The sob-story panhandler returns

I've seen this one pulled a bunch.

They've been hitting up people in JP constantly with all sorts of different varieties of sob stories.

One of the more popular is "I'm locked out of my car" or "I have a flat tire", and gosh, they just need another $5, $10, etc.

The Brewery and Centre Street seem to be the common places for this scam.

I've heard a guy on the green line use the "lost the lottery at the Pine Street Inn" story before. And all manner of busses, trains, etc that they need ticket money for.

He was also on a Green Line train (B, maybe? Might have been C...) and had a sob story as well. People, well-trained by now, ignored him and he studiously made sure to stay at the back of the train so the conductor did not notice his increasing hystrics until Park St. Once the train emptied, the new passengers were upset until the T Police boarded to help him and he miraculously made a recovery from weeping on the train's floor to running, dried-eyed out of the station.

I really dislike these guys and won't give them money. If you're just sitting there asking for money I'll give some to you but don't give me some BS sob story.

I see this guy a lot! North Station, South Station, and Back Bay. Question for UHubbers: is it appropriate to warn others this is a scam? I've seen people give him money, and part of me wants to make sure they know, while the other part says "hey, it's their money." How would you feel if someone walked up to you as you were reaching into your pocket and said, "Hey, the guy's full of it."?

I've run into a guy a couple of different times on Atlantic Ave. walking from work to South Station. He takes a different tack, though, and I give him some credit for creativity. He starts by saying I'm the only white guy (he's black) who actually stopped and talk to him, and how that must make me a good guy. Then he says his car got towed with his cell phone, ATM card, and diamonds (he points to some ear jewelry) inside. He just needs money to get to Worcester so he can make calls/get money before someone steals his stuff from his car.

What gets me thinking is what would someone (I?) do if that really did happen (to me)? It's not unheard of to lose one's wallet or get pick-pocketed or something like that, and if you really do need to get to Worcester, what else is there to do?

I lived in Boston 3 months last fall and never heard the story of the bed lost in the Pine Street Lottery until I cam to visit last night and gave the guy $5. He looked pretty panicked, and I guess I'm kind of a sucker.

One less cappuccino for me I guess.

Recently, there's been a guy on the ramp down to the charliecard gates at South Station asking for 65 cents over and over and over.

At first I kind of felt like he was genuine, but after seeing him 3 days in a row....

Who walks up and down the Red Line car, talking about her unemployment benefits having run out? She goes on that she bought a $50 dollar Stop and Shop gift card from someone for a reduced amount only to find out that the card was no good. The manager agreed to save the cart if she can get back in the hour. It was just enough to get the basics, some toilet paper, and some crayons for the kids. Some kids threw a bunch of change on the ground and made her pick it up, thats how desperate she is. Then my favorite part is how she does not say thank you to anyone who does give, and talks trash about everyone else who didn't.

The curious part of this sob-story angle is the amount needed.

It's never a round number: "I need $7.75 for the Commuter Rail."

I worked in a store where the same guy came in twice over a six week period with the same sob story. When I suggested he mix up his stories when revisiting he grunted and left -- then returned two minutes later to insist I was wrong and had never been there before.

One lady had an elaborate story that ended with "All I need $9.37 to get my flat tire fixed." I offered to call AAA and use my card. That didn't work for her.

Another guy used to show up around Thanksgiving each year "visiting his Mother." He would shake an worn, empty pill bottle and ask for "aids medicine" money.

I think I've seen this guy asking for money to get to Springfield for a rehab clinic, except that the amount he's asking for isn't how much a ticket to Springfield costs. And then one time he came up to me crying and told me to call my mother and tell her I love her. He smelled real bad.

He told me and and my friends that he was just let out of jail and his PO in Worcester was expecting him to get to Maine on his own (?) so he really needed cash to catch the Downeaster. From South Station.

I questioned him on that and he left us alone. Problem solved.

White female, 20ish, long brown hair. I encountered her for the first time at South Station. She shows you a wad of cash and says that she has this much money but is 20-50$ short -- and needs needs needs to get on a bus ticket to (wholesome) Maine. She can't use her ATM card, can't reach her family, and puh-lease, it would be so great if you could help her out...

I saw her again a few weeks later by Copley Station stopping strangers for money ... on crutches. Right. I had to smile when I passed her by. But the smirk she had on her face while she was stuffing some guys dollars in her pocket made me want to kick out her crutches right then and there..

Saw him once on the redline. same thing cept someone laughed and he started threatening him, then told him he'd go "walpole on his ass." apparently hes been to jail

I've seen this guy twice on the T. First it was early in the morning on the Red Line. He needed $25 to get a photo ID at the registry. See, he had finally gotten section-8 housing, but couldn't move in without presenting a photo ID. One guy handed him some money. A woman said something I couldn't make out, and he started shouting at her, even calling her a c-u-next-Tuesday. He carried on and on about hating having to sleep on the street. It was very dramatic.

The next time I saw him was about a month later on the Blue Line. This time he had a job interview at Whole Foods Market - but nothing to wear to the interview! Fortunately he had identified a specific button-down shirt and khakis at Salvation Army, but didn't have enough to pay for them. Before he could get through his whole show, a woman jumped in and was like, "I know you! I've heard this before!" He hopped off at the next stop and got in the next car.

There ought to be a website/blog/Twitter feed dedicated to this guy and his stories.

In the house at back bay orange line 7:15pm

Story's more garbled than a T announcement.
Has a bed at Pine St but still needs a certain amount for commuter rail.

That was all I could listen to.

I fell victim to this guy's sob story about a month and a half ago - really skinny 20 something guy, with sandy brown hair, wearing a hoodie, announcing to the red line at Park Street that he had a bed at a rehab but needed to come up with some other fee to stay there, that he had nothing else to live for. When he got silence from the cab and no money, he started mumbling angrily about how if he didn't get the bed at the rehab he was going to shoot up his arm and end it all. Lovely! I love the threat of suicide with my evening commute. As if we are somehow to blame for whatever fate has in store for him! I gave him $5 because as luck would have it I had just come from a volunteer training to work with Horizons for Homeless Children and was in a generous/"more aware of the plight of others" kind of mood. (Plus of course it was in the middle of a spate of snowstorms). He barely even thanked me. I will help someone if they are gracious and kind and not angry. How hard is it for these guys to understand? Maybe threatening guy's gig would be a little more lucrative if he didn't get angry with people and played like he was eternally grateful for the kindness of strangers for once! Next time I see that guy maybe I'll make him aware that he has attained a certain amount of notoriety on this site and that he even has a nickname. What I would I REALLY like to tell him though, next time he threatens suicide after not getting the money he wants out of commuters, is to go ahead, do it, jump on the tracks. Could I be arrested for that?
Also, speaking of beggars on crutches, there is a woman at downtown x-ing, about 50 years old, who has been standing, albeit shakily, on crutches with these horribly gangrenous, clearly infected bare legs, who doesn't speak at all but has a sign around her neck. Does anyone know what her deal is? She's been there for at least 2 years, throughout the winter months with those bare purple legs, and there is absolutely no way someone in her condition could still be alive or standing up on those legs.

I remember this guy. I use to see him on the Back Bay commuter rail platform. Always giving the same song and dance, needed train fare for Worcester since he was in rehab.

Always wanted to call him out on this, but you never know how people may respond or react.

I saw the girl with the crutches a few months ago at Copley Place / Westin Hotel and she told the story about going home to Connecticut and need $13 to get a train ticket. She said that I could give her my address and she would return the money to me. I said I had no money but she said that I was reaching for my wallet when I put my hands in my pockets and then I replied that I had no money in my wallet and left without saying anything.

I felt that the girl with the crutches was lying because anybody can fake a broken leg and get crutches to make it look real.

Saw someone at South Station a few days ago asking for $16 for a bus ticket while I was eating lunch and then I said no and then she left.