I've been in an area around Kayenta Az when a drunk approached us with his hand out demanding money. I told him I had to get my wallet and I got back in the truck and drove off.
Same stuff in the Walmart lot in Gallup. I ended up staying in the parking lot by the rig because the guy wouldn't take no for an answer and kept walking around looking at what we have.
Stopped at Joe skeen blm camp near Gallup and 4 of the six of us staying that night were homeless. One of them would Stoke up the camp fire and leave. Another couple were fighting and screaming and she left pulling a little wheeled suitcase. It was 12 miles to the nearest anything.
I did give a meth head $5 in Kentucky and said I'd would have given him more but we only had enough money to make it to Florida because we got evicted from our house. He didn't come back but I didn't sleep well. Those people were scary and a couple notches from the walking dead.
Keep an eye on scammers like you ran into and move on quickly before they stick a knife through a tire or radiator.