Flim-flam artists cons students

Students should be on the lookout for a flim-flam artist and his accomplice who conned two students out of $50 this weekend and tried to con others, University Police say. In a number of weekend incidents, the scenario was the same. The first man, who claims to be from South Africa, says he is in trouble and needs help finding a place to stay and a place to keep his money. He asks a pair of students to hold a wad of money that he says contains $5,000, and even offers to pay them for their troubles. Then, the accomplice – acting like an innocent bystander – shows up and tries to convince the students to help this foreigner. But the team was looking for something in return. The students who encountered the men spent from 30 minutes to an hour hearing the first con-man's sob story, and some were seduced by it. Two students even ended up giving the men their MAC cards and $50, in exchange for a brown paper bag filled with shredded paper which they thought contained a large sum of money. "I feel robbed. It wasn't like a scary, violent experience, but it was kind of shocking," said one student who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "My roommate and I realized what obvious non-city boys we are. The people that scammed us just preyed on your willingness to help them." Some other students didn't buy into the scam. "I told him that we were two girls from foreign countries, and that we weren't used to the city, and that they were jeopardizing out safety," said another student who also spoke on the condition of anonymity. "And then they walked away." According to Philadelphia police, these are typical flim-flams. Con-men prey on the University community because they think students – especially freshmen – lack street smarts. "They're aware of the fact that you have a whole new freshman class in, and they consider them easy pickings," Philadelphia Police Det. John Yeakel said. "It's not the same situation as if you come from a small town. You don't have to be afraid [in the city], but be aware of strangers." University Police Sgt. Larry Salotti echoed Yeakel. "If students are alert to this type of scam, the actors may and hopefully will become discouraged at their lack of success and go elsewhere," he said. He thinks these con-men may have been around campus before. "It's highly possible that the same offenders returned to the area," he said. One of the flim-flam artists is a black male, 6-foot and 180 pounds, with a chip or discoloration in his front tooth. The other is a black male, 5-foot-10 and over 200 pounds, and was wearing a gold necklace that said Dominican Republic on it.