hempstead would be like some kind of a marijuana hotel. Come on in. You can look it up in the phone book and call them." I kept an eye on her while she made a brief phone call. She then thanked me and left.

Many hours later, I was awakened by the a knock at the door. The same lady was there, but this time she looked drunk and had taken her shoes off. A taxicab was standing by in front of the apartment building. "Oh gosh, I drank way too much, and I am out of money for my cab fare. I promise I will pay you back. By the way, I love you pajamas; they look so soft." I gave her some money, probably about $15. She thanked me and went away, never to return.