Kids on the Grift
A couple of days ago two kids knocked on my door and said they were collecting money for the Boy and Girls Club so their basketball team could go to Las Vegas. They looked legit. They both had on ID tags (Though I didn’t take a close look at their ID.) and a nicely printed sign up sheet with a plastic cover. I had nothing to give and told them so. They acted professional and very polite. They thanked me and left.
As soon as I closed the door a friend who was over said, “Oh my God! Were they asking for money for a Boys and Girls Club trip to Las Vegas?” Then she went on to tell me that a couple of kids were on Mississippi Avenue last week with the same line. When someone actually called the Boys and Girls Club they said they had never heard of those kids and there was no such trip planned. EEK!
Look out for these kids. They were in the Arbor Lodge neighborhood on Sunday. Maybe ask to get a closer look at their ID or ask them to wait why you call the Boys and Girls Club to verify they are who they say they are.
Suggestions anyone?
OMG – i’ve been had by these “nice” kids in the past. i can’t believe it. i always have my scamdar on and they really know how to work it. and yes, i have seen them on mississippi and even on MAX.
Surely not the same kids, but I’ve gotten a similar request from some real adorables with tattered binders and worn sneakers and a “basketball tournament in Sacramento.” I declined to make a donation. Then we chatted for a while, and they let it slip that their “grandma” makes them do this. Before I could ask what they meant by “this” (i.e. play basketball? or fundraise?) a broken looking van tore around the corner, screeched to a halt and flung open its side door. Some really down-and-out looking adults started screaming at the kids, who immediately ducked their heads and piled in, all four of them. The van then sped off. It had no license plate, or I would have reported the whole thing.
It was a school day, around noon, in Ladd’s Addition.
If you take a closer look you will probably be able to find the conspiring parents somewhere close by. I work in NW Portland and we would have all kinds of kids running around trying to scam people or sell stuff, and their parents would be standing right across the street watching and telling them where to go next.