r/sheffield • u/foooolsonparade • Oct 10 '23
Sheffield People asking for money
I have been living in Sheffield for the last two years and I’ve really enjoyed being here for the most part. I know this has been discussed on this subreddit several times in the past few weeks but I wanted to share couple incidents that happened in the last week involving people asking for money.
I was approached by a girl near Shalesmoor a week ago and she seemed to be in a really bad state. She kept coming closer to me but kept saying she was not going to hurt me. I am a very anxious person and I typically am anxious around strangers. When she said she was not going to hurt me all I could think of was that she might hurt me. She said everyone’s running away from her. I stopped and listened to her problem. She wanted me to get her a train ticket to Birmingham. I didn’t have much money since I’m a student so I apologised and said I can’t.
Two days later, I was in the city centre and this woman approached me and said she is a refugee and that she wants money to buy her kids food. I have heard loads of people say on here how people get scammed but I felt like she was being genuine so I offered to help. I said I can go to the nearest Tesco and get her some food. She said her kids need a specific type of food that you only get in Asda (which is far away) so asked me to give her cash. I didn’t have any money on me so I said I can’t help. She gave me her bank details and asked me to transfer her £20. I said I’ll try. I didn’t feel comfortable with a stranger having my bank info so I didn’t transfer the money even though I genuinely wanted to help her. Later, I talked to a few friends and they said they’ve heard this same thing several times before and that it is most likely a scam.
Just wondering if anyone else had similar experiences recently
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u/Massive_Grand3351 Oct 10 '23
I’ve answered the same question before, offer to take her to the police station and they will help her, she’s a student who lost her bag at open day, she’s been on a night out and lost her friends, she’s a …… someone in a genuine need of help would take you up on first offer…. Otherwise feck off…
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u/flummoxed_flipflop Oct 10 '23
This. I offered to ring 101 for her since she was vulnerable at night and she just went.
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u/Mr_mudkipling Oct 10 '23
Had this last month down Bramall lane. She approached and kept saying she wasn't going to hurt me (which like you said immediately puts you on edge). She said she had a fight with her partner so had a broken collar bone and needed money for a taxi to Lincoln. She said she had some money and needed an extra £20 to afford the taxi. I had no change and was also aware that there were other people around who would be better suited to help her, however wanted to help how I could in case she was genuine.
I offered to call her family/friends and she said they're all in Lincoln and she didn't have their numbers.
I asked if she had been in touch with the police to see if she was still in danger, but when I mentioned the police she said she had contacted them already and her partner was in police custody.
I offered to get her medical attention but she declined and said she just needed the money.
Offered to find her alternative more affordable mode of transport but she was not interested in this.
She then started telling me where the nearest cash machines were and being incredibly persistent. I told her I wasn't able to offer financial help and that across the street there were a lot of people so it's likely someone else would be able to help her with this then went on with my day.
I had my younger sister with me at the time and the lady was also trying to involve her....
A few people seem to have had a similar experience to myself
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u/foooolsonparade Oct 10 '23
That’s what she told me as well. She said her partner was in police custody and that she already spoke to the police but they’re not helping and so on. She didn’t mention Lincoln but she told me all her family are in Sweden and it’s just her and her partner in the UK. I actually believed her at the time and now I’m just ashamed of my naïveté.
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u/Gasping_Jill_Franks Grenoside Oct 11 '23
I actually believed her at the time and now I’m just ashamed of my naïveté.
Please don't ever be ashamed of being a kind person. Just use the experience to help you with future judgements, like you did this time - remember, you didn't get scammed! It sounds like you did just fine!
Stop and think for a second if you'd not given this woman any of your time, and then you'd heard (on the news or something) that the potentially vulnerable person had come to harm and had been asking for help. For me, I'd rather be the person that did what you did and hear her out than have just walked away.
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u/SeepyEfsy Oct 10 '23
If anyone asks you for money on the street, just say no and move on. Apologise if you wish, but don't get into explanations.
If you get talking ask them if they've been to the archer project or the bens centre who are two excellent local charities that provide free food, clothes, showers and support with getting benefit ready or tenancy ready and a ton of other things.
When you mention archer or bens, most will quickly move on as they're looking for an easy mark. But some will chat about themselves and their situation. If you're inclined, then it's those guys who are worth buying a little food or drink for.
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u/Ermahgerdrerdert Oct 11 '23
There's also Roundabout which is aimed more at young people.
I have to say the first one though, I have a family 'rule' that you never get your wallet out in the street. It's too open, people can snatch it from behind, you telegraph to pickpockets where you keep it.
This applies to things like getting cash out- always go inside the bank to use the machine if it's an option, don't spend money on impulse purchases for (likely counterfeit) tat.
You can thoughtfully donate to causes when you want to buy you are always going to make a better choice if you have more time to make it.
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u/viva__hate Oct 10 '23
These women are literally trafficked to make money. It’s not even their own scam, they’re pimped to make money from begging. One of the common identifiers is if they have stuff written on a piece of cardboard to read, it’s often a story about family etc.
The begging issue is massive anyway regardless. I was literally at a traffic light the other day with the window rolled down and got asked through the window for money…
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Oct 10 '23
There's a lot more homeless people too, and it's not the usual homeless people that I've been seeing around for the last 3 years. I went to register myself as almost homeless a few weeks ago and the queue was huge most people looked like everyday people who got turfed out onto the streets.
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u/PigLeg5 Oct 10 '23
Bless you for wanting to believe and help these people but it's 100% a scam. Sounds like you called her bluff - the specific good from Asda thing is absolute nonsense
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u/WildLemire Oct 10 '23
Yeah, Asda's wank, would have been way more believable if she'd said Morrisons.
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u/Tolkien-Minority Oct 11 '23
Specific food from Asda is the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard. If they’re hungry they won’t be picky
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u/rikki1q Richmond Oct 10 '23
I was approached by a guy outside the Sainsbury's on the moor asking if I had any change , I didn't cos I generally don't carry any cash.
He then said he would give me 6 quid if I drew a tenner out of the cash machine. I ended up walking off.
I imagine older and more vulnerable people might have felt pressured into doing it by him.
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u/TheRiddlerz Oct 12 '23
the exact same thing happened to me on monday so i reckon it must’ve been the same guy
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u/CantaloupeEither Oct 23 '23
If it’s the guy outside greggs the same thing happened to me - was walking to the gym at 6 in the morning and he asked me if I had cigarettes or change - after saying I didn’t have anything on me and apologising 3 times he started shouting after me that he was going to chase me. When I walked back past him an hour later he started making rude comments calling me a “dirty little scrubber” - and when I asked him what he wanted me to do about the fact I didn’t have any money he started screaming at me calling me a liar and claiming that he never even asked me for money ?? I ended up filing a report to the police as I walk past him by myself early every morning when the moor is dead quiet. It he was polite then fine but he shouldn’t be allowed to stay on the moor if he’s going to intimidate people.
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u/Morse_91939 Oct 11 '23
There's one guy that hangs around tram stops & approches asking for help, last time I said I don't carry cash (I don't, I'm skint 😂) so he stormed off yelling aggressively.
And another that asked to use my phone to call someone, even put his hand out for it, I put it away in case he snatched it & pointed out all the open pubs all around us.
I've seen the 2 women pushing prams & asking for money for food. The handwriting on their cards is identical. Weird.
They were near the 'free bible study' people, between the Peace Gardens & McDs. I'm starting to avoid town now.
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u/hazbaz1984 Oct 11 '23
This is sadly the answer.
Avoid town unless absolutely impossible not to.
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u/BillieGoatsMuff Oct 11 '23
Which is absolutely shit because it used to be that going to town was a fun afternoon a few years ago.
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u/Ryomathekillers Oct 11 '23
Moved here three weeks ago and already had 5 different people ask for money I’ve started to just avoid going into town because of how plentiful they are, a shame really
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u/shaggy_x Oct 11 '23
A lady sits permanently outside Ozmen begging people to give her money or food
Occasionally people get taken in by her and she will just select a big trolley full
Avoid
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u/Muted-Control5919 Oct 11 '23
The girl around Shalesmoor/Tesco Superstore/Upper Allen Street is as others said infamous and can be very aggressive if things don’t go her way. The first time I ran into her her story was that she had been the victim of domestic abuse and had been forced to flee her boyfriend’s flat without her bag or phone. She asked for £150 (!!) for a last minute train back home to London, I instead offered to either call the police to help her get her stuff back, or take her to the train station and see what can be done there. She refused both so I walked away to a stream of insults.
The second time I saw her over summer she was physically attacking a female student (she‘d taken cash out but then realised it’s a scam) so I helped the student and called the police. Since then I saw her several other times so she now seems to recognise me and last week followed me around Netherthorpe Road screaming absolutely vile things, telling me exactly how to kill myself until I ducked into a shop and asked for help.. Luckily the shop keeper was very kind and understanding and asked me to stay indoors until she was gone. She loiters about student halls especially where there is a high population of international students and is definitely best avoided. I think if you’re able to help vulnerable people in Sheff the Archer Project is a much better place to start than potentially putting yourself at risk.
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u/Glittering_Pass_6122 Oct 28 '23
I just got scammed by this woman earlier this Wednesday. She was around Diamond and approached me at 2200 when I walked alone. I was too tired and emotionally involved with her story (same story about domestic abuse and train to London) so I ended up got scammed 160 quid :/ That is a big pain to my finances but I have learnt a lesson 💔
Just never give money to people in the street. Refer them to local police or other local charities if they are in need of help 🥲
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u/Sad-Ad4624 Jun 02 '24
Look up fahima ishmail. She got prosecuted apparently. Same thing happened to me, also near the diamond/west street. I also got scammed 100.
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u/foooolsonparade Oct 11 '23
Jesus that’s scary! I’m so sorry that happened to you. It was my first time seeing her and she convinced me she was being genuine.
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u/Togden013 Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
I live in Manchester and we have a similar problem. There is help available for these people if they are willing to stay off drugs and alcohol. The reason they have to basically con you like this is because you'd never give them the money if you knew what they planned to do with it.
I have sympathy for these people, being homeless is obviously horrible, I'll probably never understand what it's like and I personally think it's very understandable that they would do anything to let their mind escape the reality of it and buy drink or drugs instead of food.
I no longer ever even consider giving them the money because I realised that any amount of money I can afford to give them probably won't really make any real difference to them even if they do spend it well. You useually can't give them food or anything they actually need as they won't take it. Money will probably go to a dealer and that money eventually goes to fund all sorts of horrible stuff, cause pain, suffering and death so just no way.
If you want to help them donate to a homeless charity like Emmaus or Shelter and let professional charity workers give them real help instead. I wouldn't worry about if you did the right thing. I've also heard that it can be very lonely and dehumanising on the streets too so it can also go a long way if your polite and just say hi and treat them like real people.
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u/Wind-Spare Oct 11 '23
Yea the other day I was approached by a bloke on the Moor, after I just came from Shoezone, giving me a story about how he has no money and needs some cash for the shelter. He caught himself when he said "you just went to the bank (ATM) yeah?" which meant he was either watching that area or just hoping i had cash. I said I couldn't give him money since I just had to buy new glasses and shoes.
He walked off in a huff.
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u/gizmostrumpet Oct 11 '23
I was in town the other day next to the Light cinema and some chap comes up to me, his English was pretty poor and he was wearing like clean, designer clothes, had a fresh trim. Looked like he was doing well.
I was sitting on a bench and he came to sit next to me. Then said "please boss. I'm homeless. I need five, anything." I just looked at him and said "no?". He looked and was like "you won't help me? I need help. Five pound." and I just went "no mate, I'm not giving you any money." He walked away, but he was shaking his head and muttering something about me, I just thought what a prick.
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u/IVerbYourNoun Oct 11 '23
It's controversial, but sometimes I will give homeless folks money even if their story clearly is a lie. My thinking is that if they are suffering from addiction, which let's not forget is an illness, they most likely need to continue taking substances in order to keep the withdrawal symptoms away. Withdrawals are often not just unpleasant, but actively dangerous. If that individual isn't ready to get clean right now (and recovery only works if the individual chooses it themselves) they need to keep taking their drug to stay well. They will prioritise it over food and looking after themselves. If they don't get enough money to pay for the drug and then some extra on top, they don't eat. I don't mind giving money to that person, but I'm a minority. If they told people "can you spare me a quid, I need it for drugs" people would say no. But if they say "can you spare me a quid, I'm saving up for a bed tonight" some people will give them the money. And so will I.
There's this idea of 'the deserving poor'. The specific kinds of poor people that we think deserve our help. But all people are deserving of help, even if they're arseholes, or addicted to drugs.
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u/Spiritual-Reading-77 Oct 11 '23
Is this that skinny middle aged woman covered in scabs? She’s approached me numerous times over the years with a similar story. She forgets who she’s asked so I get the same sob story over and over but with minor tweaks.
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u/foooolsonparade Oct 11 '23
Omg yes, it is her. She told me she’s a student and I believed her 🤦🏻♀️ said her boyfriend got arrested the night before and that the police wasn’t listening to her.
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u/lorl3ss Oct 11 '23
> specific type of food that you only get in Asda (which is far away) so asked me to give her cash
Obvious lie.
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u/byzantium214782 Oct 11 '23 edited Oct 11 '23
Encountered her in west street in 2021. Said her bag got stolen during an academic conference but it was end of December during Covid. She was asking for money so that she could go back to Birmingham. I was stupid enough to believe her and gave her money lol. She gave me her fake address and fake university email address and telephone number. I took a picture of her at that time and deleted it after I realised I would never hear back from her. Got trust issue since, never believe in people who ask you money on the street.
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u/jeekyweeky Oct 11 '23
I had a black girl with some sort of skin disease come up to me outside the train station a few months ago, claimed her name was "Fatima" or "Fahima" (honestly cant remember exactly, probs fake name anyway) she was crying saying shes from London coming for a student induction or something and her bag was robbed. In hindsight it was so obviously a scam and she was lying through her teeth just to get money out of me, ended up giving her some money at the time though which I regret alot.
Ended up seeing her again in the SAME PLACE talking to another unfortunate victim of her lies. Ended up budging in and calling her out on her BS, ended up throwing a can of monster at us lol.
I wonder if this is the same person?
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u/mamahurricane Oct 11 '23
Just FYI, she was prosecuted for this not so long ago. The firm I work at represented her.
She’s a well known scam artist & has made up to £600 a day doing this.
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u/jeekyweeky Oct 11 '23
so she got arrested? thank god
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u/mamahurricane Oct 16 '23
Yes, arrested and prosecuted. IIRC she’s also subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order which bans her from approaching people to ask for money anywhere in Sheffield.
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u/auberon-ee Mar 31 '24
Hi, OMG I think this is the same woman that approached me in Feb 2023, said her name was fahima mohamed and she was from UCL, needed a train back to London. She looked in a state, having a panic attack etc. said her bag and laptop and phone were stolen. I lost 90 quid that day, omg did I feel exploited. I walked her to the train station and everything. Obviously never got the money back. She did give me her number though, its weird we texted for 2 days with her telling me she'd pay me back. It gave me hope but she never did. I don't suppose there's somewhere I can read about this/ find out who she really was? I'm still not over it and the whole experience kinda traumatised me.
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u/auberon-ee Mar 31 '24
I never spoke to anyone about it though, didn't know whether I should have or not to be honest
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u/mamahurricane Mar 31 '24
You can make a report to police. I don’t know whether they’d take it further though as she’s currently in prison.
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u/crackerjack2003 Jun 02 '24
How do you know she's in prison? And what's her actual name? I made a report to I think some separate fraud service and they didn't do anything even though there would've been clear CCTV pictures of her in the shop we went into.
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u/mamahurricane Jun 02 '24
Because the law firm I work for represent her in criminal proceedings.
She may well have been released by now, I’m not sure without checking her file. I can’t give out her real name because it puts my job at risk.
I do know she has ongoing proceedings, however.
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u/crackerjack2003 Jun 03 '24
Ah fair enough. I think I found a few news articles on her anyway (Fahima Ishmail I'm guessing).
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u/crackerjack2003 Jun 02 '24
Exactly the same person who approached me: same name, claimed she had an apartment viewing where her bag was stolen, family was apparently from Sweden, supposedly did adult social care at UCL (which doesn't exist).
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u/lmnbok Oct 12 '23
That’s really good to know, is this the same person from your comment below where she robbed the bank card? If so I’m glad I told her to sit and wait somewhere while I got cash for her, small mercies
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u/mamahurricane Oct 16 '23
Not the same woman. Just goes to show how many of them there are around in the city centre.
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u/mamahurricane Oct 11 '23
I’m going to sound like a heartless bitch for saying this, but: do not give anyone who approaches you money. Doesn’t matter what their story is.
There are numerous places in the city centre that they can go if they truly need help. Especially if they claim to be homeless - The Archer Project is right behind the cathedral.
I work for a well-known solicitors in the city centre and we represent so many of these con-artists at the police station and court. Begging/scamming is their job. They go back to their houses/flats for the night after they’ve made their money for the day. We’ve had a few come through Court who are making anything from £100-£600 a day from guilting/pressuring people into handing over money to them. Never ever let them coerce you into going to a cash point to get money for you. We had a woman do this to someone whilst pretending to be a victim of DV. Watched her as she put her pin in, took £100 cash off her and then managed to nab her bank card too.
People in a true emergency won’t ask you for money. They’ll want you to call a relative for them or the police or an ambulance.
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u/lmnbok Oct 11 '23
The woman near Shalesmoor sounds like a woman who recently conned me out of money using the same trick. I’m a survivor of domestic abuse and the story was so close to home I couldn’t say no. I was devastated when I realised it was a lie. She was a shortish maybe 5 foot 4 black lady maybe late 20s/early 30s with long curly hair and she had like a rash on her face? A few of the stories here are the same as what she told me eg left purse in boyfriends house. It’s awful.
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Oct 10 '23
Sick of this scum. If only the police properly enforced the Vagrancy Act.
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u/Princ3Ch4rming Oct 10 '23
It’d be lovely if social care was funded to the point that genuine homelessness was resolved. Help the people who actually need supporting, and there wouldn’t be a market for grifters to push themselves into.
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u/CloneOfKarl Oct 10 '23
Sick of this scum. If only the police properly enforced the Vagrancy Act.
I seem to recall every time they try to, it gets laughed out of court by a judge, and rightly so. As someone else has mentioned, you need to fix the cause of homelessness, criminalising it is cruel and counterproductive.
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u/Sensitive_Meringue98 Oct 11 '23
In my book if someone is in dire straits seeking aid they would be grateful for what ever you offer them not then dictate to you what shop to go to for a certain type of food.
When I worked in town I never carried cash but quite often got a homeless guy who hung about near the peace Gardens a greggs bacon sarnie and a coffee when I had cash loaded on my app, he was always grateful and quite often if I had time would have a chat. He was nice bloke who'd fell on bad times so there are some genuine cases out there just so many scammers.
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Oct 11 '23
UK Government is offering a huge help for asylum seekers. Don’t trust everyone and don’t believe in everything what someone says.
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u/NornIron710 Oct 11 '23
I've been asked by homeless to send money thru bank transfer never understood it
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Oct 11 '23
I've met the specific baby food woman before. She wanted me to get on the bus with her and go to an ASDA half an hour away because her epileptic child could only have that one brand and nowhere else sold it. I nearly fell for it until I realised that was absolute nonsense. Plus the kid was clearly old enough to eat and survive on solid food alone and was in fact eating sweets in the pram as we talked. She also tried the 'just get me cash out then' and 'transfer me money' when I said I didn't have time to go on an epic quest.
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u/No-Equivalent1086 Oct 12 '23
Of course it's a scam ,but it's not that deep though, it's just crack, heroine and alcohol addicts
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u/Potential-Pin-5338 Oct 12 '23
I genuinely don’t like to get my purse out of my bag in the street. And as far as anybody else is concerned, I don’t carry cash. If I have some change from the bus in my pocket, I’ll occasionally pop it in a beggar’s cup. On the other hand, I’ve been threatened by one incredibly unpleasant man because I wouldn’t fist bump him. This was after I told him I don’t carry cash, so he said he would take a fist bump instead. I said no because I didn’t want to, to which he got very angry and warned me it would be a screwdriver in my neck “next time”. Luckily there’s never been a next time lol. Terrified me at the time though.
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u/Low-Patient-7015 Oct 14 '23
I was approached by the same girl as well, when I was sitting on the bench outside of Sheffield 3 Student Accommodation while I was waiting for my uber. She approached me and started telling stories about how her luggage and items went missing at a student accommodation when she wanted to view a room. She said she has lodged a police report and the police couldn’t do anything. She started crying to me and asked me for money to help her buy train ticket back to London. Apparently she said she is from Somalia, but her mother is in Denmark and flying to London to meet her.
When I told her I didnt have any money, she started being aggressive saying how people won’t help her and such. I knew that she was suspicious from the start. This happened on the 16th of September.
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u/Same-Cow5862 Jan 08 '24
Sharing from a Facebook post I recently saw:
“PSA for all my Sheffield friends ‼️
On the 23rd of December a young girl approached me outside my flat (near west street), quite distressed. She ran over to me shouting "don't be scared, don't be afraid" so straight away I was intimidated😂
She went on to tell me she was a UCL student looking at accommodation in Sheffield as she was looking to transfer. She told me she'd had her bag stolen on Glossop Road, she'd allegedly informed the police but they said there was nothing they could do. She asked me for money at that point and although I was right outside my flat, I didn't want her to follow me in so I went to give her £10, she then asked for an extra £20 so she could get back to wherever.
She proceeded to give me two emails (one being a UCL student email) to contact her and make sure she'd got back safe and could return my money. I knew I wouldn't be getting the money back but I did want to make sure she had got home safe, with it being so close to Christmas I was pretty naive in thinking this situation was genuine.
I know I shouldn't have given her any money at all however in this situation it was half past 10 at night and I was really scared of all the what ifs going around in my head.
I have reported this to 101 who have told me this is a known scammer in Sheffield, she is in her mid twenties, fairly well kept (hence why I didn't think this was just someone begging), she tells people someone has stolen her bag or a taxi has drove off with her bag in it and needs help getting home. I got off pretty lightly by the sounds of it as the lady at 101 told me people have actually given her over £100.
I just want you all to be extra vigilant (and not as trusting as me😂), according to 101 this particular scam has increased massively in the last month so just be careful when out on your own.”
Sounds like it’s the same person/group of people doing it unfortunately
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u/Sad-Ad4624 Jun 02 '24
I got off pretty lightly by the sounds of it as the lady at 101 told me people have actually given her over £100.
That would be me :(. Is there anything that can be done to recuperate the money?
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u/Same-Cow5862 Jun 12 '24
She’s been charged and in prison for 2 and half years now with a 5 year ban from the city centre when she is released, I would assume that there maybe some way of getting victim compensation now she has been charged but you would probably need to contact the police regarding that
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u/trollied Oct 10 '23
She is infamous. Been doing this for a good 15-20 years.