Couple with child scams generous teen out of college savings

My daughter was one of the victims of these people. I understand that it is easy for some people to blame the victims for falling for a scam like this but before you judge the victims actions you need to remember that there are good people out there that are caring and compassionate towards other peoples situations. Especially when there is a child involved. 

My daughter has a big heart and is always willing to help people out if she can. Especially when there is a child involved as she has a child herself. She knows there are bad people in this world who will take advantage of good people but she has never crossed paths with those kinds of people until now. 

She has learned a lot from this. You can be certain that she will never fall victim to this sort of thing again. She will also not be so quick to dismiss the red flags she sees in the future.

One observation I would like to point out to all of the responses both positive or negative is that David and his parents made the effort to not only report the incident but as a public service to others he continued his kindness by sharing publicly what happened to him, despite his personal embarrassment and humiliation (I would imagine).  What 18 year old young man do you know has the kind of courage, heart and respect for his fellow citizens to put them above his own teen comfort level  (ego, may-be, we all have one as well as a conscience, although some like to focus more on one then the other) as to share his experience in order to help educate, bring public awareness and continue to help others?  Yes, good lesson learned!!!  Valuable lesson learned!!!  Now he is wiser and May-be we can be smarter and take a lesson from his new play book on humility from this polite young man. Way to go David!!!  You are no longer gullible, but hopefully remain still as thoughtful!!!  My appreciation and respect to you!!!

Shame on all the "woulda-coulda-shoulda's" who won't admit (even to themselves) that we have all done things under pressure and regretted it later. These beasts deserve to rot not only for robbing a decent, kind person but for using a child to do so. Thank goodness David was not shived or worse by these monsters. I have a kindhearted, honest son I am very proud of and I'd be proud to call someone like David son as well. We all become cynical and greedy to soon in this world.

And why doesn't this esteemed publication not include a picture of the accused but of the victim?

There are a lot of very kindhearted, very gullible people in Oregon. Whatever you do, people, don't move to the east coast!

I went to school with him he was 2 years younger and is a very nice person. David if you see this know that I am glad you are safe and that you have learned from this. I hope they find those terrible people.

Never, EVER let a stranger approach you or try to engage you in conversation after you've just been using an ATM.  Legitimate people have better sense and would not do that.  The only people who would are looking to take your money, and the best-case scenario is a scam.  The worst case scenarios, obviously, are robbery, kidnap, sexual assault, murder.. 

 

I'm sure I sound paranoid to some out there, but I've had people approach me after I've pulled money out of an ATM or done a little late-night shopping and I'm alone in a parking lot somewhere..  Often their approach is to say, "Can I ask you a question?"  To which I answer, "You just did."  Or sometimes, "Get the f**k away from me!" depending on how sketchy the person is.  If they actually have a question, they can go into the store or bank to ask or find help.  But if you are a person who feels compelled to help others, offer to call the police for them..  The police can help them as part of their community caretaking function, but an offer to call the police will send most of these turds running the other way.

 

The vulnerability of good people is they are afraid to be rude.  Go ahead, BE RUDE.  It might just keep you from losing your life savings, or even your life.

I've been good friends with David's dad since High School. Knowing the father (and mother), I can see why he has such a good heart and tried to help.

I cant for the life of me figure out why David didn't trust his gut. That little voice in your head (when not drown out by loud music, drugs and/or alcohol, as is so often the case) is called common sense. If more people would take the time to listen to it instead of listening to the myriad of other 'little voices' that come at us all on a daily basis, the world would look a LOT different. 

 

I feel terrible that someone trying to be compassionate was scammed, but consider it a $530 life lesson. 

 

The other thing I keep coming back to is the headline-"...scams generous teen out of college savings"

 

If David is 18, I can only assume that he graduates this year. Even if he is only a junior, a 'college savings' of $500 wont even buy his books and a parking permit at the least expensive community college. 

You can buy a pack of coupons for Sister of the Road Cafe and hand them out.  https://sistersoftheroadcafe.ejoinme.org/MyPages/MerchandisePage/tabid/208172/Default.aspx

his college savings ? think they need to redefine the expense for a 3 credit course and maybe a book . . .

While we all make stupid mistakes, and there are people out there who will take us for everything we've got, not everyone is like that. Still, it would have been cheaper for David to have the people wait a distance away, withdraw $20 and hand it to them, and suggest they talk to the bank the next day.. That way, it minimizes the damage, and still provides enough so that little darlin' doesn't go hungry.

 

Some other possibilities in this situation:

--Dial 911 and tell them you're being robbed

--Get into your car and start chasing them

--Open the trunk and take out a gas can and a lighter and get a wild look in your eyes

--Keep a box of Twinkies in the car...they never go bad.

 

Hmmm...what else could someone like David have done...???  :-P

QUIT picking on the teen with a heart.  How about everyone sending him $20 bucks or more !!

David Lewis..... a very kind hearted/compasionate/well meaning young man

unfortunately lacking a little common sense.

 

On the bright side, if David is willing to help a complete stranger like that, I bet he is an awesome person to have as a friend and/or family member.

He got off mighty cheap methinks.  There could easily be another zero in that number

He seems like a nice kid that's learning the art of balancing the conscience with a gut instinct.  I'd hope that somehow the check that was deposited could be tracked, but I doubt it would do any good.  What I can say that I've done if someone has asked me for money, especially for food, is I've generally just bought them some food to tide them over, or if I had excess non-perishable food, given that to them.

Is it just me or does $500 seems a bit excessive for a nights worth of groceries? I could see trying to help with a smaller check, but that amount should have been warning enough.

LET'S SEE THE PHOTO of the bitc.... um, the WOMAN. David, thank you for having compassion and decency. You must have great parents. If I had 500 bucks, I'd give it to you.

David seems like a very nice young man, so sorry he was scammed.  Here's a life lesson for you, David: Trust No One!  It would have been handy if KATU had included the photos of the scammers from the ATM machine, but oh well.

Here's a thought:  Post the picture of the scamming woman.  Ba-da-BAM!

Randola you summed it up perfectly.........he can't be more than 19. This exact same thing happened to my son a few months and at first I couldn't believe that he fell for it but like David, he felt bad for the little girl that was with them and assumed if they were parents they probably were telling the truth and needed the money. 

He was approached outside a grocery store and told that the store wouldnt cash a two party check that the woman recieved for housework and they really needed the money to buy groceries, would he help them out, they would even give him $100.00 for doing it. They went to the bank and he put in his debit card to access the account, she them deposited her $500.00 check and got $500.00 back. She tried to hand him $100.00 but he declined because he thought they really needed it.  The last of his graduatoin money was taken plus some and of course overdraft charges...........He learned a valuable lesson . Its got to be the same people, I hope they catch them!

People are brainwashed with the false morals like entitlement and 'harmless begging' and 'all people are good' and many other media-projected messages. The when real life happens, even the brightest of the youth are incapable of a simple judgement call.

"when he was approached by an "intimidating" man and woman" That right there tells me he should have left. So was this at night? Hopefully this couple gets 5 years for check fraud and intimidation.

 

thieves- off with their hands

What's an ATM Machine?

Seems to me that had someone said their ATM card wasn't working, then they should be told, go inside and take care of it then. Hmmm.. that would have been my thoughts anyway.

 

David learned a hard lesson..  always go with your gut feelings!

It's hard to believe that people fall for the "my ATM card isn't working" line. The proper response would have been "so go talk to your bank" followed by "can't help you."

 

I was sitting in line waiting to fill up at a gas station about a year ago and some guy approached my window asking for gas money so he could get to Salem. Of course he had a business card to "prove he was legitimate" and promised to pay it back in a day or two. My response was simply "can't help you" and that was that. He eventually found someone willing to help but you could see on their face that they weren't too sure about their decision.

 

Whether this guy was real or not I'll never know, but when in doubt the answer is always no, always trust your instincts that's what they're there for.

If this should happen, my first thought (I hope) would be to offer to buy them food. If they refuse, I would consider them liars. I'd rather buy them $25 worth of food knowing I would lose that $25. That poor little girl. She's being raised by hoodlums.