The great Italian leather jacket scam

[bn1966]

Had a similar experience to the Italian leather jacket scam back in the late 1980's. I was approached in Swindon by a well dressed Gentleman who claimed to be a representative of a well known high end watch manufacturer. The yarn was along the lines of he had just attended a conference in the Town and had some 'exclusive watch samples' that should have been given to potential major retailers and we're now surplus to requirements and one could be available to me at a knock down rock bottom price...yeah right

 

[mihai]

How can human beings not be genetically related to human beings?

You are right, it was not very precise. I'll rephrase it: they have origins different than the Romanian people.

Also they chose not to integrate, live according to their primitive traditions and "laws". That's why, still after several hundred years they are still a distinct population. They have nothing in common with the Romanian culture.

 

[navetsea]

lots of these scammers try to get their victim through telephone scam, about you winning a prize, and it has to be claimed quicly but you need to pay the tax over it before they can be delivered etc.

what I find in common from them all is, they talk very fast without giving you chance to properly digest them to overload your brain, and then give you order to do this or that while your brain is choked.

 

[Monitor]

mihai, I apologize, it's okay... I'm quick to jump on such comments.

Though from what you describe, the Romani community is exactly the same in the country I live in, existing by the same standards and traditions, downright refusing to be a part of a nation they share the land with or accept any of the benefits the country they inhabit has to offer. Like hot water. Which I believe is a good thing to have. Anyhow, some view this as a problem, I see it as live and let live because in the very end, who is to say what is better for someone else, and what isn't, and how anyone should live their life? If it works for this particular group of people - and it has to seeing how they've survived and kept together for thousands of years - who am I to judge, eh. I have only one point of view to speak from.
It's useless for the Romani people to attempt such scams here as the other folk would instantly shrug them off, even if they actually did drop a piece of their own jewelry and some Gypsy kid wanted to return it. lol

The golden piece scam happened to my grandfather, but of a somewhat different variation. Me and me dad got home one day to find the old man quietly sitting in front of the door, waiting. Took us a few hours to convince him to tell us what the heck was is that he was waiting far, until he admitted he may have been scammed.

What happened was that the scammer probably somehow dropped the necklace on the ground (or maybe had it set there), just in front of my grandad as he was passing by and timed it perfectly so to notice the necklace on the ground the same moment as my grandad. Since they both spotted the bounty at the same time, by some street law, they both shared equal rights to it, my grandad must've figured. After some very friendly bickering about who it was that saw the necklace first, the gentleman presented a fair deal to sell the necklace to my grandfather for less than half a price (his part), and after some haggling that was seemingly going in my grandads advantage of course, they agreed on a very low price of around $200. The alarm must've went on in my grandfathers mind then because he probably inquired whether the golden piece is genuine because at that moment, another very well-dressed gentleman that was also just passing by, just happened to notice the necklace and after identifying himself a as a jeweler, went on to talk about the immense value of the piece due to its rarity and whatnot. The scammer, having already set his price before the 'jeweler' appeared, now pretended to be ripped off because the price he agreed on with my grandad was so small compared to what the thing was worth - but a deal is a deal, right?

This is where it gets ridiculous.

After my grandad bought the insanely valuable necklace off the scammer, the 'jeweler' then offered to buy the necklace off my grandad for a substantial amount of money! He even took him to a nearby jewelry shop that supposedly belonged to him, at which point he TOOK the necklace off my grandad to store it inside the shop, got our home address and all and said he'll return with the money the moment he collects it from his house, and this is where they parted ways. You've guessed it, my grandad was waiting for the jeweler.

We felt sorry for the old man, me and my dad, but we couldn't help but laugh at the time... The amount he was scammed wasn't that substantial, but the fact that he didn't even get to keep the trinket was what I still find hilarious to this day... I always wondered if the continuation of the scam had been planned in case they found someone so incredibly gullible, or whether it had been pulled off ad hoc. lol

 

[AdeeC]

mihai, I apologize, it's okay... I'm quick to jump on such comments.

Though from what you describe, the Romani community is exactly the same in the country I live in, existing by the same standards and traditions, downright refusing to be a part of a nation they share the land with or accept any of the benefits the country they inhabit has to offer. Like hot water. Which I believe is a good thing to have. Anyhow, some view this as a problem, I see it as live and let live because in the very end, who is to say what is better for someone else, and what isn't, and how anyone should live their life? If it works for this particular group of people - and it has to seeing how they've survived and kept together for thousands of years - who am I to judge, eh. I have only one point of view to speak from.
It's useless for the Romani people to attempt such scams here as the other folk would instantly shrug them off, even if they actually did drop a piece of their own jewelry and some Gypsy kid wanted to return it. lol

The golden piece scam happened to my grandfather, but of a somewhat different variation. Me and me dad got home one day to find the old man quietly sitting in front of the door, waiting. Took us a few hours to convince him to tell us what the heck was is that he was waiting far, until he admitted he may have been scammed.

What happened was that the scammer probably somehow dropped the necklace on the ground (or maybe had it set there), just in front of my grandad as he was passing by and timed it perfectly so to notice the necklace on the ground the same moment as my grandad. Since they both spotted the bounty at the same time, by some street law, they both shared equal rights to it, my grandad must've figured. After some very friendly bickering about who it was that saw the necklace first, the gentleman presented a fair deal to sell the necklace to my grandfather for less than half a price (his part), and after some haggling that was seemingly going in my grandads advantage of course, they agreed on a very low price of around $200. The alarm must've went on in my grandfathers mind then because he probably inquired whether the golden piece is genuine because at that moment, another very well-dressed gentleman that was also just passing by, just happened to notice the necklace and after identifying himself a as a jeweler, went on to talk about the immense value of the piece due to its rarity and whatnot. The scammer, having already set his price before the 'jeweler' appeared, now pretended to be ripped off because the price he agreed on with my grandad was so small compared to what the thing was worth - but a deal is a deal, right?

This is where it gets ridiculous.

After my grandad bought the insanely valuable necklace off the scammer, the 'jeweler' then offered to buy the necklace off my grandad for a substantial amount of money! He even took him to a nearby jewelry shop that supposedly belonged to him, at which point he TOOK the necklace off my grandad to store it inside the shop, got our home address and all and said he'll return with the money the moment he collects it from his house, and this is where they parted ways. You've guessed it, my grandad was waiting for the jeweler.

We felt sorry for the old man, me and my dad, but we couldn't help but laugh at the time... The amount he was scammed wasn't that substantial, but the fact that he didn't even get to keep the trinket was what I still find hilarious to this day... I always wondered if the continuation of the scam had been planned in case they found someone so incredibly gullible, or whether it had been pulled off ad hoc. lol

Very funny, if that happened to some of my relatives, the shop would be in danger of burning down.

 

[mihai]

@Monitor nothing to apologize, really.
About their way of living, as you say, they choose it. Which is fine for me as long as they don't bother the others. However when they start negatively affecting people by doing crimes to make a living, then we have a problem. I'm not sure how they behave in your country/other countries. However in Romania they have criminal clans in each town/city. Individuals that do not do anything lucrative all day long, just combinations and driving latest German high-end car models. They act like they are some local authority or something. Happen to get in their way and it's not that good (you stop to give way to pedestrians at a crossing then they take on you spitting your car and jumping at next stop with bates/swords to persuade you not to report). These kind of people make for such a "nice" reputation of my country. People thinking they are representative when in fact it's just a tiny minority that knows how to be in spotlight.
It's funny how these people are regarded with sympathy by many westerners as disadvantaged.

About your grandfather, it happens, good thing is he was not aggressed. It was a small loss. They choose on purpose easier targets. Even somebody aware of these scams can occasionally fall for them.

 

[Two Types]

Edward, the exact (and I mean exact) scam was pulled on my wife and me outside the Musee d'Osay in Paris a few years ago, and I reacted the same way as you. Gypsy woman, I believe.
Scams are interesting. The one with the jackets sounds like a very good one, given the right operator. I've known very bright people who fell for a lot less.

They tried that one on me on the opposite side of the river from the Musee D'Orsay. That was the second time in two days. I can't believe thy take anyone in! I believe they were Romanian gypsies. One time I replied in Romanian, that kind of killed the conversation!

 

[Two Types]

Gentlemen, Please stop the 'gypsies don't integrate' stuff. Firstly, it's getting towards politics which, as we all know, is banned here on the FL. Secondly, it is not really accurate. Some do, some don't.

Here in the UK there are plenty of people from 'gypsy' backgrounds who don't follow the old traditions. That's because their families integrated into the local culture. Look at gyspies who fought in the British Army etc, joining the army sounds like integration to me.

And they integrated pretty well in the Third Reich - sharing space in the gas chambers, crematoria and mass graves with various other elements of European society.