Could this be a new scam?

Scottwax · 12-06-05, 06:59

I was at the bank drive thru yesterday making a deposit. I had noticed a full size conversion van sitting about 40 feet back of the lanes when I pulled in. Once I had put my checks into the tube, the van pulled up next to me and honked. I looked over and I saw a 30-ish looking woman waving to me. I rolled down my window and she said "your car is leaking green liquid". I said "my car?" and she said "Yes, I saw it leaking out of your car as you pulled up." At that point, I knew she was lying her buttocks off. I have the orange long life coolant in my car. I just told her I'd have to run by my mechanic and have it checked.

Normally, I'd think she was just trying to be nice, but it was pretty obvious she was lying since my coolant isn't green and she specifically said "green liquid". Let's see what this could lead to. I finish my transaction, pull off into the large parking lot, pop my hood and with my back to the world, start poking around. Pretty easy for her to signal someone in the parking lot to either rob me or steal my car. Just leaving a bank, I might have a lot of money on me, right? My back is turned, I am concentrating on finding a leak and might not hear someone come up behind me. In addition, a lot of people leave their car running when looking under the hood. Pretty easy to just hop in, back up and drive off far enough to get the hood closed and take off before anyone could catch up.

Question-this really seems like a scam of some sort to me. Should I call the local police department and report it?

SpoiledMan · 12-06-05, 07:08

Sounds like a robbery scam to me. I'd call the local roller boys and let them know what happened. Better yet, if you have the time, stop in and talk to the desk officer or even the watch commander if you can.

a.k.a. Patrick · 12-06-05, 07:22

They may want a little more proof of a potential instance for crime. Try to monitor the area next time and see if there hangin around looking for potential targets, then call the police and report your findings.......

SpoiledMan · 12-06-05, 07:30

Patrick, they have a pretty good M.O. with what they did to Scott. Don't wait until there are victims to report it. Remember, this IS the season to be robbed!

JBM · 12-07-05, 01:22

Sounds pretty clever and ballzy to be doing in a bank parking lot where there are cameras all over the place.

Did the van leave the parking lot before you popped your hood?

Autoeng · 12-07-05, 02:36

Maybe she saw radiator fluid on the ground and assumed it came from your car. You have to remember that most women know nothing about cars so maybe she thought she saw something.

Maybe she was hitting on you and you've just been so into detailing for so long you didn't put 2 and 2 together.

Setec Astronomy · 12-07-05, 02:38

I would definitely report that. I have a different idea of what they were trying to do, I think they wanted you to get out of the car right in the lane, since she pulled up right after you put your checks in the tube. I think they wanted to snag whatever the teller sent back to you (hopefully cash, but maybe just a receipt with an account number) while you had your head under the hood, then they don't need to hit you over the head or anything.

a.k.a. Patrick · 12-07-05, 02:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpoiledMan

Patrick, they have a pretty good M.O. with what they did to Scott. Don't wait until there are victims to report it. Remember, this IS the season to be robbed!

Could be Chris!
Im just saying its probably not the only thing going on in Scotts area, and Im sure the police would give him the ol "Well take a look into it", from the Donut Shop. And theres nothing against the law, having a woman report to a driver that she thought she saw liquid coming from underneath you car. Now, had Scott seen this same M/O against another bank customer, well............OK now things are suspicious. Because "On more then one occasion, I've witnessed blah blah blah Officer Creme filled"........
Moral of the story here is , "watch yours and your neighbors back."
Im not arguing the happenstance here, just the evidence of suspicious activity. (I work with law enforcement on a regular occasion)

cwcad · 12-07-05, 02:50

I too think that this should be reported. It would be best to list everything that you can. Descriptions of all people involved. The vehicle. License number of the van. You know...all pertinent information. At the very least the bank should be informed. Information from observation is key to breaking up all nefarious activity.

SpoiledMan · 12-07-05, 03:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by a.k.a. Patrick

Could be Chris!
Im just saying its probably not the only thing going on in Scotts area, and Im sure the police would give him the ol "Well take a look into it", from the Donut Shop. And theres nothing against the law, having a woman report to a driver that she thought she saw liquid coming from underneath you car. Now, had Scott seen this same M/O against another bank customer, well............OK now things are suspicious. Because "On more then one occasion, I've witnessed blah blah blah Officer Creme filled"........
Moral of the story here is , "watch yours and your neighbors back."
Im not arguing the happenstance here, just the evidence of suspicious activity. (I work with law enforcement on a regular occasion)

Well taken Pat. I'm thinking Scott might not be the first person though.

I worked uh, hand in hand with cops for a number of years myself.

With all the identity theft that goes on these days, things that happen around banks are taken more seriously than before. I'm not buying that she saw the "green" fluid from across the parking lot at all. This seems a blatant attempt to distract someone at the machine so that someone else can step in and do the dirty work. Now if she said, "I think I saw something leaking from your car," then the story changes as she sounds like she's trying to be helpful. She'd have to be the 6 million dollar woman to ID it as green from across the lot though.

Pat, can you go ahead and leave this thread alone now and process my order??

a.k.a. Patrick · 12-07-05, 06:40

Scottwax · 12-07-05, 06:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by JBM

Sounds pretty clever and ballzy to be doing in a bank parking lot where there are cameras all over the place.

Did the van leave the parking lot before you popped your hood?

Why would I pop my hood to check when I know I have orange coolant in my car?