Getting asked for Money/Food

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Getting asked for Money/Food

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929 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1939372 15-Jan-2018 21:03

Mental illnesses is definitely a part of the problem as are cigarette prices and housing costs.

But it is hard to weed out the scammers from the others, genuine groups like the salvation army do good work around this.

I'm not going into details but I have experience in this and if I didn't have family and friends I could have very easily become homeless even in NZ.

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1939373 15-Jan-2018 21:09

Stan: Mental illnesses is definitely a part of the problem as are cigarette prices and housing costs.

But it is hard to weed out the scammers from the others, genuine groups like the salvation army do good work around this.

I'm not going into details but I have experience in this and if I didn't have family and friends I could have very easily become homeless even in NZ.

cigarette prices should have nothing to do with it!

freitasm

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Geekzone

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#1939376 15-Jan-2018 21:21

On a different note, but somehow related to "asking for..."

Last week I was walking down Manners St (WLG) and a guy approached me with "Mate, can I borrow your ID to buy a phone?"

I said no and he walked away - he then saw a beggar sitting around and even asked that guy if he could borrow his id. The beggar, smartly, said "No" as well.

The guy asking to borrow the ID was not homeless. He didn't look like someone who needed money. I looked around for a police officer because this is the kind of request that send alarm bells ringing but couldn't find one.

I wouldn't want to have my name on a burner phone used to conduct some crime or have my name show up somewhere later where you have no reason to be.

Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1939378 15-Jan-2018 21:27

freitasm:

On a different note, but somehow related to "asking for..."

Last week I was walking down Manners St (WLG) and a guy approached me with "Mate, can I borrow your ID to buy a phone?"

I said no and he walked away - he then saw a beggar sitting around and even asked that guy if he could borrow his id. The beggar, smartly, said "No" as well.

The guy asking to borrow the ID was not homeless. He didn't look like someone who needed money. I looked around for a police officer because this is the kind of request that send alarm bells ringing but couldn't find one.

I wouldn't want to have my name on a burner phone used to conduct some crime or have my name show up somewhere later where you have no reason to be.

What ID? How can you buy a phone with someone's ID? you would have to look like the person in the photo.. did he want to sign up to a phone plan using your ID?

JimmyH

2886 posts

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#1939380 15-Jan-2018 21:29

You don't need ID to buy a burner phone. They can be had from the likes of the Warehouse cheaply and for cash. ID isn't, as far as I'm aware, a legal requirement for a phone purchase in NZ.

It's more likely he was buying an expensive phone on one of the plans where you get a discount on the handset (or even free) in return for signing up for a pricey 24 month plan. I suspect he wanted to take this out in your name, abscond with the phone, and you would then have had Baycorp turning up on your doorstep for defaulting on the plan "you" had purchased.

MikeB4

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#1939390 15-Jan-2018 21:55

Starscream122:

Stan: Mental illnesses is definitely a part of the problem as are cigarette prices and housing costs.

But it is hard to weed out the scammers from the others, genuine groups like the salvation army do good work around this.

I'm not going into details but I have experience in this and if I didn't have family and friends I could have very easily become homeless even in NZ.

cigarette prices should have nothing to do with it!

In the real world it does.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1939405 15-Jan-2018 22:23

Starscream122:

Stan: Mental illnesses is definitely a part of the problem as are cigarette prices and housing costs.

But it is hard to weed out the scammers from the others, genuine groups like the salvation army do good work around this.

I'm not going into details but I have experience in this and if I didn't have family and friends I could have very easily become homeless even in NZ.

cigarette prices should have nothing to do with it!

But in the real world they do. Cigarettes are a product that some people find very hard to give up, particularly some mental health patients who can pretty much depend on them. When you squeeze the price of a highly addictive product then some users will give it it up (which is presumably the Government's objective). Others will do what it takes to sustain their addiction - including going without things like good food, clothes for their kids, blackmarket buying, missing rent payments, begging, and (in some cases) violent robbery (either of sellers directly, or to get money). Pretty much the same behaviour as heroin addicts struggling to afford their habit.

This was a pretty forseeable consequence of the government jacking prices up to the levels they have.

(Note for the avoidance of doubt: I don't smoke, never have, and neither do/has anyone in my household, and I don't like smoking. So I have no personal axe to grind. But I do think that in their rush to stamp out smoking, recent governments have got a bit carried away and overlooked the other social consequences of the huge price rises they have engineered).

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Starscream122

568 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1939408 15-Jan-2018 22:27

JimmyH:

You don't need ID to buy a burner phone. They can be had from the likes of the Warehouse cheaply and for cash. ID isn't, as far as I'm aware, a legal requirement for a phone purchase in NZ.

It's more likely he was buying an expensive phone on one of the plans where you get a discount on the handset (or even free) in return for signing up for a pricey 24 month plan. I suspect he wanted to take this out in your name, abscond with the phone, and you would then have had Baycorp turning up on your doorstep for defaulting on the plan "you" had purchased.

A burner phone is any prepay phone correct?

Rikkitic

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#1939415 15-Jan-2018 22:53

Threads like this reveal something interesting about human psychology. There is a willingness, maybe even a need, to assume the worst about people who ask for a helping hand. There is also quite a bit of anger. I wonder why this is so.

Why the immediate assumption that everyone who is down and out is trying to take advantage of gullible do-gooders? I have fed strangers in the past. They didn't ask for it but there is no question that they were genuinely hungry. I have also encountered my share of fakes. There are definitely shameless parasites who will try to take advantage of the generosity of others. There are also people who are genuinely needy, and not all of them are able to negotiate the barriers of WINZ or other bureaucracies. Don't be so quick to pass judgement just because someone asks you for help. They may actually need it.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Bung

6477 posts

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#1939420 15-Jan-2018 23:07

Sam91: I get stopped by the charities with iPads frequently. I signed up once to the monthly plan once, because I felt like donating $20 one off, but not ongoing. I cancelled after the first payment. I dislike these fundraising methods, I prefer someone with a bucket, I'm always happy to chuck in a few dollars here and there. It's a tough ask when you know a large chunk of your donation is going to the person signing you up, rather than the cause.

With one of the charity collection companies at the $20 per month level they keep 100% of the 1st years donations. Unless you stay committed as a donor longer than that the headline charity doesn't get any of the money. Even at $60 a month the collecting company keeps 70% of the 1st year.

Rikkitic

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#1939421 15-Jan-2018 23:11

Bung:

With one of the charity collection companies at the $20 per month level they keep 100% of the 1st years donations. Unless you stay committed as a donor longer than that the headline charity doesn't get any of the money. Even at $60 a month the collecting company keeps 70% of the 1st year.

!!!

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Oblivian

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#1939440 16-Jan-2018 00:24

Bung:
Sam91: I get stopped by the charities with iPads frequently. I signed up once to the monthly plan once, because I felt like donating $20 one off, but not ongoing. I cancelled after the first payment. I dislike these fundraising methods, I prefer someone with a bucket, I'm always happy to chuck in a few dollars here and there. It's a tough ask when you know a large chunk of your donation is going to the person signing you up, rather than the cause.

With one of the charity collection companies at the $20 per month level they keep 100% of the 1st years donations. Unless you stay committed as a donor longer than that the headline charity doesn't get any of the money. Even at $60 a month the collecting company keeps 70% of the 1st year.

Correct. And hard sell tactics give true collecting a bit of a bad rep. Charities would be wealthy if you could charge a $1 for automated responses from people it leads to as a reply to something as simple as a 'hello' or 'gday' - experienced many a time in the hours I've put in while in civilian wear holding a bucket quietly in the corner.

Pretty sure the ones outside supermarkets with flashy desks and and cleverly stashed eftpos terminal or subscription paperwork and branded clothing is likely one of them.

https://pfra.org.nz/pfra+supplier+members?src=nav

If you notice most other collectors for the smaller guys. You are lucky to be adorned a bucket with some labelling (that is where me and my costuming pals come to prime catching attention)

Interestingly one of the aussie faced sites mentioned with a NZ presence is now offline. Just google em within stuff, soon find it.

Dulouz

883 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1939505 16-Jan-2018 08:28

I developed a crazy eye stare for just this situation. No one bothers me anymore.

Amanon

kryptonjohn

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#1939533 16-Jan-2018 09:12

Starscream122:

Hi Team

So it seems I am getting asked by random people if I have any spare change and

it seems to be quite often 3 or 4 years ago it didn't seem to happen now it's all the time

I can't sit in peace anymore and listen to my music while eating a pizza without someone trying to talk to me and I know when I take out my earphones

they are just going to ask for money. Does anyone know why this is happening more now these day's? I feel like saying Winz is just around the corner. It's not job to fed or give money to these people. there's also the auckland city mission.

Always say no politely. People asking for money are often either professional panhandlers or homeless people with mental health problems.

The former are cheats, plain and simple. Likely to be claiming benefits without reporting the panhandling income, and some of them are making quite good money. Certainly not paying tax. They are ripping taxpayers like you and me off.

The latter are not really being helped by a gift of money that may go towards substance abuse. Best way to help them is to make a donation to Salvation Army or City Mission etc.

kryptonjohn

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#1939544 16-Jan-2018 09:31

Rikkitic:

Threads like this reveal something interesting about human psychology. There is a willingness, maybe even a need, to assume the worst about people who ask for a helping hand. There is also quite a bit of anger. I wonder why this is so.

It's just being realistic and it's about the good side of human nature, not the bad. I believe more often than not, people asking for money are either professional panhandlers or suffering mental heath issues. I'm sad, not angry about it. I believe it is a bad idea to give cash and a better idea to donate to proper agencies like City Mission.

Giving money to these people makes things worse not better. The don't get the right help and they continue to damage themselves. The pros continue to rip us off, and the whole problem expands.

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