WWCOJ do? Late night knock on door

Maybe she needed it for a taxi to the clinic/ER?

I probbly would have been out of cash, but would have offered to drive them to the ER. Or offer to check the kid myself, since I'm a medic and more to the point, with three kids, would be surprised to discover something new.

And if needed, I would explain what dialing 911 does....

As a guy, I would offer to give them a ride.  Chances are, they would come up with some excuse that they need the money more than the ride.

And like what they said above.  911 is an option.

I would not have given them cash if their explanation was simply "it's an emergency".  That's pretty cheesy if you ask me.  If you really do need the cash...take the extra 5-10 seconds as to why you need cash or why a credit or debit card that you should have does not suffice.

To be honest...it sounds like a simple scam.  People simple look for a new family moving in...then go around the neighborhood late at night saying they are part of that family asking for money.  Get 3-4 takers, and you just made $80 in less than an hour.

My dad and his friend got scammed a year ago.  They were working a side construction job one weekend and eating lunch in the garage.  A guy comes up to them and asks if he can have some cash to get gas.  He says that he put his debit card into the gas pump and it ate it.  So he gave him $20 figuring he was just being a nice guy.

After the man took his money and left...they realized that you never fully insert your card into a gas pump terminal.  It's always some type of swipe reader and it's impossible for it to "eat" your card.

x2 on this.

& I would of done the same thing too!

i had that happen in an old apartment, i was new, they were not, gave them $20 for some BS excuse and promise to pay me back the next day.  Two weeks later, same thing happened, that time i told them good night and closed the door. I never saw them again at my door, and occasionally in the complex. Live and learn.

I agree with Tony, don't open the door regardless and offer to call 911.

This is a new trend in scamming!

Ive had it happen to me twice at gas stations-your approached while pumping gas and there's a "family" with a sick kid in the car. They are usually from out of town blah blah blah.

Funny how they leave when a patrol car comes through.

First time Ive heard it happen at a house-lock door, call non emergency number and notify police, sad.

This is an old scam.  Had it happen to me in Toronto almost close to 12 or 13 years ago.  But it in that instance he was a guy stranded down the road and needed 20 bucks to get a cab as his family was still there in the car. 20 bucks isn't a whole lot, so it's a nice round sum to ask for.  He was good I'll give him that.  For every question I had, he had an answer.  They know you will be skeptical, but can wear you down if you keep talking to them, knowing in the back of your mind your notion of civil decency will probably prevail...to there benefit.

guaranteed in your case if she knocked on 20 houses, say max 5 minutes a house...she probably pulled in some cash.  Some people won't be as saavy as you though.  If she made 60-100 bucks for a couple hours worth of work...tax free...not a bad amount of money for the time involved....

Nope. No cash. The ER won't turn a sick child out.

Though I'm not the most Altruistic person out there anyways...

In general, I never answer the door when I get an unexpected knock on the door, regardless of the time of day (especially after dark and/or 8:00). My wife and I don't really *know* our neighbors and we both figure that if it is someone we know they'll call ahead and let us know their coming by. I don't' think we know anyone that would just "drop by." This is partly for safety reasons, but more so that I don't have to listen to some solicitors pitch before I have to say no to him/her and shut the door on them.

Panhandling scam.

• She wasn't a neighbor.
• People have hit me up on the street, "car broke down...  money for the bus."
• "Mugged and robbed of all of our cash...  need help..."
• People knocking on the door raising CASH for a local school, church or charity.  Not pledges or checks, just cash.  Yeah... right.

I would NOT answer the door at 10:45pm.  And I would call the police.  This is NOT an inconvenience to them.  I know plenty of cops.  This is something they actually live for.  They will not be "bothered" or upset.  When something feels wrong in the neighborhood, there usually is something wrong.  If the cops can grab someone BEFORE something horrible happens, it's a big boost for them.  They literally do take the whole "protect & serve" thing seriously.

We once saw someone skulking around in the woods behind the house near the lake.  We called the police.  They took it very seriously, had to cops go into the woods looking and one more in her car, lights flashing in our neighborhood.  As it turns out it was just a neighborhood resident looking for a lost pet.  The cops helped the person look, they found the dog and everyone went home safe and sound.  Those cops were relieved it was a false alarm and had no problem with this.

Tell her I don't carry cash because my gun takes up all the free space in my pocket.

Really I would have offered to call 911 or asked who is watching her son. In my area I get lots of people always asking for money with different stories. I’m the kind of person who will offer to buy a guy a hamburger when he asks for change because he is hungry but I will never give him money.

You shouldn't have opened the door in the first place  Actually, you should have posted WWCOJ do and waited on answers before doing something.  Now it's just What Does COJ think about what I did?    

People that knock on my door never stick around long if their intentions aren't honest.  The crazy, rabid, Malinois on the other side tends to run them off.

I had a group of kids come to my door saying they were raising money for kids with cancer. I asked the name of the charity and they all gave me blank stares.

I told them to get the f@#* off my porch before I called the police or let my dog out to get them.

Hopefully I scared them out of attempting the same thing with other neighbors

(P.S. Duke is not an attack dog. He's super friendly, but I let his mean-sounding bark let people believe otherwise - and sometimes I tell them that I have him for protection.)

When someone knocks on my door later than I think is reasonable, I don't open it.  However, if I've shut down for the night (most lights off), I do turn a light on to let them know the house is occupied.  My neighborhood has had some burglaries when houses weren't occupied.  I know if the bad guys are looking to harm a person, I just let them know I'm home, but I'm going to play the odds on that one.  And have Mr. Mossberg within reach, hypothetically.

I also wouldn't have opened the door.  MAYBE if my husband were home (although i would then call for him to do it), but my heart would be racing.  I do worry that my neighbors (who I like and know) are the ones you need me, and they might very well run over instead of calling.   I would try to look through the frustratingly challenging glass design to get a hint of who it might be, how close they are to the door, etc.

My greatest wish is that we could install a home security camera for just this sort of situation.  We had a problem with packages being stolen from front doorsteps in our 'hood before Christmas, so it would be nice for that too.