By Mary Larsh, Columnist
‘Stranger Danger’ was a recurring theme in my upbringing and the importance of distrusting strangers continues in my adulthood.
I was raised to be aware of my surroundings and to distrust everyone. My father’s 27-year career in law enforcement contributed to this way of thinking. He frequently shared his stories about criminals and warned me against their deceit. His constant message was not to accept things at face value.
I was at Penn Square Mall, 1900 NW Expressway St., recently with a friend when we were confronted by a man claiming he was a broadcasting student at Rose State. He inquired if we would mind answering a couple questions. My ‘Stranger Danger’ reaction kicked in immediately, even though he made it seem as if it was for his class.
I noticed the man seemed to be more than 30 years old as he followed us to the food court. He assured us that we were safe and commented on my Oklahoma City University golf shirt.
The man informed us he was conducting a survey which would take about two minutes. We sat down at a table in the food court. He sat down with us and began about five minutes of small talk and jokes before we asked him to get to the point.
My guard was up. He was talking fast. His behavior was odd to me. Finally he pulled out a laminated card “to prove his identity.” No place on the card did it say Rose State, only his first name, Brad. He started to explain how he was part of a contest with 10 other people to win an international trip and a monetary reward.
It was clear to me that this was no survey. The man continued by turning the card over uncovering a list of magazines.
“Do you want to buy the women’s golf magazine?” he asked me directly.
I immediately thought “scam” and said no.
He had picked us out of the crowd because he saw my golf T-shirt. We thought we were doing him a favor for school to conduct a survey, but it turned out he just set us up for his scam.
My friend asked the man if she could purchase just one magazine to which he replied “no.” He produced no order forms, but said she could buy a subscription.
It all seemed ridiculous and I strongly suspected he was a scam artist, or what my father always referred to as a conman, or just a plain old thief.
I told my friend, “he has no magazines, let’s get out of here.”
As he left he said, “You guys aren’t cool.”
“No, you aren’t cool,” I said.
I went against my better instincts in allowing this man to talk to us in the first place. I always go to public places in pairs for safety. I always keep my purse zipped and, except in this instance, I don’t talk to strangers.
I would recommend that students take precautions in public places and be aware of strangers. Be careful not to accept what strangers tell you at face value. No harm came to my friend or me this time, but I won’t make this mistake again.
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