A BRITISH expat has sounded the alarm after falling prey to a ‘classic’ scam on the Costa del Sol.
Gomer Evans, from Wales, and his German wife Hilke (pictured together above), were enjoying a Sunday stroll in the La Duquesa resort last week when they were targeted.
He is now warning others to ‘be aware’ following the upsetting incident.
He told the Olive Press: “We were walking along the path when a man rushed over to us and showed us our coats and my wife’s hair were absolutely covered in bird poo!
“It was far too much for any bird. He was very helpful and took us to the side behind a fence and produced lots of paper tissues.
“He helped us wipe our coats and offered us water to help clean my wife’s hair.”
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that Gomer discovered his credit cards were gone.
He added: “Two hours later I discovered my credit cards were missing! And he seemed so friendly!
“I just noticed yestetday he spent 3 x €48 on tobacco. He would be middle 50s, short and stocky… I didn’t know but the Bird Poo scam is well known all over Europe, so be warned!”
In November last year, Sue Oswick and her husband were enjoying a walk by the river in Fuengirola when they were unknowingly robbed of their credit cards by the same scam.
They only realised they had been targeted by the classic con when the thief attempted to use their cards to do his shopping in Mercadona.
Sue explained in an online post: “We were both splattered with what we thought was bird c**p.
“This ‘nice’ man, who had just sat down on the next bench to us, jumped up and offered to help us clean ourselves up. He had water and tissues.
“He was helping to clean my husband’s shirt and shorts and then said we could keep the water to finish off. He then left.”
Sue said that just 20 minutes later she received a message from her bank.
She added: “I got a text from Barclaycard fraud saying somebody had been trying to use our credit card in Mercadona.
“When my husband checked his phone, he noticed that two of his credit cards were missing.”
Sue said the bank told her someone was also trying to use their cards in Benalmadena.
She said: “I think he may have had an accomplice who threw stuff onto us from the ramp behind where we were sitting.
“We thought he was a nice man for helping. How wrong we were, be careful in that park!”
In October last year, a 56-year-old man was arrested for carrying out such scams in Benalmadena.
The master thief, who had a variety of disguises, would carry biscuits in his fanny pack which he would chew up into a mush before throwing the mixture at his victims.
He would then play the part of a helpful passerby while picking their pockets.
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The same bird poo scam hit my wife and myself in January 2004 in a park in Malaga. I read recently that the man had been caught. We only lost 20 Euros. The first credit card charge he tried was stopped by the fraud detection folks at VISA. He was a Mickey Rooney looking sort of guy; I liked him so much I think I’d buy him a drink today. The story was worth 20 Euros.
I meant 2024 not 2004. Please correct that for me.