Current Hyde Park Scams (with a Personal Touch)

The late Utah Phillips used to complain that contemporary panhandlers were a boring bunch, that back in his day they had a more entrepreneurial spirit.  As an example, he told about the guy whose motto was mors ante labor* and supported himself with the following gimmick.  He would walk up behind someone-- a couple on a date for some reason seemed to work best-- and announce that he could shove a dollar bill up one nostril and bring it out thru the other.  A bystander, for some reason, would challenge him on this.  He would reply back, "Give me a dollar to use and I'll prove it."  Then he'd take the dollar, shove it up one nostril, push a couple times and give up.  "Hmmm, he'd say, I guess I can't do it.  Here's your dollar back."  The bystander would invariably tell him to just keep the dollar.

While I'm ready to applaud a panhandler with an entertaining gimmick, I do draw the line at fraud.  Lately, Hyde Park's been troubled by a couple scammers that folks should know about.

Jennifer Bosch at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club reports:

There is a scam artist working in the neighborhood, saying he solicits funds for the Club. We’ve gotten reports back from all over the neighborhood but haven’t caught him yet. We have notices on our website and in the Herald but this is affecting many people in the community.

A gentleman is going door-to-door and asking for money for the Club. He claims he is working on various projects (a mother daughter reading group, an AIDS walk) and tries to get money out of people. Sometimes he has literature; sometimes he doesn’t. I am sure that he  tries this with all sorts of HP organizations and we just happen to be getting calls about it. HPNC NEVER solicits door-to-door. 

If someone asks you for money for the Neighborhood Club, please tell them you'll send a check to HPNC.  (And by all means, please do so.  HPNC does the good work you'd do if you had more time.)  In no case, should you give someone cash.

And then there's the woman sitting near a bicycle crying her eyes out.  If you stop to ask her what's wrong, she'll tell you she has cancer and she has no money and yadda, yadda, yadda...  I can't prove any of this is fraudulent, of course, but you should know that several people have given her money and now they regret it.

*I think that's the correct Latin for "death before work".  And it could be that I'm combining two Utah Phillips stories into one concise paragraph, which is something he never would have done.

Comments

[Jennifer Bosch]

Thanks for posting this James. I hate to see people prey on the unsuspecting, taking advantage of their good intentions. I can confirm, because my husband and I have spoken with the Chicago Police about this, that the crying woman (though there may be more than one) is indeed a scam artist. She is often asking for money to take public transit or the Metra, explaining she has had a stroke or cancer. They told us to inform her that the Metra will gladly give her a free ride, just to approach their security at the station and they can help her out.

[Crelatia]

There is another scam artist in Hyde Park. He has approached me and some of my friends with the same story: He claims his child has died and he has to go identify the body at a hospital. I was so shocked by the story that I asked him the name & age of the child and what hospital he had to go to. (I'm so gullible-- I was going to get him a cab.) But, he couldn't answer the questions and started getting really aggressive. I'm ashamed to admit, I did end up giving him a couple dollars so he would leave me alone.
I've seen him at 55 & Lake park, 53 and Kimbark and he approached some friends at the Harold Washington Library CTA #6 bus stop.

[Hyde Parker]

A man approached me once in May on 53rd and Blackstone on the way home from work, then again in July on a Saturday on 54th and Woodlawn. He had the exact same story each time. Both times he said that he has a Honda Civic that has broken down and if I know anything about cars. When I say no, he then asks me if I am a university student. When I say no, he then says he needs help getting back to the south suburbs or somewhere in Indiana. He asks you to get a cab for him or some kind of car service and promise to pay you back. He will even try and present you with his drivers license or show you family pics to prove he is a honest man. I know he is a scam artist or there is something "off" with him. It seemed like he was trying to get me to follow him somewhere too, which was even creepier. The second time I saw him he was walking a dog and wearing nice clothes, so I think he lives in the neighborhood and preys mostly on students. Be on the look out for this dude and keep walking if he approaches you.