Motorway con man jailed for duping kind-hearted motorists
Warning from Wiltshire Police
Scammers are always looking for new ways of relieving you of your money. For one man, that was preying on good Samaritans on the M4.
He would loiter on motorway slip roads toting a green fuel can and flag down passing motorists. There he'd claim that his car had run out of fuel and request a lift to the nearest service station.
Of course along the way he'd then ask for money for the fuel, or for repairs to his vehicle - which was conspicuously absent. The technique netted him thousands of pounds from benevolent passers-by - and also a 2-year stretch in prison as he was jailed yesterday.
Motorway scams of this ilk seem to be on the rise. Other similar cons have been reported on the M40, M25, M6 and M56, often involving a 'broken down' vehicle, sometimes with children inside. The perpetrators will ask for money for repairs or petrol and in the most common version of the fraud they'll offer up jewellery as collateral for the money - which is, you guessed it, cheap and fake.
Don't be discouraged from stopping to help genuinely stranded motorists though, just keep your wits about you and never part with cash.
Scammers are always looking for new ways of relieving you of your money. For one man, that was preying on good Samaritans on the M4.
He would loiter on motorway slip roads toting a green fuel can and flag down passing motorists. There he'd claim that his car had run out of fuel and request a lift to the nearest service station.
Of course along the way he'd then ask for money for the fuel, or for repairs to his vehicle - which was conspicuously absent. The technique netted him thousands of pounds from benevolent passers-by - and also a 2-year stretch in prison as he was jailed yesterday.
Motorway scams of this ilk seem to be on the rise. Other similar cons have been reported on the M40, M25, M6 and M56, often involving a 'broken down' vehicle, sometimes with children inside. The perpetrators will ask for money for repairs or petrol and in the most common version of the fraud they'll offer up jewellery as collateral for the money - which is, you guessed it, cheap and fake.
Don't be discouraged from stopping to help genuinely stranded motorists though, just keep your wits about you and never part with cash.
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