Victim?

[imoldernu]

Have you ever been a victim of a serious crime or a scam?

Looking back on many years of living in many places, I cannot recall any situation that caused any long lasting or costly situation that has affected my (our) lives.

Probably a yes or no question, but perhaps a brief comment on something that happened in your life might be interesting if you'd care to share.

 

[97guns]

I've never been victimized for more than a couple hundred bucks but my moms cousin got scammed for over 30k, started out with the "you won the lottery" pitch and ended with them getting her SS number and pertinent information which led to them opening credit cards and blowing them up

 

[Popeye]

Had two cars stolen from in front of my Mom's house. Nothing fancy or new but not much fun there. One was found within days but the other was found about 6 months later. I managed to get both back on the road again. Had a third car (my first) smashed by a hit and run guy late one night. Somehow he drove away. All I found was the little pony on the ground from his grill so I knew it was a Mustang.

Witnessed a robbery in the 7-11 late one summer night. It was me, my brother, and a friend in there about 2am. Guy came in with a bag over his hand but pointing it like a gun. He put us in the back and ran off with the cash. Never heard if he was caught. Always wondered what was in the bag...

 

[Texas Proud]

I've never been victimized for more than a couple hundred bucks but my moms cousin got scammed for over 30k, started out with the "you won the lottery" pitch and ended with them getting her SS number and pertinent information which led to them opening credit cards and blowing them up

Why would they have to pay this? If it was someone else who scammed the CC companies it it the CCs problem...

 

[97guns]

Last I heard she was on the hook

 

[Meadbh]

My bike was stolen in 1994 and my credit card was scammed in South America in 1997. Thankfully, that's been about it so far. I never saw the bike again, but the merchants were on the hook for accepting the scammed credit card.

 

[EastWest Gal]

My husband was in a bank in Sunnyvale when it was robbed. The robber put the gun to his head from behind. I was at work at the time. After talking to the police he came straight to my office. He was a mess. But then he was ok. He didn't have nightmares or anything. The guy got caught and he didn't need to testify since he didn't see the robber.

My parent's Mustang was stolen from a BART parking lot while I was taking finals at Berkeley. It took me about an hour to figure out that it was missing since I had to search the entire parking lot before convincing myself it was really gone. But when I called BART police they said it had already been recovered in Oakland.

That same car was broken into when I was returning home for the summer from medical school the following year. All my possessions were in the car. I used a steering-wheel to brake bar lock on the car so it wasn't stolen. The only thing they took was my book bag--it had my checkbook and trash from lunch in it. The checking account had $46 in it at the time.

I've been fortunate indeed.

 

[Just_Steve]

Robbed at gun point when I was working pumping gas in the Bronx circa 1985. Was carjacked circa 1991 again in the Bronx.
Had 2 cars stolen from in front of apartment building mid 80's still in the Bronx.
Crap where was Blue Collar Guy when I needed him.

 

[MRG]

Wow! Really want to know?

In the middle 70's DW and I were dating, probably 17 years old. We lived in the middle of PA and a buddy told me about a picnic up in the boonies. He knew a guy who just bought a 56 Chevy. Guy was kinda nutty, I only knew him by last name.

Future DW and I are in the boonies, parked off in nowhereland(I knew the landowner)and the drunken crew from Deliverance shows up. Proceed to beat the crap out of my Buick, it had been in a minor front end collision otherwise they would have killed the engine.

I noticed a 56 Chevy in front of us, and screamed out the guys name! Well that did get attention, not the best. They tried to break into my car, screaming they would kill me, and rape future DW. This scene proceeded to escalate for some time.

Suddenly the 56, leaving other 3 cars behind, takes off. I guess to get tools or weapons. When that happened there was a guy standing on my hood with a great big rock, ready to smash the windshield! DW screamed and I floored it! I still remember the look on that clowns face as he flew off my hood! The front end almost ran over the guy, as I floored it! They had broken out my headlights and driving in BFE with no lights was difficult.

The other cars chased us, additionally we still had to pass the 56. I did that on a road under construction. Dog gone road ended and I almost rolled our vehicle. That stupid old Buick probably saved our lives.

We got ahead of the 56, and somehow ended up in a driveway of the only farmhouse in ten miles. An older woman invited us in, allowed us to call the State Police. She mentioned her son was a State Trooper and they were unlikely to come up there.

We filed police reports and took the one guy to court. He was the only adult at the time. It paid for the immediate damages, nothing for little bit of stress.

I carried a double barrel shotgun in that Buick till it was sold.

ETA: Not to whine, that experience changed us. For example: The last time I drove through St. Louis I took a wrong turn and it looked like we would be blocked in somewhere I didn't like. My truck has 4WD and we didn't stop. I hope nobody foolishly ever tries to attack my vehicle ever again.

ETA2: Good thread, made me remember another older experience of how experience can alter behavior. In 1996 I'm in South Africa with a coworker, I finally am driving after a week. Of course in SA driving is the wrong way around for Americans. Stick shift in a Toyota Corolla here we go. Suddenly we're kinda lost and the guy I'm with gets spooky. As I drive down a dirt path, there's little kids running towards us! They act all happy to see us running through the dirt.

The guy starts to act afraid and I freak! We're going to be trapped! Warning Will Robinson! This isn't going to happen. Jam the brakes, transmission(with my other hand) and we're off 180° the other way with dust behind us.

Guy looks at me as if I'm nuts! Hey buddy what's the problem? He was afraid he didn't have any snacks or stuff to give the little kids.

 

[Moemg]

My late husband & I were mugged in The Bahamas at the Paradise resort & casino .The mugger & his wife were Americans on their honeymoon and had indulged in local drugs .The resort comped us a lot but that ruined the Bahamas for me .

 

[Scrapr]

Nothing to speak of. A car smash and grab a stereo. Remember when that was a "thing"? Way back when, I was working about 3 or more jobs and going to school. One of the jobs was convienence store close up. Never really had a problem. Small town. Pretty quiet at 2:00 am. Then a guy comes in right before closing. Not really dirty, but scruffy. He grunts as he comes in and I think to myself...uh, ohhh. Here it comes. He poked around a little and.....walks out. I think I closed up a few minutes early that night.

 

[candrew]

Robbed at gun point when I was working pumping gas in the Bronx circa 1985. Was carjacked circa 1991 again in the Bronx.
Had 2 cars stolen from in front of apartment building mid 80's still in the Bronx.
Crap where was Blue Collar Guy when I needed him.

BCG was pulling stick-up jobs and boosting cars to help fund his E.R.

 

[Sunset]

Why would they have to pay this? If it was someone else who scammed the CC companies it it the CCs problem...

If someone has all your information like SS, birthdate, and orders a CC , then charges and don't pay the bill.

How will you prove you didn't do it ? As far as the CC company is concerned you did it, otherwise they would not have sent a card to "you".

Otherwise, I can order some new cards, use them, then claim I never ordered them and it must have been a scam.... so free stuff.

 

[Just_Steve]

BCG was pulling stick-up jobs and boosting cars to help fund his E.R.

Too funny.

I think he might have been cooping in the back room of Glacken's.<local reference.

 

[tinlizzy]

When I was a teenager I had a girl walk up and slap my face. Mistaken identity. She thought I was a girl named Michelle who was messing around with her BF. She tried to slap me again and I was quick enough to get out of her way. The whole time she was calling me Michelle and I was telling her that Michelle was someone else. Unfortunately she wouldn't listen and it turned into a brawl because I wasn't about to let her keep hitting me. It ended when the brother of a guy who liked me intervened. It was so embarrassing and she never did apologize.

I hated her until about 15 years later when I read in the paper that she had a baby that froze to death in his crib that was placed next to a window in a run down drafty apartment. I couldn't help but feel bad for her circumstances and loss.

 

[kcowan]

I had a 2-bit gas station put an extra $400 on my card after putting the valid charge thru. Took a lot of BS with the bank to get the money back.

Had a thief in my car in the garage trying to pry my dashboard apart. My son cam home at 1:30 and surprise him so we lost nothing. No confrontation. Guy just fled. Neighbors not so lucky.

Had a used car put on my CC in the east coast when I was in Mexico. CC contacted me and refused the charge.

 

[donheff]

I've never been victimized for more than a couple hundred bucks but my moms cousin got scammed for over 30k, started out with the "you won the lottery" pitch and ended with them getting her SS number and pertinent information which led to them opening credit cards and blowing them up

Why would they have to pay this? If it was someone else who scammed the CC companies it it the CCs problem...

Last I heard she was on the hook

This is why I have my credit frozen. If someone uses an existing CC, no harm, no foul - just get it replaced. If someone opens a fraudulent line of credit (like this) the scammed company may ultimately be responsible but you may have to spend months proving it wasn't you. A simple phone may not resolve it like it will with a stolen CC. This is more important to people who are sensitive to the potential negative impact on their credit ratings than those who can just say F you and let their ratings go to hell.

 

[Amethyst]

It is statistically likely that 20-25% of the women on the forum have been sexually assaulted. They are not likely to broadcast this on the forum, since it is still considered a taboo subject and many people at least partially blame the woman.

 

[flyingaway]

Some people broke into my house and took quite some money out of my safe.

 

[Rianne]

Identity theft, filed for our taxes, stole DH SS and opened a business account in FL without our knowledge. Received letter from IRS, got 7 year security on credit reports. Cannot get credit anywhere without jumping through multiple hoops verifying who we are. Kind of nice. all for free. The credit monitoring systems are bogus. They do not protect you before it happens. They help you after it happens. Red flag is up with IRS for 7 years. Have to file with multiple protections.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

Robbed at gun point when I was working pumping gas in the Bronx circa 1985. Was carjacked circa 1991 again in the Bronx.
Had 2 cars stolen from in front of apartment building mid 80's still in the Bronx.
Crap where was Blue Collar Guy when I needed him.

I was chasing these guys all over upper Manhattan at that time,those were the real crazy "bad Old Days"

Wow! Really want to know?

In the middle 70's DW and I were dating, probably 17 years old. We lived in the middle of PA and a buddy told me about a picnic up in the boonies. He knew a guy who just bought a 56 Chevy. Guy was kinda nutty, I only knew him by last name.

Future DW and I are in the boonies, parked off in nowhereland(I knew the landowner)and the drunken crew from Deliverance shows up. Proceed to beat the crap out of my Buick, it had been in a minor front end collision otherwise they would have killed the engine.

I noticed a 56 Chevy in front of us, and screamed out the guys name! Well that did get attention, not the best. They tried to break into my car, screaming they would kill me, and rape future DW. This scene proceeded to escalate for some time.

Suddenly the 56, leaving other 3 cars behind, takes off. I guess to get tools or weapons. When that happened there was a guy standing on my hood with a great big rock, ready to smash the windshield! DW screamed and I floored it! I still remember the look on that clowns face as he flew off my hood! The front end almost ran over the guy, as I floored it! They had broken out my headlights and driving in BFE with no lights was difficult.

The other cars chased us, additionally we still had to pass the 56. I did that on a road under construction. Dog gone road ended and I almost rolled our vehicle. That stupid old Buick probably saved our lives.

We got ahead of the 56, and somehow ended up in a driveway of the only farmhouse in ten miles. An older woman invited us in, allowed us to call the State Police. She mentioned her son was a State Trooper and they were unlikely to come up there.



.

Thats a horrible experience to put it mildly.

My late husband & I were mugged in The Bahamas at the Paradise resort & casino .The mugger & his wife were Americans on their honeymoon and had indulged in local drugs .The resort comped us a lot but that ruined the Bahamas for me .

That would ruin my trip too, We were in the Bahamas and wanted to go to a neighboring hotel, there was an older stretch limo that somehow we got in for the short ride, as it was getting dark out, and I didnt want to be a victim. when I closed the door I noticed I could not get out unless the driver opened the doors for us. The inside of the passenger compartment had the door handles removed, and the windows didnt work. Luckily he brought us to our destination and let us out, I thought we were getting kidnapped.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

BCG was pulling stick-up jobs and boosting cars to help fund his E.R.

I would have had to do millions of them, in the part of town I was assigned to most stick ups netted less than $50 bucks, now cars on the other hand were very lucrative. They used to "part them out" for big bucks.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

My wife's Father was murdered when she was 4 years old, I know it must have shaped her entire future. We had a stolen credit card , we ate almost a 1000 bucks on that one. I posted on that in another thread, seemed like we were the only losers that got left holding the bag. I hear I might get victimized in the future by social security.

 

[MarieIG]

It is statistically likely that 20-25% of the women on the forum have been sexually assaulted. They are not likely to broadcast this on the forum, since it is still considered a taboo subject and many people at least partially blame the woman.

Thank you. It can also been a painful topic

 

[scrabbler1]

Back in 1994 my apartment was broken into. They (probably some teenagers) didn't take much, and I didn't figure it out right away that anything was taken. But, ironically, I managed to turn this unfortunate event into something sorta positive.


The thieves took 3 things. The first was about $160 in cash I had just gotten from an ATM. They also took some NYC subway tokens I had laying around (this was before the widespread use of MetroCards).


But they also took, from a high shelf in a closet, the box containing my old car radio. The car I bought in 1992, a 1991 Geo Prism, had a radio-only device and I soon bought a radio-cassette player and had it installed. I put the old radio into the new radio's box and stuck it in a closet. A pretty much worthless item, it took on some value when it got stolen (and probably was an unpleasant surprise to the thieves). I received ACV on it initially although I had a Replacement Cost on Contents endorsement on my HO policy.


But that new radio-cassette player wasn't working too well in 1994, so I used this opportunity to replace it. When I bought a new one later in 1994 (within the 6-month window to replace the barely similar stolen one), I received a check from the insurance company for the difference between the ACV and replacement cost new.


Also, when the thieves broke into my apartment, they somewhat damaged the door lock, entitling me to a replacement, even if it was a better version of what was there already. So I added a deadbolt lock to the one near the door knob.


The cash and NYC subway tokens were fully covered. All I had to pay was the $250 overall deductible and in return I got better door locks and a better car radio-cassette player. All in all, a pretty good deal.