As times change, so do conmen to perfect their ‘art’. When it comes to conmen, my advice to you is: Do not trust anyone. Not even yourself. This mantra might just be what you need to avoid losing your valuables to conmen.
Do not trust every friendly face behind you in the queue. Not every gentleman dressed as a CEO is who he appears to be. The old harmless-looking woman the age of your mother oozing motherliness will not necessarily treat you the same way your mother would. Don’t be too quick to trust any man wearing a collar and quoting the bible either. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry who extends warm greetings your way with a resounding ‘Bwana asifiwe’ has good intentions.
See that woman who approaches you ever so innocently and strikes up conversation with you about family and finances? The same one who claims to have some divine power to see the depths of your soul and what ails it? Don’t trust her. She will not miss the chance to sympathize with your hardships. Heck, she will even promise to offer you a solution (and it is always a quick-fix solution). She might ask you to do something like touch something or walk towards something while you leave your valuables with her (and it is important that you leave your valuables with her) only for you to come back and find her gone.
Maybe you board a bus and immediately realize that decisions are being made for you left right and centre. Maybe the conductor asks you to seat at the back, a man stands and offers you the seat he just vacated, and yet another gives you way to sit next to the window while he takes the aisle seat. This scenario is a clear indication that games are being played and you are the rat in their maze. You need to get out.
When someone is in your personal space too much so that parts of your body like your hands, knees or shoulders are touching, be wary. Pick pockets and conmen who drug their victims take advantage of proximity. That deceptively friendly stranger who stretches out his hand for greetings or leans in for a hug like he just remembered you from somewhere? Don’t trust that one right away. Try as much as possible not to allow people you don’t know to intrude your personal space. Yes, even that man or woman squeezing too close to you in public transport could be up to no good.
A little skepticism will help you. Ask yourself why – why should I give my handbag with all my valuables to a stranger? Why should I sit there? Why am I standing to talk to you and yet I don’t know you in the first place?
Conmen are not who they used to be. They now wear many faces; friendly faces, familiar faces, trustworthy faces. A conman is not that scrawny, unkempt, dry-lipped, shifty-eyed man or woman you could pick out of a crowd anymore. Keep that in mind and you will be in a better position to deal with them when they strike.
Stay safe!