At about this time three years ago we reported on a guy who was scamming unsuspecting folks in the neighborhood with a story about being locked out of his place of employment and needing money to get a locksmith. As we later learned, the guy had been using this particular ruse for years. Reports on this scammer, as we discovered, had appeared on the blogs of several Seattle neighborhoods.
Well it now appears that this con artist or someone working the same angle is back on the scene here in Madison Park. The Seattle Tennis Club this week sent out this warning:
"To Our Neighbors:
It has been reported that a man is going door to door in the Club's Madison Park neighborhood knocking on doors and asking for money for his car. He claims to be a STC staff member. He is not. He has worked this scam in the neighborhood in the past and he's back. Please do not open your door to this man or give him any money."
We earlier had this report from a reader:
"Last night at 10:45 PM someone was knocking loudly at my door. I went out on the deck to see who it could be at that hour. It was an African American man, guessing in his 50s, claiming to be a janitor at McGilvra school. He said his name was Patrick, and that he had locked keys in his car and needed $14 more to pay the locksmith. He also said he was a gay man and I need not be scared."
The Madison Park Blogger was a victim of this guy many years ago, so we can attest to his being a very convincing fellow.
You are now informed.
A few years ago, also after 10pm, "Patrick" told me he was a gay man, so not to be afraid, and said that he was living down the street from me and working at a restaurant around the corner in Madison Valley, and was locked out. He also approached me outside of Garfield high school claiming to be the parent of a student (he made up the name - I checked, no such student) and saying that was car is out of gas. I encountered the same scam twice in the 80's and 90's in the valley. It's not a new thing, and not just this guy.
ReplyDeleteOffer to call the police for him to help him out of his predicament.
ReplyDelete"Patrick" has been trolling the neighborhoods of Leschi, Madrona & Mt Baker for years. Agree with the comments that you can call SPD to help out Patrick since he seems to be getting locked out for years.
ReplyDeleteSimilar scene happened at my house in capitol hill last night (7/1). Except he reported to be locked out of his car, called a locksmith and was $4 short. He said he worked with the Lifelong Aids Alliance.
ReplyDelete"Patrick" lives in the Bread of Life Mission in downtown Seattle and panhandles the area for his illicit habits. He's familiar with all the neighborhoods in the area because he grew up in the Central District and Madison Park areas during the 1960s and 1970s. Now that his family no longer supports him, and he no longer receives his government allotment (due to his poor lifestyle choices), he's back scamming people. The SPD is well aware of this and other scams he and his partners are running.
ReplyDeletePatrick rang the door to our North Capitol Hill home last night at 11:30PM. We did not answer the door, but saw him through the peephole and heard him say, "I'm one of the janitors at the Kingfish Cafe." Kingfish has confirmed they do not have a janitor.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful that so many people have shared their encounters with this man so we knew what we were dealing with. Photos of Patrick can be seen at: http://imgur.com/ho9v3 and http://m.imgur.com/DyakHR5
The guy knocked my door at 4AM about 2 weeks ago (True North SLU), claimed he is working for Amazon, he was asking for $4 to unlock his door
ReplyDelete