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I used to think that scams were easy to avoid as long as one was vigilant. Whether it be in person or online, signs of a scam are obvious when you spot an abnormality that arises outside of a normal circumstance. Moreover, in the digital age, where we get notified of all sorts of scams from news outlets and stories, it seems inevitable that one feels confident in identifying a scam if and when they come across one. I was that way, having traversed most of London on my own while avoiding the typical tourist scams that are part and parcel of big cities. However, after one particular encounter, I had to realign my viewpoint on scams.

The situation could not have happened at a worse time. It was a Friday afternoon, roughly 11 AM, when I stepped foot out of my dorm to do some groceries. I had just put in a good few hours of work into my research due Monday before deciding to get my weekly shopping done as a break. The light spring drizzle in Manchester had just ended, dyeing the sky a light grey colour with sunlight breaking through the clouds. No sooner as I stepped foot beyond the gates of my dorm, a black Audi drove down the street and stopped at the opposite end. From the car window, a man in his late thirties called out to me in a thick Italian accent. I walked up to see what was wrong, wondering why a car would stop in the middle of nowhere. He asked for directions to the airport due to his phone not having any Internet connection, which was later explained as he was not a local. Not thinking too much about it, I gave him the directions after a quick search on my phone, all while we struck up a casual chat.

The man introduced himself as a fashion designer from Milan. At the time, there was a second guy in the passenger seat who was silent throughout the conversation, supposedly his assistant. The first man showed me his business card, detailing everything you would expect a typical card to have: email, fax, phone number, location, etc. When I told him of myself being a Malaysian after he pointed out my ethnicity, he seemed surprised as his ‘ex-wife’ was a Malaysian too. Having lived in Malaysia for three years himself, he proceeded to show me some pictures of his Malaysian wife and pointed out some things that only a person who has been to Malaysia would know—Kuala Lumpur, specific culture, the Malay language… The coincidence could not have been any bigger.

That was when he told me there was supposedly a fashion event in Piccadilly city centre for two days, which was why he came to Manchester following another event in London. Being a Milan designer, he claimed to have worked with some top brands, exclusively referring to Armani. He also claimed to have been robbed while at a bar the previous night, causing him and his friend to lose their wallets and cash. Considering they were fairly well-dressed and had on watches and bracelets, it seemed very unlikely that they were even robbed. Their alibi was that most of their valuables were already stored in their hotel safe. To quote them, this was a lesson they learnt from having travelled to multiple countries before.

This was probably where I should have walked away, but I continued listening. He stopped the car engine, got to the backseat, and showed off some of the clothes he had. Again, going with the background that he was a ‘famous fashion designer’, he had some ‘unreleased’ outfits at the time that were used during the supposed fashion show. To prove they were made out of real material, he took out a lighter and lit one of the leather jackets, which didn’t catch fire. There were four different outfits with him at the time, each of various designs and equally good quality. They all bore the Emporio Armani design, which seemed to match the quality of the outfits. Once again, he brought out his phone to show off his webpage as proof of his professionalism, along with pictures of famous people he had worked with in the past. This included selfies with Arsenal player Jorginho and Belgian player Maruane Fellaini. A quick Google search showed they were indeed actual players and not self-proclaimed fakes. He packed the four pieces of clothing and put them in a hand-carry bag, giving them to me as he wanted to avoid paying extra tax on the items upon returning to Milan. Since he was the designer of those items, he would theoretically lose no money by giving them away for free, but he needed my help.

Following the story that he and his partner were robbed, they were penniless at the moment and had no credit card access due to him cancelling all of them. In return for giving me all those items, they would like me to help them pay for their car, which was a rental for the time they were in Manchester. It needed to be quick as they had a flight that same evening back to Milan, and this was further proven with documents of their car rental and flight tickets, all of which matched up the story so far. The guy even went to the extent of showing me the boot with their luggage when asked, as if trying to prove they truly needed help. Perhaps to appeal to my sentiment further, he explained that the clothes could be returned to the official Armani store for cash if I gave them the details to confirm his identity. In that sense, the twenty minutes I spent talking with the two Italians were used to set up this story and provide a background for why they needed help.

Up to this point, any reasonable person would be able to tell that this was one big scam. Yet, I was somehow convinced of their situation and went along with it. To sum up the remainder of the encounter, they convinced me of being able to pay back as soon as they landed in Milan, aided me in withdrawing £900 in cash for the payment of their rental car, and sent me off with hugs and handshakes full of gratitude. Throughout the rest of the day, the entire situation sat weird to me the more I thought about it. In some anecdotal sense, the irrational part of my brain tried to justify the whole scenario in that certain parts of what they told me made too much sense, since a backstory that detailed would be hard to make up on the spot. 

After what seemed like hours of browsing the Internet for signs of similar scams when I should have been focused on my essay, I finally came across an official forum that had listed complaints for the same scam I had encountered. Some of these complaints date back as far as 2013, with people encountering similar scenarios in different parts of Europe. The latest few threads were in late 2022 to early 2023, mainly taking part in various cities in the UK, proving that they must have been active for a very long time. This was when reality sank: I had been scammed.

That night was possibly the hardest night of my life in a very long time. I called my dad to inform him of the situation nearly 12 hours after the actual scam occurred. As soon as I tried to explain what had happened, I broke down crying. It wasn’t the mere fact that I was embarrassed, I was angry at myself for falling for what seemed like such an obvious scam. My easygoing attitude, combined with my gullible nature and fatigue from exams, led to me putting my trust in the wrong people at the wrong time. I have definitely met those who needed help in similar situations, but not to the point of needing a large sum of money before missing their flight. 

There were so many things I could have done to verify the details or outright confirm that this was suspicious. If they were that famous, wouldn’t they have someone they knew to contact to borrow money beforehand? Why not ask their family in Milan to pay for the car first? Why was I convinced by their story? Why did I not try asking for their number on the spot to verify it? Even if everything said was true, was there anyway, despite providing me with all the necessary details and information, that I could guarantee to get my money back in the first place?

According to a 2023 research, it was reported that 46% of adults get drawn to online scams or fraud. By no means are scams uncommon in this day and age, but the interactive method of scams varied to attract potential victims, in-person or online. Another study made the correlation between the mental state of victims with the scam, attributing factors like psychological traits and cognitive bias to the scam in question. It also found confirmation bias and emotional distress even after the scam was over. Some victims searched for information online that may continue to reinforce what they want to believe about the scam. The biggest issue was trust in interpersonal communication which greatly affected the scam and self-deception by victims due to uncertainty that led to a deeper trap.

To compare the studies with my experience, the method of scam I encountered specifically appealed to my emotions. A retrospective look of retelling this story, whether to myself or anyone, would make the situation seem obvious as a scam. The problem comes with being in the situation at the time rather than reading about it. Being in that situation makes it hard for most victims to realise they are even in a scam, especially when the scam takes place in person. My experience was definitely not a unique one, but one that illustrates the difficulties that come with identifying a scam from a real seek for help. It also questions the mental state of most victims and the situational awareness of the scam itself.

The main purpose of this article seeks to raise awareness of identifying scams. More importantly, I hope this story encourages scam victims not to be embarrassed about being scammed and to share their stories as well. Just as anyone would think they would not be susceptible to these types of scams, true professionals, beyond 90% of commonplace scams, can make a fraud seem unlike one. Anyone and everyone in the right situation has a chance of falling victim to a scam.

*This is a cautionary tale of the author’s personal experience. If you have encountered a scam or a similar situation, immediately call 101 or report the situation to the relevant authorities.

References

• Executive Summary Report: Online Scams & Fraud Research | Yonder Consulting 
• Mental States: A Key Point in Scam Compliance and Warning Compliance in Real Life | Int J Environ Res Public Health