Pigeon Drop Scam Becomes Robbery

There's a report of a pigeon drop scam in which the scammers approached a woman at an ATM and tried to convince her to buy a diamond (that was supposedly such a bargain that she'd easily make a profit if she resold it). But in this case the scammers got tired of haggling with her and eventually just grabbed her money and ran. Which means that the scammers are now guilty of grand theft. [Mercury News]

Law/Police/Crime Scams

Posted on Fri Apr 17, 2009


Comments

I'm confused... the diamond was made out of pigeon droppings? I must have missed something. Thank god(dess)
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Mon Apr 20, 2009  at  07:17 PM
*Sigh* Hairy, the name 'pigeon drop' is given to the scame because of the way it works; The gang of peopel surround a 'pigeon' or victim, and pretend to have found a valuable item or have one for sale. Usually, it's a lost envelope with asizable cash amount, but can be a valuable object. The group jointly 'agrees' to share the find, and somone suggests a lawyer or some such perosn ( A confederate of the ganag ) to hld the item for leagl reaossn, e.g., if somone reports the money/item being lost, and each perosn including the 'pigeon' leaves a money deposit to ensure good faith in sharing any reward form the item. ( This is called the 'Drop').

Of course, the only real money involved is the amount put in by the 'pigeon', which is the group's goal.

(I'm explaining American slang to an American. And they look on *us* as being ignorant and beneath them . . . )
Posted by D F Stuckey  on  Wed Apr 22, 2009  at  06:49 AM
Wow....DF, swing and a miss....HH was making a joke. (btw, "swing and a miss" is American slang, derived from the game of baseball, also an American invention)
Posted by Canadarm  on  Wed Apr 22, 2009  at  07:18 PM
Well Canadarm, that does make me look a bit of a fool . . . Much the way you Canucks make the Yanks look at cricket ( First in 1844 and again and again, most recently in 2004 😊 ); After all, baseball was only 'invented' or adapted from the English girl's game of Rounders because they tend to be so crap at the Gentleman's Game. Hell, I bet even the Afghan team could thrash 'em! 😊
Posted by D F Stuckey  on  Wed Apr 22, 2009  at  07:33 PM
Cricket? Umm,,,, OK, whatever floats your boat
(more Yankee slang)
Posted by Canadarm  on  Wed Apr 22, 2009  at  08:45 PM
Of course, the only real money involved is the amount put in by the 'pigeon', which is the group's goal.
Posted by david  on  Mon Jul 20, 2009  at  06:10 AM
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