Tag Archives: scam

Dealing with an Uber scammer (Rousse)

Posted on January 21, 2026 by Dreamaticus

The Uber driver must have tricked his passengers dozens of times, but the four of us would not be fooled. We played along when he turned a short 10 minute trip to town into the charade of an extended trek … Continue reading →

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Apple Mac con man scam (Rousse)

Posted on November 1, 2025 by Dreamaticus

I should have trusted my instincts when the man struck up a conversation with me at the bridge. Instead, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and fell for his charm. Before long I was lifting up the screen … Continue reading →

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Parking scam at the University of Edinburgh (Rousse)

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Dreamaticus

Bold as brass, TPR pulled into a ‘visitors only’ parking space outside Edinburgh University’s Informatics building. A parking warden immediately scurried over to us to ask about the nature of our visit. TPR guessed at the name of a host … Continue reading →

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David Bowie imposter financial scam (Rousse)

Posted on July 27, 2022 by Dreamaticus

I couldn’t believe my luck when David Bowie befriended me on holiday. We sat at a picnic table in the sunshine to leaf through his sketchbook while discussing his musical influences. He was so caring that he even arranged for … Continue reading →

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Amazon suede jacket scam (Rousse)

Posted on October 3, 2019 by Dreamaticus

I received email confirmation that my newly-purchased suede jacket had been delivered to an address in Bedfordshire. This puzzled me – until I spotted the email address on the order: ‘duped@amazon.co.uk’. So that was £75 down the drain.

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Simon Cowell puts in a (fake) appearance (Rousse)

Posted on January 2, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I was one of the few people who was in the know. This whole talent competition was a complete charade. Sure enough Simon Cowell had a hand in it, but the ‘contestants’ had no idea that he was only putting … Continue reading →

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Social media scam targets patients (Rousse)

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Dreamaticus

A tall, thin, grey-haired man approached me as I walked along the Old Edinburgh Road with TPR. When he addressed me as ‘Miss’ I knew that this was some kind of scam. He wanted to know about my last encounter … Continue reading →

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Mac swap scam alert (Rousse)

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Dreamaticus

Such was the value of my most recent research report that it had been translated into Swedish. I was about to boast about this when SL pointed out that it looked like someone had “swapped” Macs with me. The one … Continue reading →

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Rousse’s timeshare scam

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Dreamaticus

As we showered in the tiny hallway of the tatty shack at the end of a field I asked myself once again: how on earth had we been persuaded to buy a stake in this supposed “luxury” (but in reality … Continue reading →

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Beware iPad cracked screen scam (Rousse)

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Dreamaticus

Now that I had secured a top job in television my friends were much more interested in hearing about my work. At a university reunion dinner GW was intrigued at how I had managed to leap from one career to … Continue reading →

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