Representative image of auto drivers in Bengaluru.
Credit: iStock Photo
From those that fool people into believing that they will double their investment in 2 days, to those that extort innocents by scaring them into believing they have committed crimes, such notorious activities are something the everyday Bengalurean is forced to beware of and avoid being trapped in.
And yet, the scamsters attempt to fool their victims with new and different scams all the time. Take for example, the case of the reddit user, u/smart_zombie2.
Posting on the r/bangalore subreddit, the user cautioned others about the new emotional scam that auto drivers in the city are attempting on others, especially 'outsiders'.
The user says, "Happened with me 4 times in the last 1 month. You board an auto and suddenly the auto-driver starts crying and saying things like 'My wife is in the hospital and I don't have money for treatment', 'My wife is having twins and we don't have money to raise them', 'My mother is dying in hospital and I don't have money to treat her'.
I gave money the 1st time, but the next time it happened with me in a different ride, I got suspicious. These shitty auto-drivers have started playing to the emotional weakness of outsiders to tap any opportunity to make extra money.
The sad part is that they are actually reducing people's trust on folks who are genuinely in need."
Taking advantage of the emotions of their passengers, these auto drivers bring out the crocodile tears and narrate their sob-story about how they are in desperate need of money, sometimes talking out a relative in the hospital, other times about having too many mouths to feed, and no money to do so.
The passengers, taking a pity on these drivers, give them some extra cash on top of the charge for the ride. A few such sob-stories a day, and the drivers can probably make-up their monthly income within a couple of days.
Users from the subreddit, most likely to be Bengaluru residents, reacted to the story in different ways.
One user, u/tanjirokamadoslay, jokingly said, "Next time you share these sob stories with auto drivers. And ask for a free ride."
Another user, u/OutsideCellist3740, pointed out that these scams are seen more so in the HSR layout region, and have been going on since last year.
They stated, " Wife having twins and sharing the photos is happening in HSR layout area since last year. And funny thing is they all share same set of photos! They are not smart enough to even carry out a scam."
User u/hakunamatawhat_11 narrated a humorous incident their mother faced, "Happened to mom once when she was visiting me. She barely takes auto so I thought she must have fallen into the trap but apparently, she got this strong intuition that it was fake so she said, ‘I will pray for you tonight’."
Another user, u/Normal_Instance7430, gave the readers a solution to avoid such scams and help the ones who genuinely need help, "Same thing happened to me in HSR - Cafe 27. The auto driver appeared outta nowhere and started crying that my child is in hospital and battling for life. I said give me your number and hospital address, I can get you in touch with people who will help (I was all genuine). The minute I said this he was like 'parwaah nahi sir' and pushed off."
Fraudsters and scamsters will try any and all tricks to extort money from people. It is important to stay alert and keep a look out for such attempts in order to avoid losing money.