Criminal tactics alert?

[model 25]

Got this e-mail and thought it would be interesting to discuss what you would do.
_________________________________________________________________
> > Be sure every lady is aware of this M.O. Share with your wife and
> > daughters.
>
>Know what money you are carrying ..
>
>Criminals are coming up with craftier, less threatening methods of
>attack, so we have to be extra cautious. Read on... I live in
>Alexandria, VA, but I often work in Lafayette, LA, staying with friends
>when I'm there. As you know from America's Most Wanted TV program, as
>well as the news media, there is a serial killer in the Lafayette area.
> I just want to let you know about an "incident" that happened to me a
>few weeks ago, and could have been deadly.
>
>At first I didn't go to the police or anyone with it because I didn't
>realize how serious this encounter was. But since I work in a jail and
>I told a few people about it, it wasn't long before I was paraded into
>Internal Affairs to tell them my story. It was proximately 5:15 a.m. in
>Opelousas, La. I had stayed with a friend there and was on my way to
>work. I stopped at the Exxon/Blimpie Pie station to get gas. I got $10
>gas and a Diet Coke. I took into the store two $5 bills and one $1 bill
>(just enough to get my stuff).
>
>As I pulled away from the store, a man approached my truck from the back
>side of the store (an unlit area). He was an "approachable-looking" man
>(clean cut, clean shaven, dressed well, etc.).
>
>He walked up to my window and knocked. Since I'm very paranoid and
>"always looking for the rapist or killer," I didn't open the window ...
>I just asked what he wanted. He raised a $5 bill to my window and said,
>"You dropped this." Since I knew I had gone into the store with a
>certain amount of money, I knew I didn't drop it.
>
>When I told him it wasn't mine, he began hitting the window and door,
>screaming at me to open my door, and insisting that I had dropped the
>money! At that point, I just drove away as fast as I could. After
>talking to the Internal Affairs Department and describing the man I saw,
>and the way he escalated from calm and polite to angry and
>volatile....it was determined that I could have possibly encountered the
>serial killer myself.
>
>Up to this point, it had been unclear as to how he had gained access to
>his victims, since there has been no evidence of forced entry into
>victim's homes, cars, etc. And the fact that he has been attacking in
>the daytime, when women are less likely to have their guard up, means he
>is pretty BOLD. So think about it...what gesture is nicer than
>returning money to someone.
>
>How many times would you have opened your window (or door) to get your
>money and say thank you.... because if the person is kind enough to
>return something to you, then he can't really be a threat....can he????
> Please be cautious! This might not have been the serial killer... but
>anyone that gets that angry over someone not accepting money from them,
>can't have honorable intentions. The most important thing to note is
>that his reaction was ! NOT WHAT I EXPECTED! A total surprise! But
>what might have happened if I had opened my door? I shudder to think!
>
______________________________________________________________
Notice the guy waited till the gas tank was full for a getaway?

25

[Yoshi]

Walking up and asking to "borrow" a cigarette would work pretty too.
I had that happen once, and after i had given the man a smoke i realized how vulnerable i had made myself.

[Garand Illusion]

I was bored ... so I briefly dropped model 25 off of my "ignore" list. And all he posted was a bogus email from 2003.

bogus serial killer story

*sigh*

Like has been said, just stay aware of your situation. An unarmed BG standing outside of a vehicle with the motor running and a clear escape path is not much of a threat if you're keeping your eye on him. Jam down on the accelerator and watch him disappear in the rear view mirror. No need to pull a puny firearm when you have a 1 ton vehicle under your control.

But then ... BG's know that too, so they're going to pick a little better means of attack. Like just grabbing someone as they're walking back to their car.

[model 25]

I was bored ... so

Yep you seem pretty boring to me too I got the e-mail and thought it would make interesting conversation. Never checked it to see if it was true but here at TFL there seems to be alot of what ifs. This supposed story was just a perfect what if

Now go back to your illusions and play with the rest of the kids on the short bus

25

Edited to say; Glad I made your list, means I got to be doing good LOL. Bet the list is full of intelligent people LOL

[Double Naught Spy]

I swear, people will lie to you to take advantage of you and will lie to you to try to help you.

Criminals are not necessarily becoming craftier. The "you dropped this" tactic has been around for a very long period of time. It is just away to get a potential victim to let down his/her guard. Child molestors will drive up to a kid, roll down the window, and ask the kid if he the kid has seen his dog. He might even have a photo of a dog to draw in the kid. The tactic allows the range between the bad guy and intended victim to lessen as well as the inteneded victim's guard to go down because the circumstance seems genuine. The difference between the lost dog versus dropped $5 isn't much. One plays up to your sense of wealth or maybe sense of greed to nab $5 easy, yours or not. The other plays up to your sense of helping someone. Either way, it is a distraction from what goes on.

No, this hokey email of Model 25 is NOT an indication that criminals are getting craftier. This is just a different version of an age old scam.

FYI, in the 30s when my dad was a kid, the tactic was with a quarter. During the Great Depression, nobody had $5 to lose in the area where my pop grew up.

[threegun]

If it makes us think of awareness and preparation it is good.

[Capt. Charlie]

Criminals are not necessarily becoming craftier.

Ah, but they are, DNS! They're going to criminal college, i.e., State Prison U.

Con men are generally non-violent in their approach to crime. They're usually a seperate class from the violent street thugs. Con men think, and thugs generally don't. Put 'em both in prison together, and the smarter ones tend to teach the dumber ones. The dumber ones come out just a little smarter and still violent.

Then there's the Internet. Bored criminals in prison browse the 'net (man, they're really getting punished in stir ), and find clear and concise instructions for just about anything they want.

They practice "defensive" drills in prison, and they teach each other. It's not uncommon to see prisoners practicing escape methods from standard police frisk and handcuff techniques.

Training, training, training. We have to keep it up, because you can bet your sweet arse that they are.