A university student has issued a warning after being targeted by a "scammer" while walking alone on campus.
The University of Liverpool student was walking through campus between lectures on Wednesday, when they were approached by a woman holding a clipboard. She cut the student off while speaking about deafness, and every time the student tried to walk away she would start "making sounds".
The student then signed what they thought was a petition before being asked to hand over money, to the point where they "felt backed into a corner". The student took to Reddit after the ordeal to ask for advice.
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The student said: "I was walking between lectures, for some context I wear noise-canceling headphones as I'm autistic. Anyway, while walking a blonde woman cut me off and shoved a clipboard in front of me. It said something about deafness.
"However every time I tried to walk away or just take a minute the lady just started making some sounds. But even when I said something she just made sounds.
"Eventually I just signed what I thought was a petition as it was set out like one. However, the form asked for payment when I said how do I pay she just pointed at it.
"Feeling backed into a corner, I gave the woman the only money in my wallet, only £10, but still as a student, it stings a lot."
The student looked into what happened to them, before coming to the conclusion that they thought they were "scammed". They then contacted their lecturer and university security, who said they had already received a report of an incident.
They said: "I looked this up and it seems that it is very common in Paris and places. The form I signed had a box for home town which was weird, as I'm from Birkenhead.
"Anyway I'm pretty sure this was a scam as I was alone walking on campus, probably looked like I was from out of the city but still fell for it. Told my professor after my lecture and he was very supportive, I talked to student security after the lecture with the proof and apparently they had received a report already.
"Annoying especially when they went after uni students, and in my case a disabled/neurodiverse student. Highly predatory as I was walking alone. It was also right next to one of the accommodations block."
A University of Liverpool spokesperson said: “We can confirm that an incident was reported to the University and is currently being investigated. We take the safety of our staff and students very seriously and urge anyone who has been similarly approached on campus to report it to our Campus Support team.”
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