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New to London, weird encounter with homeless person - did I dodge a huge bullet? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Hi, I am an early twenties woman just moved to London almost a month ago and was walking home after having picked up a parcel from my local Tesco. I live in the Bethnal Green/Cambridge Heath area, so not the best but I don't think it's the worst either(?).

Anyways, a homeless person just approached me and for some reason I didn't walk away like I would usually do, as I was a bit spaced out. He asked me if I could come close by to help pay for his monthly shelter at the church which would have ended up being like 17 gbp.

I considered it, especially knowing there are homeless shelters in the area (and he was following me so it was a bit awkward), but told me it's cash and I don't do cash and was not going to follow a random person to somewhere unknown even though he said it was "just around the corner" so I finally told him off and he simply left, complaining about how he is used to being ignored.

I have very mixed feelings about the encounter and wish it didn't happen. Checked the map, there does seem to be a shelter in the direction he pointed me towards but it was not "just around the corner" as he put it.

This happened on a1209, between the McDonald's and Bethnal Green tube station.

Did I just dodge a huge bullet? I feel bad - I wish I could help people in need but I feel like I would have risked too much for no reason. The entire encounter felt off somehow. I guess I'm just shocked at the possibility of someone literally picking me off the street and trying to trick me so he could hurt me, and looking believable. I must have been very lucky in my life to have never felt this, and I hate having to become cold/heartless/etc to make sure I stay safe.

Thanks for reading, I just needed to tell this to someone I guess.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Unfortunately, you did what was right. You have no idea if the guy was genuine or not, and you will most likely never find out. The risk just to find out is not a good one to take.

We had someone come on the local city reddit sub about a year ago. They had the most intense sob story about lack of food and unable to resolve anything. I literally filled a bag with shopping from my cupboards at 12 midnight and asked where I could deliver it to. I got zero response from what seemed a reasonable request to help. When I looked on the sub again there were people offering to help in many forms. There was one lady who ran the local food banks made a request that all offers of help should stop. She gave out a phone number for the person to call with instructions on where to get some emergency help. It took me this long to realise that it was a scam. It was gut wrenching and took me a while to put the shopping back.

There are some people that are suffering badly in the UK atm, but there are also some shits out there who are abusing the situation. Stick to the safest option and support the local help groups over individual requests.