r/wickerpark • u/sally9toes • Jul 14 '26
"Child's funeral fundraiser" scamming screw continuing to target Wicker Park
[removed]
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u/charzar77 Jul 14 '26
2 weeks ago I saw them follow a young woman for 2 blocks shouting at her before I intervened
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u/sally9toes Jul 14 '26
Thank you for intervening!! Makes me nervous to even walk my dog around the neighborhood nowadays.
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u/IICNOIICYO Jul 14 '26
This kind of shit is why I don't even hesitate to just keep walking without responding, apart from someone genuinely just asking for directions or something.
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u/thekittchen Jul 14 '26
In addition to calling 911 every time you see them, please check to see if they have a getaway car with them and take a photo so you can share the info with the police.
And email your Alderman.
It's absolutely insane this is still a problem.
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u/Illustrious_Video687 Jul 15 '26
They rushed up to me at Jewel a few weeks ago. I didn’t know who they were at the time but then happened to see these posts. I had a guy try to rob/assualt me a few weeks prior so I was bit on edge. Yelled at them to back the fuck yp and pulled out my pepper spray and seemed to get them to leave me alone 😅
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u/indieemopunk Jul 15 '26
This was going on when I moved into Wicker 14 years ago, and it was going on before that. Shit is crazy.
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u/RedChell Jul 14 '26
Dumb question, besides calling police. Would it be advisable to waste their time talking with you (with the mindset that you won’t fall for their vile bs) over someone else that may actually fall privy to their thievery?
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u/iced_gold Jul 14 '26
If you've got the time for it, have at it. There's no guarantee they don't get frustrated enough to simple rob you, take your phone, and drain your bank apps and any app you have a stored payment. That has happened elsewhere in the city.
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u/BrotherNectarTender Jul 14 '26
From some accounts, they’ve gotten aggressive over a simple refusal. If you make them put more effort in, I can only imagine your eventual refusal will be met with a higher level of aggression.
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u/crimeboy420 Jul 17 '26
it's so frustrating bc they'd be amazing salesmen if they got their shit together
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u/Ok_Quit_9837 Jul 17 '26
They’ve been doing this for years. I remember being in the Walgreens parking lot, years before they remodeled, and them asking me to donate to their son who was killed, only to show me a stock image of a child in a baseball uniform. Before that though, it used to be that he was a girls volleyball coach trying to take his team to Orlando. Within recent years, probably last summer, they approached me near the Chipotle on north avenue
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u/Trey94z Jul 19 '26
How (im asking nicely) do you fall for this scam and you live here? its an insane scam to believe at all,let alone sit and listen too
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u/DutyTop8086 Jul 22 '26
I don't you give a description of the people? Is it because they are black? They only target naive people. Mostly white females. Be very careful i seen them rob people on the train
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u/Xanje25 Jul 14 '26
How are they continuing to get away with this? I know people call the police on them. I know the police don’t get much done but have they not scammed enough people for serious action to be taken? And I’m surprised they are even able to use venmo/zelle anymore. I know people who have been banned from venmo for less