Scammer makes threats

RAJ · March 2009

Since first posting this, this man has been calling and threatening me. I'd like him to put it in writing. I've heard from someone else about him. It appears that he might mean no harm, possibly. But he makes up stories, and doesn't keep agreements. Some of his lies seem bizarre. E.g.: He first told me that he was in his 50's. He's not. He described owning equipment and then denied it. He seems obsessed with fooling around with photo equipment. If he's trying to eke out a living with it, I can empathize. Due to disability, I went through an awful phase doing it myself, as I had no other means of subsisting. Lost my shirt, and had to pay off with insurance from an accident. But lying and harrassing me with threats is something else. Here is the original of my posting: I'm a performing/literary artist and Disability activist commonly known in Phila. as Scott Norman. I'm on a miniscule disability income and resorted to advertising some of my 35mm equipment. A man contacted me. He goes by the name of Darryl Merrique, as stated on his business card. When I finally took time to search my memory and analyze his stories and explanations, they were definitely contradictory. He called me numerous times. I kept turning down trades that he offered. It appears that he didn't even have some of these items. I do extensive community work. I don't like to pre-judge situations but really should have my guard up more often. I let him talk me into a trade, even though I don't really need what he offered. He met me near my room in New Jersey. Outside in a parking lot at night where it was difficult to check his item. This after appearing to misunderstand straightforward directions that I gave him when he was less than 1/2 mile away. He insisted on driving me home and I showed him my stock of photo items. He seemed very knowledgeable about older 35mm equipment. I've been involved with it for over 40 years. He claimed to be interested in my art work and my work with other Differently-Abled artists, and solicitous of my situation. He'd traded me a non-working Pentax camera body of the type of which I'm already overstocked. He claims to repair cameras and assured me that it worked fine. By the time I'd gotten a battery into it and checked, we'd already negotiated a serious swap deal that fell through when he admitted that the meter in the primary item wasn't working. When I put everything together through memory and analysis, I realized that this man is up to no good. During the first conversation, he even told me a different age than when I finally met him. He is black and spoke with a Carribean/West African accent. He claimed to be from Trinidad. He was driving an old, beat up station wagon, dark blue. He mentioned that it was a Toyota, but it looked more like a Volvo. He may be a dangerous character, he's certainly a liar. He'll probably flag this post.http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pho/1092543612.html