Another scam

[jacqtay]

quote:Originally posted by Scunner

I will tell you why the British are targeted for cons abroad. If you find a conman who can give you straight answers and ask them why they conned you/whoever, they will nearly always say the same thing. Because we are easier. Bear that in mind everyone

Unfotunatly this is true ,only a few weeks ago while in la carihuela/ costa del sol for my valentine weekend we got ripped off from the taxis,a simple 6 euro 5min fare turned into a 30 euro 20min tour of the area. The taxi driver who understood my english when telling what hotel wee wanted to go to all of a sudden did not understand my english when we asked him why it took so long and cost so much.
The following day we spoke to the hotel staff and mentioned what happened only for him to laugh and say its cause your English its easy to con a English person he said( with a smile).
Typical hubby went on a rant and said Im Scottish not bla bla bla!.

With regards to the OP I think I would have gave the money to the lady as the guilt feeling ( young kids ) would have won me over. Scam yes, but only once.
Last year in Icmeler we would pass the same lady with a month old baby begging in the square every night, after a few nights my hubby asked a restaraunt if he paid the cost would they feed her they said yes but would use the money we gave ( 20 ira ) for baby milk and then feed the lady themself.  This appeased our guilt slightly,as thats what it felt like for some reason.

[mercury]

If you go to Benidorm and I am sure many of you will have been before you discovered Turkey.. You will see loads of very poor looking  women sitting on the streets around the bars and hotels with a baby in their arms. If you look carefully not always the same baby.!! as pointed out by the locals. They have a pathetic tone of voice which would fool all but the wise. There are the flower sellers who can pick your pockets as fast as look at you. These are not poor by any means. There is a man outside one of the supermarkets with one leg. He sits on the floor all day with his begging bowl. We were there on day when he sent his son across the road to the photo shop to collect 5 envelopes of his hols in Tenerife.!! Just pointing out that where there are holiday makers there are scam merchants. It even goes on in Blackpool. I know they are poorer here but the really poor ones have too much pride and would never beg.

[scouser2]

We were approached by a man on Thursday, near Mcdonalds. He said that he hadn't eaten for days and could we give him some money. As it happens, we had no money with us, as we were just out for a walk. I felt embarrassed not having any money with me.I did notice however that he did not approach any Turkish people.

[cenk]

quote:Originally posted by scouser2

We were approached by a man on Thursday, near Mcdonalds. He said that he hadn't eaten for days and could we give him some money. As it happens, we had no money with us, as we were just out for a walk. I felt embarrassed not having any money with me.I did notice however that he did not approach any Turkish people.

He aproached me 2 times as well. One around friday market, one around PTT. He is a kind of beggar.
No need to be embarrassed, he can find a job and work. He prefered lazy and easy way.

[simpsons]

I have been reading this topic with interest, and would like to say my piece. Us, the British,on the whole are known to be sympathetic nation, which, I am sorry to say, some foreigners take advantage of. I and my wife retired to Turkey 5 years ago, after holidaying here for a number of years, and because we fell in love with the place and people. However, after 5 years, I have become very cynical, about the way, that some Turkish people, think I am a soft touch.. Nearly every week, there is someone, who is trying to get their hands on my hard earned, which makes me feel that my dream of retiring to the sun is turning into a nightmare. I would think I am not alone in this. Also, I notice that the charities that are  in the Fethiye area, are all started by Ex-Pats, which makes me think, what did the turkish people do before we came along?. Thats my thoughts.

[Scunner]

I do agree with some of that - it does seem that some people target us as an easy touch to try and extract money from. I do suspect it isn't just a Turkey thing, but I've never lived abroad anywhere else so can't be sure on that. In some ways I maybe prefer those who stick their hand out at you saying "para, para" - at least you get a choice...

[John H]

Certainly not exclusively a Turkish problem. We have two,at least,regulars in Hamilton who make approaches for cash from strangers. One has the story that he is sleeping rough and is looking for his 'bus fare to get back to his family the other is a young man who approaches people around local churches saying that his girlfriend has thrown him out and he has no money and is looking for the train fare to return to his mother. Both have carried their appeals dozens of times so they must be reasonably successful. On the other hand we have a genuine 'tramp' who bothers no one but does very well from voluntary donations.

[tiddly winks]

In my local area we have the occasional tramp sitting around but they often come and go which  makes me wonder if they travel to get the money or if they disppear to live a normal life for a bit. I've even seen one up in MK near the housing shelter area, so help is literally round the corner from them.

On the other hand we have people that sell the Big Issue in our area and they get much more attention as people know where the money's going and that these people are making a effort in working. I wonder if something similar would be as successful in Turkey?

However I definitely agree with mercury's point that the really poor people never beg

[Old Daffodil]

If you look a the infant mortality rate since 2003 it has dropped over 20per cent in Turkey. Perhaps the increased income from visitors has had some effect on health.
I can understand that it becomes overwhelming the constant demand for charity but at least it can be handled on a full stomach.
Poor old Marie Antionette didn't listen and look what happened to her.
In America they have food programmes and the huge supermarkets donate food among others because even there people struggle at times.  

[mercury]

On the whole we only know this small part of Turkey. Eastern Turkey and some parts of the North are extremely poor Me and my husband have stayed in a Turkish home and 4 days was OK but I couldnt live like that indefinitely.The shower was water boiled on the soba and poured into a large bucket which we mixed with cold for our shower with jugs of water. They continually turn off lights. There was no emersion heater. They ate chicken twice a week but not the chicken we would eat. They were thrilled because we bought them some mince which they usually cant afford. Mostly they live on bread, tomatoes, eggs and salad. soup and pilau rice and yoghurt.  They made all their own bread outside in a tandir. There are dozens of tea houses which the men sit in all day. Do you know something they were very happy there because they havent met Europeans and they dont know any different. Apart from their small pensions the older ones are kept by their sons who work in the tourist areas. Maybe it is the desperation for money to keep their families that causes some of them to con the tourists. I dont think that the 20% reduction in infant mortality is anything to do with tourisnm in these areas because they dont have tourism as such. When we satyed there we were treated like royality by everyone in the village. They had never met English people and were contunually stroking.