JEDDAH, 1 December 2003 — Jeddah’s conmen continue to reinvent themselves in their attempts to part expatriates from their money.
In parking lots in Balad, drivers may hear a tap on the roof or hood of their car. Looking out of the window, drivers will see a man who is obviously in pain show a bloody foot and accuse them of having caused the injury.
He will threaten to call the police and report a hit and run accident. However, after some negotiation he will agree to settle the matter “amicably.”
Louie and Dodie from the Philippines told Arab News they encountered the con men. “We were coming out of a parking lot in Balad when we heard a thump on the roof of the car,” they said. “When we looked round we saw a young Saudi talking to another man in a car.”
Louie, knowing he had done nothing wrong, drove away.
But then they saw a car tailing them. “We tried to lose the car but it kept on following us until we had to stop at a red light.”
The young Saudi got out of the other car and approached. “Don’t you know you hit me?” the two Filipinos reported him as saying. “Look at what you have done to my foot. I will tell the police and you will go to jail.”
“So you are the man victimizing Filipinos in Balad. You are a thief,” Louie said. Then he drove off.
The thief and his cohort caught up with Louie again at the next stop. This time he said: “We can settle this between us.” But Louie again refused and the young man gave up.
Louie later said the blood on the conman’s foot looked real. What gave him away was he would limp when approaching them but run whenever he had to get back into his own car to catch up with them.
