From the Anash.org inbox: A reader tells of a scam happening on the streets of Crown Heights with a man demanding money after supposedly dropping an expensive bottle of alcohol.
Dear Readers:
I was walking with a friend on President and Troy when suddenly a man holding two black bags very forcefully bumped into my friend. The man, pretending it was unintentional, dropped one of his bags which contained glass bottles.
I immediately remembered that a friend of mine was a victim of such a scam, only two blocks away. Even before the man could perform his act I informed my friend in Hebrew that this man was about to ask for money, and that’s exactly what happened.
This man bent over and pulled out a shard of glass which had a label of a supposedly expensive alcoholic beverage, and then proceeded to ask “how can we take care of this”.
Thankfully I had already heard about this scam so we just walked away from him without any further incident.
The man was a black male in his late 30’s to mid 40’s, wearing eye glasses at the time of the incident.
Please be aware of this scam. Don’t fall for it. If it happens to you either walk away or offer to call the Police or Shomrim immediately.