I want to start by acknowledging how much of an idiot I am.

I live in Worms and have been here for about a year now. Today, I was stopped by an Englishman who looked lost and asked me for directions to Sparkasse. I pointed him in the right direction, and he then explained that his credit card had been stolen. He was from the UK, and apparently, some locals had told him that Sparkasse might be able to help (not sure how, but whatever, right?).

Then he asked me if I had any cash on me and said he could transfer it to me instantly. I told him I only had 20 euros. He was super chill about it and said, "Oh, that’s okay. I need like 300, so 20 isn’t gonna do me anything."

As I was about to leave, he asked if I could withdraw the money instead. I was very hesitant, and he noticed, so he reassured me, saying I didn’t have to do it, and it was fine. Blah blah.

Then, he actually transferred 300 pounds to me and showed me proof via WhatsApp after I gave him my IBAN. He even sent me a selfie and a picture of his driver’s license to make it seem legit. We waited for 30 minutes for the money to arrive, but I had a train to catch. He somehow convinced me that since the transfer was already done, the money should arrive in a few hours, so I should just withdraw the cash and hand it to him.

I did it. Because I’m a fucking idiot.

Fifteen minutes later, he deleted everything—the driver’s license, the transfer screenshot, and his selfie. Thankfully, I expected this might happen, so I had already saved them just in case.

Now it’s Sunday, and I’m going to the police station to report him (I didn’t do it earlier because I was out of the city for a few days).

I know I’m an idiot, but I’m a student, and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. The worst part? That was my rent money. I barely have enough to survive since I live paycheck to paycheck, working part-time.

My Questions:
Do you think there’s any chance I’ll get my money back through the police?
I have his selfie and driver’s license—that should be enough to catch him, right?

I don’t know, man. 360 euros isn’t a lot to some people, but for me, it’s everything.

Tldr; i gave a stranger almost 400 euros to help him after he lost his credit card only to get ghosted and not paid back.

by mlutfi98

18 comments

  1. You are never seeing that money again. See it as an expensive lesson.

  3. I’m going to assume the license was fake and they won’t be able to do anything with that.

    I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting to get the money back

  5. Hi, OP. I’m sorry this happened to you, people suck.
    Please report this to the police. At the same time, it’s best to not get your hopes up. You’re most likely never seeing that money again. I hope you can make it work financially somehow…

  6. Bruh what did you expect? Giving 360 euros to a guy you see on the street for the first time in your life? Big L but consider it a lesson. Next time don’t be so gullible.

  7. You do not have his driver’s license. You have the screenshot of a picture of a driver’s licence with a picture that vaguely looks like the guy you talked too.

  8. I’m sorry for the dishonesty of my fellow Brit. Sadly, many of us are cunts. Even if he had good intentions to start with (doubtful), he’s probably now realised he has got away with some free money, with low risk of any blowback.

    Chase it as long as you feel motivated to do so, but then just write it off as a lesson learned. You’re only an idiot if you do it again, this was just a learning opportunity that you have to be savvy as well as being nice. The upside is you’re the better person in this scenario; you did something decent and got burned. It’s shit but it happens. Hope you don’t have too much hardship from the loss. 🙏🙏

  9. I know you already acknowledged this was dumb, but giving someone 300€ when you’re living paycheck to paycheck is, let’s say, an interesting choice.

  10. Some people learn by watch, others have to be the ones the others will watch to learn.

  12. Sorry to hear that. There are always good people an assholes. You are good, don’t let that feel like a weakness.
    Report the guy to the police.

  13. Keep an eye on your bank account if that guy knows your IBAN. While it’s not that common, he might cause a charge to your account via Lastschrift. He can’t access your account directly, but he could use the IBAN through a business as payment for a service contract.

    Please correct me if this is too unlikely or incorrect.

  14. This is what happens when you never get scammed in a video game as a kid. At least it wasn’t more. Don’t worry, it’s something pretty much everyone has to go through unfortunately.

  15. If the driver license etc. is real and he has an address in Germany you maybe could after a long while get it back, but honestly it is very unrealistic to be the case. But maybe they can use his photo and see if it matches other cases. He most likely gave you fake ones and is probably not even registered in Germany. Don’t ever give money to others, especially when they are not happy with smaller sums and want a higher one. Desperate people are usually not that pushy and his bank could have given him some kind of access within the next few days or family and friends could have given him money per the express option. You look young and he most likely noticed you were a foreigner and most likely not informed about scams here, so you were an easy target. 

    In general don’t buy anything from others on the street because they can’t take it with them back home etc. you will most likely buy a fake item, don’t agree to pay for the grocery shopping of someone because often this person will add other expensive things to the shopping cart and go way over the agreed limit, don’t sign anything on the street where someone wants some kind of donations from you without an official stand behind them since it will most likely also be a scam etc. In general Whatsapp is used by scammers a lot since you can delete everything there and they love to fake transfers. If you like to help and feel sorry for someone only give them the money you have on hand and nothing further. If you feel pressures say you don’t have your card with you and you don’t do online banking or you have no money besides this

  16. I bumped into those „Englishman“ during Christmas time. Or rather I overheard one trying to scam somebody. It took me five minutes to see the rest of the group and I was trying to find a police officer but nobody was around. Too bad that people still fall for this scam.

  17. Same thing happend to me about 3 weeks ago in frankfurt – I have a picture of him if you are interested in reporting this to police message me I got scammed out if 200€

  18. Don’t beat yourself up about it and don’t let the mean comments get to you. These people know how to overwhelm and manipulate. It’s easy to fall for one of these if you’re not aware of the scam and on your toes.

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