| Midnight Magic, alias "Alan Freed Jr.", is a con man, a scam artist, who wanders the streets of San Francisco preying on good-hearted folks. His scam is conning people out of petty cash with a story of having a really nice car, usually filled with sandwiches he has made to give to the poor and homeless, which is in a parking garage he can't pay for. The mythical "sandwiches", as the scam goes, which can number in the hundreds, are in dire need of being handed out to the poor before they spoil. In my case, as if conning me out of $40 "loan" wasn't enough, he even asked me to drive him back into downtown so he could get car out of the garage. I wasn't able to give him the ride. Oddly enough (gee!), when I went on my way I noticed he wasn't actually in any kind of hurry to get back to the "car" in the garage. But here's the really funny part. The entire "sandwiches for the homeless" scam is wrapped in an even bigger "filthy rich philanthropist" con. This "Alan Freed Jr." guy (who is _NOT_ the actual Alan Freed Jr.) is claiming to be the bazillionaire grandson to the Alan Free Jr. of radio and music publishing fame. If the "sandwiches for the homeless" scam isn't enough, he also puts a cherry on top of the whole con with a promise of millions of dollars to special people willing to lend a hand, people willing to extend their trust to him. Obviously the promise of millions of dollars to people in exchange for a loan is a total crock. But I've been "poor" before. I've had my share of friends who were truly in desperate need of some temporary financial help. I know what desperation is, and I know sometimes you feel it's necessary to sacrifice some scruples in order to EAT. Still, I also know what trust and honor are. Making a hand-shaking deal for a "loan", to be repaid two days later, then vanishing...that crosses a line of dishonesty, of violation of trust, that is simply unacceptable. Lots of people have been scammed by this guy. I continue to get letters from people who have had their trust violated and their money effectively stolen by this con man. Back when this happened to me I was hurt, and $40 poorer (with ZERO income MYSELF), but I was willing to just let it go. Lately, I've been receiving so many reports of this guy scamming folks that I'm reconsidering whether law enforcement should be involved. Granted, it would cost us as taxpayers much more to arrest, try, and incarcerate this scam artist, but I figure it's somethign we as a society could CHOOSE to do, on the principle of rule of law, rather than latting people get away with scamming folks with a con about feeding the homeless. Thanks in part to this (fake) "Alan Freed Jr." con artist guy, I don't give anyone ANYTHING for free anymore. What money I do have is now very strictly only used for myself, not for helping others in need. I don't like it, but that's what happens when my trust is violated one too many times. This (fake) "Alan Freed Jr." con man is using the poor and homeless as a tool for injuring people, directly causing those people to stop giving to those same poor and homeless in the future. Someone should do something (legal) to stop this guy and his con. His behavior is hurtful to everyone! |