Motoring Discussion > Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 Miscellaneous
Thread Author: VxFan Replies: 15
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 14:01 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - VxFan

Police are warning motorists over motorway scams in which well-dressed drivers pretend to run out of fuel and ask for cash in return for worthless gold rings.

There were 26 incidents on M4, M40 and M25 motorways in just five days.
'Stranded' men tell motorists a relative has died and they need to get home.
In exchange for the petrol money, conmen offer them 'worthless' jewellery.

tinyurl.com/plfm9us - Daily Wail, but reports are also elsewhere too

It's also been happening in my local area.
tinyurl.com/look3m4
tinyurl.com/k8pa29c
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 12 Mar 15 at 14:04
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 15:34 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Zero
so how many people pull over to help someone stuck on the side of the motorway?
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 15:39 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Duncan
There's nothing new on the planet!

Posted by me on HJ in 2003.

"Last evening (Friday) I was in a filling station near Heathrow, when a youngish man very politely asked me if I could give him £3 or £4 for petrol. He said he had run out of money or come out without any money.

He promised to pay it back and would give me his driving licence and his wife's wedding rings as security. I said, sorry - but no and went into the pay desk, he moved on to the next customer to present the same story.

Inside the pay/shop area the staff were watching and told me that he was a regular with that story. They were considering calling the police.

A similar thing happened some months ago, with a girl asking for money for a bus fare, this was also near Heathrow (I go to Heathrow a lot)in Macdonalds.

The point of all this - BEWARE".
Last edited by: Duncan on Thu 12 Mar 15 at 15:40
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 15:43 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Mapmaker
I was sitting in a car, parked in Marylebone and a bloke tapped on the window. I opened the car door and he pressed a gold wedding ring on me, claiming to have found it outside the car.

I shoved it back at him, shut the door and locked it. No idea what he was after, but it wasn't gold...
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 15:44 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - jc2
Used to be someone at Calais needing to get back to England urgently.Also a cpuple in Spain telling people their caravan had been broken into and everything stolen!Worked at the first site-less so at the second and so on.
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 19:57 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Shiny
Similar thing happening in Czech Republic too..
www.liveleak.com/view?i=e4d_1415986323
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 20:08 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - No FM2R
....and in San José, Costa Rica. Loads of people were caught out over quite some time.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Thu 12 Mar 15 at 20:08
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 20:11 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Runfer D'Hills
I thought this thread was going to be about the price of fuel at MSAs...
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 20:41 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Zero
>> I thought this thread was going to be about the price of fuel at MSAs...

TBF, I had a damn fine full english at South Mimms this morning, in the Harry Ramsden outlet. Most importantly the eggs are cooked fresh to order.

A stiff £7.95 tho

To hook this into the thread, South Mimms was the first time I saw the "money for petrol" scam

In 1999.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 12 Mar 15 at 20:42
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 20:42 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Runfer D'Hills
Sounds a bit fishy that.
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 20:55 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Bromptonaut
Some bird at Vicar Lane bus station in Leeds pulled a similar one on me c1978; date had stood her up and she'd not got the fare home.

Gave her 50p - a few more of those and she'd have a night's worth of Bacardi coke.
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 21:18 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Lygonos
I had a wino accost me near the NCP car park beneath Edinburgh castle 30 years ago:

"Mister have ye got 20p so I can call an Ambulance - I'm bleeding - look"

Holding his hand on his forehead with no sign of blood or injury.

"Nah, sorry pal. 999's a free call"

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New Thu 12 Mar 15 21:23 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Runfer D'Hills
Lot of beggars in Edinburgh today. More than I remember when I lived there. You forget how even on a sunny day that cold wind can cut you near in half. I'd not fancy sitting in a doorway.
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 22:06 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Lygonos
I watched a professional beggar last year outside the sandwich place on Stafford Street (O'Briens) - he had his own square of cardboard so he could sit on the wee wall of the church opposite comfortably.

www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.949354,-3.21085,3a,75y,163.28h,76.74t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sVLg3jIdi57Xhaxa_GWQ4fw!2e0

He held a MacDo coffee cup out to passers-by and made eye contact, and I reckon his success rate was around 1 in 5 to 1 in 10 giving him a donation.

He'd then look in the cup and if it was a sizeable coin it went in his jacket pocket, otherwise he'd leave it in the cup.

After about 15 minutes I reckon he'd made well over 10 quid from the number of times his hand went into his pocket.

He then got up, went into the shop, and came out with a sandwich and a coffee.

I was watching him in the door mirror of the car while waiting for the missus.

Last edited by: Lygonos on Thu 12 Mar 15 at 22:09
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 22:42 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - Manatee
>> I had a wino accost me near the NCP car park beneath Edinburgh castle 30
>> years ago:
>>
>> "Mister have ye got 20p so I can call an Ambulance - I'm bleeding -
>> look"
>>
>> Holding his hand on his forehead with no sign of blood or injury.
>>
>> "Nah, sorry pal. 999's a free call"

I think I might have seen him:)

In January/February 1979 I was in Deacon Brodie's one night when a tramp came in clutching his abdomen and said to the barmaid "Can ye call fae an ambulance - I think I've been stabbed!"

She gave him a coin and said "There's a phone box outside, call your own".

It had never occurred to me until seeing your story that it would have been a free 999 call.
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New Thu 12 Mar 15 23:03 
 Beware of highway robbers on the M4, M40 & M25 - bathtub tom
SWMBO was given a tale of woe at a station.

She replied "how unfortunate, exactly the same happened to you yesterday."
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