CONFIDENCE TRICK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 131, 26 January 1932, Page 2

CONFIDENCE TRICK

LONDON EPISODE WESTRALIAN OUTWITS TWO CLEVER TRICKSTERS. KNOWS GOLD WHEN HE SEES IT. I ... Coming from a mining town in Western Australia, Mr. S. Mahmood, who arrived by the Tainui at Wellington, knows gold when he sees it (says the Dominion). Conseqnently he was iaot deceived in London reeently when a rather glittering propesition was* put up to him by two confidence- naen. , Mr. Mahaaaood led them- on for some tiiaae, and then brought the comedy abruptly to an eaad. Not everyone i's as wise, however, because thd sanae two naen later relieved two Attierieans of sums of £1000 and £400, usiiag exactly the same naethod they had employed on Mr. Mahmood. 1 It was only a day or two after he had reached London on a holiday visit that Mr. Mahmood fell in with an affable stranger, whom, in telling the story to the Dominion, he referred to as Mr. A. When they had been talking for some tinae and Mr. Mahmood had revealed the fact that he came from Western Australia and proposed to tour through England, Fi-ance, Germany and Italy before returning home, Mr. A. told him he was a New Zealanderi whq, oddly enough, had quite a number of friends in Western Australia. Uiof ortunately Mr. Mah--mood was not acquainted with any of the people Mr. A.. menfioned, but it did not prevent Mr. A. frpioa insisting upon acconapanying him on sight-seeing trips. They were walking along the street one morning when a stranger in front dropped a key on the footpatla. Mr. A. picked it up, stopped the stranger j and returned it to him. This strangj er, Mr. B., was greatly impressed by jthe kind and thoughtful action, and I the three fell into conversation. Mr. B. showed evea'y sign of intense giutitude. Sonaehow Mr. A. introduced the alleged fact that he was a New Zealander, and Mr. B. took this for ample explanation of the incident. Natives of England would not have been so honest; they would have picked up the key and retained it. But New Zealanders were different. At this point Mr. Mahmood, who began to have ah inkling of the real situation, protested that it was only the ecrqmonest act of courtesy to return a key dropped in the street. And, besides, he said, the key would be of no use to the finder. Mr. B. remained inapressed, however, wath Mr. A's honesty, and proposed they should go to a nearby hotel so that he could •shout the two colonials a drink. Rich Uaicle Dead. Again Mr. Mahnaood held up proceedings. It was too soon after breakfast, he said, for drinkiiag, aaad he suggested they should have sonae mox*ning tea instead. The three men went accordingly to a tea shop aaad sat down at a table. The convex-sa-tion continued, Mr. A. and Mr. B. alnxost vieing with each other in the unctuousness they could display toward the West Australian. At a suitable monxent Mr. B. drew from his pocket a newspaper containiiag a laews item to the effect that a naan who he said was his uncle had died in Anxerica and had left a vast estate, sonxething in the neighbourhood of £G00,000. Quite a share of it? £40,000, was to he devoted to charity and to assisting the poor. Mr. B., who was apparently the legatee, gave them to understand that this charitable fuiad was at his imiaaediate disposal. The plaia to deceive the supposedlyinnocent West Australian was advanced a stage further when Mr. B. suggested to Mr. Mahmood and Mr. A. that in both of their countries, West Australia and New Zealand, they would be acquainted with people who were in need of financial assistance. Mr. Mahmood denxurred. -Where he lived, in the neighbourhood of the Wiluna gold mine, there was no abject poverty. However, Mr. A. knew of cases, and Mr. Mahaaaood agreed that some deserving cases might be found in his town also. At this point Mr. B. suggested to them that he should give them each £1000 out of the charitable fund for them to distribute as they saw fit on returning to their respective honxes. Even among friends, however, safeguards were necessary where such large anxounts were involved, and he would ask both Mr. Mahmood and Mr. A. to show formally that they were in possession of nxoney, and would not be inclined to steal the money entrusted to thenx. Neither was prepared to do this, but Mr. A. said finally that he had £800 in the banlc. He went away to withdraw it, to show it to Mr. B. as a proof of his bona fides, and Mr. Mahmood was left at the cafe with Mr. B. Unsuccessful Cajolery. After some time Mr. A. returned with what he said waS £800 in a large official-looking envelope. Mr. Mahmood was then urged to do the same. This he declined to do, saying that he was quite well off, but was not prepared to produce any money. Mr. A. joined Mr. B. in his effort to cajole Mr. Mahmood into producing his money. Mr. A. had produced his £800, and Mr. B. had shown that he had Mr. A's £1000 ready. Their blandishments increased desperately, but Mr. Mahmood was now well aware of their clxaracter, aird with a fiiaal flat refusal the tea party came to an abrupt end. Mr. A. left ira one direction? Mr. B. in another, and Mr. Mahnxood in still another. Mr. Mahmood learned later that the same two confidence men, one of whom, Mr. B., had an Irish brogue, had taken in two. Americans for sums of £1000 and £400. They ■had used the same story.