Rest Stop Shenanigans

msmith1199 wrote:

barmcd wrote:

korbe wrote:
What was the scam?

Ditto.

Could be a variety of things, but this was probably the same as the lottery scam. If the OP had walked down to the other truck, what he would have likely been shown is a paper ticket from a Casino indicating $180,000 balance or jackpot on it. (This is not how a Casino would pay that size jackpot anyway). The person holding the ticket would then make up some story as to why they could not go back to the casino to cash it. Sometimes they claim they are in the Country illegally or they may claim they owe a huge debt in Child Support or back taxes or give you some type of story as to why they need somebody else to go cash the check in.

Once the story is told they ask you if you will go cash it in and in exchange you will be offered some percentage of the winnings since you'll have to pay taxes on the full amount as it will be in your name. Once you say sure, I'll go cash it for you, then they ask how they can trust you. And of course the only way they can trust you to go cash it in and bring the money back is if you put up some cash up front in good faith. They'll then get as much cash and property from you as possible and then off you'll go to cash in the ticket, only to find it's fake and when you get back to the rest stop they are long gone.

Wow, that is a lot like a classic Craigslist scam here in Austin, where you have an item up for sale, someone offers you a high sum cashier's check in your name... but they need a few thousand of it back. They assert (falsely) that a cashier's check will always be good. Well, it won't be... it may be honored... but after a day or so, it will bounce, and the victim is out the lost cash.

Of course, there is the simpler ruse of someone coming behind with a lead pipe, and the thieves wind up with a motorhome ready for a trip to Mexico or to become a "lab annex" for the local tweakers.