This was brought to The Portugal News’ attention by an Algarve resident who was targeted in the car park of the Algarve Shopping centre in Guia.
The expat, a British woman who has asked not to be named, had visited the Algarve Shopping centre with friends on Monday morning.
As they were returning to their car at around 11.30am they were approached by “a middle-aged Portuguese couple” who waved at them from a “very expensive looking dark-coloured car”.
The senior citizen recalls: “The man let down the window on the passenger’s side where his wife was sitting. He reached over to me, extended his hand and spoke reasonably good English. He said, you don’t recognise me do you? From the Post Office and my brother is the owner of the Hotel Tivoli, Carvoeiro.”
The foreign victim says seeing as she has lived and worked in the area for more than two decades it was feasible that the man may have recognised her.
She continues: “He then proceeded to talk quite fast in very broken English and some of the time in Portuguese, explaining he was on his way to the Island of Madeira as the weather had been very bad and there were many homeless orphan children who needed help.
“He said he had been given gifts of some kind to give to people who were willing to donate money to these children. At the same time he gave me an expensive-looking carrier bag with a watch in a box.”
Feeling compelled to offer the man some money the Briton gave the man a €10 note, which he accepted but said was not enough.
She then gave him a €20 note and retrieved “with difficulty” her original €10 note.
“He asked me to speak to my friends to give him some as well. I hurried away a bit doubtful of all this and proceeded to help my friends load the car with shopping. When I looked up he had parked his car right across my friends’ car so they couldn’t drive away. I called out and said to them ‘later’, so his wife told him to drive away.
The couple is described as “probably both in their 50’s.”
“She was quite well built, very smartly dressed as far as I could see, black hair pulled back into a bun.”
The man, who said his name was Vitor, “was quite short and well built, with a dark moustache, receding hair and again well dressed.”
Having taken her concerns to the local police station, the expat says she was shown “a photo of someone on the computer who could have been the same man.”
She was questioned whether the car was a Rover, or if she had managed to take down the number plate.
“As it was they were sympathetic but could do nothing”, she adds.
Having visited the police she also went to the Post Office where the man claimed to have worked.
“I recounted this to the lady there. Again on reflection I have never met a man working thereby the name of Vitor in all the years I have used the Post Office! The lady there said this was not the first time she had heard the story. I also went into the Junta and told them. And I followed this up with friends and found two instances where the same thing happened, same story including the Tivoli last year, same time of year and same place.”
The unsuspecting victim now feels people should be warned of such goings-on to avoid being the targets of scams in the days leading up to Christmas.
The GNR police force advises shoppers who visit large, busy shopping centres, particularly at this time of year, to exercise extra caution with their purchases, their belongings and their vehicles.