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Street scam - distressed woman asking for baby formula money
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thewalrus


Posts: 2
Joined: Sep 2012
Post: #1
09-10-2012 08:11 PM

My husband just got accosted outside Tesco on Perry Hill by a distressed woman claiming to be in financial dire straits, asking for money for baby formula. She was in her late 30's, black, responsibly smartly dressed, and in extreme distress.

Please beware, it is a scam though she Is very convincing. The police are aware of her, and if you experience her call 101 so that the police can build up a profile for prosecution.

There's been previous reports of this on the thread about alarming burglary numbers. http://www.se23.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6910

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hillwalker


Posts: 20
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #2
10-10-2012 09:05 AM

This woman has been doing the same scam in the Forest Hill area on and off for the last six years since I've been here.
I hope the police can finally do something and help her with the problems she obviously has. Another similar case I've seen in the last few weeks is the man aggresively begging for money after showing people a benefits slip, but I think this has been mentioned on a previous thread. The important thing is that everyone does notify the police on the non urgent number so a profile can be built up on them.

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Jane_D


Posts: 189
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #3
10-10-2012 12:59 PM

Does anyone know what the police can actually do about people who behave like the woman who asks for electricity and baby milk money? Is it actually an offence to ask for money in the street?

I can believe that she is hard up and has a baby, but guess she is wanting money for drugs because I've twice offered to go to the supermarket with her to buy food for her and the baby, but she refused to accept it unless I would give her some cash as well.

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rshdunlop


Posts: 1,111
Joined: Jun 2008
Post: #4
10-10-2012 01:05 PM

If this is the same woman, she approached me a few weeks ago on a Friday night on Sunnydean Street in Sydenham. She was black, mid-30s, smartly dressed but looked very thin and a bit gaunt in the face. I was in my car picking up my son and his friends from Scouts. She was walking up the middle of the road, which was a bit worrying. She asked me for money for baby formula and when I said no she wasn't aggressive or unpleasant, just carried on up the street.

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Pico
No longer registered

Posts: 136
Joined: Nov 2010
Post: #5
10-10-2012 01:09 PM

I have seen this woman too working Devonshire Road. She even exposed her breast to me for what reason I will never understand. I was used to this kind of thing in my days living in Soho but I was unprepared for it in sunny SE23 suburbia!

It's obvious to me she is raising funds for narcotics.

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Sherwood


Posts: 1,412
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #6
10-10-2012 02:29 PM

She has asked me for money for milk for her son several times.

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wilde


Posts: 7
Joined: Oct 2012
Post: #7
10-10-2012 06:39 PM

I think she may be the same person, a crack-head, that approached me and my partner near the 24 hr garage. Her claims are getting more ridiculous and on this occasion she said something about needing the money because the baby had died and she had to do something or other.
She was walking up the road asking everyone. Nobody is stupid enough to give her money though

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Littlebelka


Posts: 187
Joined: Mar 2010
Post: #8
11-10-2012 06:52 PM

I remember her when she used to run around Honor Oak Park.

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P1971


Posts: 816
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #9
11-10-2012 10:00 PM

Quite a few of my customers have told me she is now offering herself for money outside Sainsburys. I personally have never came across her(probably because I drive and use the car park at the back entrance as I am always in a rush) but she has asked my 14 yr old daughter for money for baby milk on her way home from school, which I'm really not impressed with, and so sadly to say two of my customers have said she has flashed at them while offering her services. Think this needs to stop and be addressed before it gets out of hand. Last thing we need is for our school kids seeing things they shouldn't. I will let the neighbourhood police know when they pop in next (they pop in most days).

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P1971


Posts: 816
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #10
11-10-2012 10:09 PM

Jane D They can section them under the mental health act if need be.

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ontheedge


Posts: 31
Joined: Dec 2007
Post: #11
11-10-2012 10:30 PM

Who can section who under the mental health act? Believe it or not begging and drug addiction are not mental illness'

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P1971


Posts: 816
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #12
12-10-2012 06:28 AM

ontheedge the police can, but only if she has mental health issues!

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Jane_D


Posts: 189
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #13
12-10-2012 11:02 AM

I think sectioning only applies if someone is posing a serious threat to themselves or other people and this woman doesn't seem to be in such a bad state as that, though the way she is living is causing distress to others and can't exactly be fun for her.

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P1971


Posts: 816
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #14
12-10-2012 06:56 PM

One of the neighbourhood bobbies popped in today and I had a chat to him about this, he wasn't aware of her being around FH but said a woman had been doing the same sort of thing recently in Sydenham. He said he will have a chat with the security guard at Sainsbury's and check if she is on any CCTV, he also said if she bothers anyone they should call 101 non emergency police.

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Forest Hill


Posts: 1
Joined: Oct 2012
Post: #15
13-10-2012 11:55 PM

Yep had an encounter with her last week in lower Sydenham - I was parked in my car and she came up to the window and said "I don't have a knife but my baby needs milk and nappies so I need £10 - she then said my baby has died two week's ago and lastly if you don't give me £20 I will commit suicide" - If I had driven off I would have run over her feet so I handed over £10 and she snatched it and immediately walked to the nearest phone box. She looked quite unwell and I thought how desperate she must be - scam or not it is very hard not to feel so sorry for her.

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Jane_D


Posts: 189
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #16
14-10-2012 11:09 AM

Oh God! She sounds fairly bonkers and what if there really is a baby at home she's in sole charge of? My partner who used to be a social worker suggested contacting the Lewisham duty social worker during office hours. Maybe they could give us a number to post on the forum so that anyone who is concerned about this woman can ring to say where she is at that moment, so the social worker can go and find her - otherwise with her moving around it will be too hard.

I'll give them a ring tomorrow, unless anyone has already tried contacting social services about her?

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Littlebelka


Posts: 187
Joined: Mar 2010
Post: #17
14-10-2012 02:54 PM

She always looked very fit for someone who had give a birth recently and I never saw her with the bump.

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Jane_D


Posts: 189
Joined: Jan 2010
Post: #18
14-10-2012 03:57 PM

When I last saw in late spring, she wanted to show me her breasts to prove she was breastfeeding (I hastily declined!) so if there is a baby, he or she would be at least a few months old by now... who knows.

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bigjulie


Posts: 68
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #19
14-10-2012 05:27 PM

Baby will be about 5 by now if my recollections are correct. Bit old for formular.

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pebble


Posts: 47
Joined: May 2011
Post: #20
14-10-2012 09:47 PM

I asked her where her baby was and that had her flumaxed for a few minutes. I thought I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and gave her a couple of pounds and she chased me down the road saying 'that's not enough'. She soon turned when I said I'd take it off her though. That was at least five years ago so she has obviously done this many times.

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