Could He Be The Same Guy Reportedly Scamming People in Manila?

Remember this guy?
It was July 11, 2015, when we first featured this foreigner, who allegedly tricked people by looking like he got beaten to give him cash. Unfortunately, he scammed one of the nicest people I’ve known in the automotive industry and a few good men who always post random traffic thoughts to enlighten the Filipino people – James Deakin. You may read the full story here.

The second time we featured him was January of this year. A Netizen took to Facebook her disappointment and warned her family and friends about this “male Caucasian” whom she met in Harbour Square near CCP Complex in Manila. Again, the alleged scammer used his sob story about being scammed and needed money to move forward.

Sadly, despite numerous warnings, this foreigner is apparently still into a scamming spree!

Photo credit: Flor dela Torre

A concerned Netizen named Flor dela Torre narrated on Facebook what her supposedly a “good deed” birthday gesture. According to Flor, the alleged scammer told her that “a not so pleasant cab driver ran off with all his stuff inside the cab’s trunk and even dropped him at MOA even though his destination was Makati. The driver charged him as well with 400php leaving him with 10php on his pocket.”

Luckily, she turned on her investigative skills and started following him if he was real or not.

Here’s what she found out:

WARNING TO EVERYONE:

Last night as my friend and I were heading home from my 24th bday celebration, he felt the need to pee. So we stopped by at Mcdo UN ave. I turned off the engine and decided to wait for him at a nearby post. Just when we’re about to hit the road again, a caucasian guy approached us for help.

He said that a not so pleasant cab driver ran off with all his stuff inside the cab’s trunk and even dropped him at MOA even though his destination was Makati. The driver charged him as well with 400php leaving him with 10php on his pocket. He also told us that he’s also been walking for hours as he was trying to get home to Greenhills (He said that’s where he’s staying). He’s asking if we could teach him on what direction he should go so that he could start walking. We gave him as well the option of going to the police station, he said he did and they just laughed at him and they can’t provide any vehicle service that could bring him to GH. Upon hearing that, we offered to book for him a Grab or an Uber ride. I even asked him if he could pay the driver in Greenhills since he doesn’t have the money at the moment. He said no. He said that he called his father and his money is going to be transferred that morning as soon as the mall opens. Me and my friend excuse ourselves so that we could discuss what to do.

You know the thing about trying to do something good and different on your birthday? I stupidly told my friend that I could drive by GH so that we could help the guy. My friend hesitated but agreed. We made sure that he’s not armed or something. So we told this guy that we could take him there since it’ll be dangerous for him to walk that far and we just wanted to help. He told us Greenhills West but we could just drop him GH shopping center so that he could wait for the mall to open.

All throughout the trip he keeps on talking about Obama, Clinton, Trump, American culture, his job as a bartender, the west Philippine Sea, he’s from Massachusetts, he’s 35 years old, his name is Allan Thigsman, etc. He’s a conversationalist. Just when we’re nearing GH shopping center, he told us he got another problem. He lost the keys and it will be impossible for him to enter the house. He said he needed 250php to go to Mr.Quickie for a master key to be produced. I pretended I haven’t heard anything and continue my driving to the shopping center. He thanked us but asked if we have biscuits inside our bag since he hasn’t eaten anything yet. Unfortunately we don’t have so we offered him a water instead. He refused then went down the car and thanked us again.

Just when we’re about to make a left to Wilson St, we saw him crossing the road. I told my friend that I think we should follow him to make sure that he’s fine. We did. Only to find out that he’s talking to a guy who’s doing a morning run. He’s Caucasian too. I parked a block away from where they are. Thanks to the window tint, we were able to observe everything without being noticed. The jogger caucasian guy stormed off away from him. This time, I felt the need to go after the jogger to know what that guy has told him and for me to validate if we do share the same told story.

The jogger was nice enough to stop. I asked him what that guy has told him, “oh he said he needed help to go to his hotel room in Solaire. He’s been robbed. I know he’s a con. That’s why I ran off.” I said my thanks and shared to him what that guy has told me.

Officially, we’ve been lied to/ scammed/ fooled/ *insert other words here*.

Right there and then, we made time to thank God that we weren’t harmed and nothing was taken from us. I also became thankful that my friend who’s always seated comfortably in the passenger seat, was on full alert all throughout the trip with the effort of trying to be calm and collected. He was even holding a pen.

My friends know that I help people in the strangest way and I would like to think that this was one of those. Only with a spice of stupidity. YOU DON’T LET A STRANGER GET INSIDE YOUR CAR.

I felt the need to correct what had just happened. This time I told my friend that we should look for that caucasian guy and have a video and photos taken to warn people about him. Luckily, we found him at BDO bank in Ortigas Ave with his new preys – group of guys who I think are going to play basketball.

Having a camera prepared being held by my friend, I went to him and warned the people he’s been talking to that he’s a fraud and he has told us a different story and keeps on doing that to people. That was insane but I tried my best to get the people’s attention the best way I could so that they won’t be a victim. We made it back to the car quickly and he followed us and cursing at us but I didn’t back off and told the guards to report the guy to the police if they see him again in the area. Buti na lang pinaniwalaan ako ng kapwa ko pinoy. They were all avoiding the guy and asked him to leave.

As we were leaving the area, we saw him rode a cab. Whoever that driver was, may God protect him

A lot has been learned from this experience. First, you should always remember our parents’ number one rule – don’t talk to strangers. Second, no matter how good your intentions are, there would always be people who would take advantage of you. Lastly, bad guys are everywhere. Be wary of them. Be wary of this guy. If you ever see him again, call the police for heaven sake.

This was indeed a happy birthday to me.