Is This the Gringo Woman Who Swindles Expats In Cuenca Ecuador?

 This woman in the photo above tried to swindle me and Frank

Last
Saturday, Frank and I were going about our errands as usual when we were
approached by this gringo-woman, with a proposition. Now, hang on to your hats,
it wasn't that bad, but... It was a beautiful warm, sunny morning, about a half
a block from Park Calderon on Gran Columbia when this woman starts blurting out
her story. Here’s exactly how it went.



Woman:
Excuse me, I heard you two talking in English, so maybe you can help me. 



Me:
Ok? 



Woman:
I’m from South Africa and I’m trying to get to my Embassy… 



Me:
(I cut her off) Oh yes, I read all about you from an expat who posted about you
scamming people in Cuenca. Sorry lady but you are all over the Internet;
someone has already posted about your scamming. You’re going to have to go
somewhere else to scam gringos.



She
just stood there in awe; she was at a loss for words. She obviously did not
know that she was already written up about.



As
we turned around and walked off she spouted something under her breath but loud
enough that we could hear her. “You two are going to be sorry (cuss word) for
not helping out a poor woman with no money, hell is waiting for you!”



She
seemed a bit off her rocker. It was then I actually did feel sorry for her, but
not sorry enough to give her any money. We walked through the Calderon Park,
watching her on the side walk where Tutto Freddos is located. She was clearly
looking for gringos to tell her scamming story to.



Well
wouldn’t you know it, she crosses the street and into the park and we happened
to meet up with her again at the corner of the park.  At
this point she seemed really angry and was calling us dirty names and such; she
appeared embarrassed that we were on to her “not so good” motivations. 



Yes,
it’s sad that she has to resort to this kind of living but swindlers appear to
enjoy swindling others, and that's why they do it, besides the fact they have no morals. Apparently,
according to the Cuenca expat she scammed about a month ago, she took in a pretty good
day's work off him and other people within earshot of hearing her sad story.



As
we crossed paths, I decided to take her photo but unfortunately, I was a bit
too a far away but she saw us taking her picture and she gave us the finger;
how lady-like. She was really upset that we were on to her scheming.

Here's What Lady Swindler Looks Like

She
is a disheveled-looking gringo in her mid 40’s to mid 50’s. She is built very
top-heavy and is about 5’6” tall and appears to weigh approx. 200 pounds. She
has straggly, dirty brown-reddish hair. She wears those infamous (for Cuenca) tight leotard
type pants and those plastic slip on holey shoes. She has an accent. You’ll know
her when you see her, as we haven't seen any other gringos swindling expats in
this manner in Cuenca, at least to our knowledge.



Her
plight may make some of you feel sorry for her, however, from the looks of it,
after doing more Internet research I learn she is able to scam gringos all
throughout Ecuador with her sad, sad stories of being robbed and needing to get
to her embassy in South Africa. She is making fairly good money in Ecuador from
the naïve gringos, otherwise she wouldn’t still be here.



She
is most-likely using the money for her alcohol habit so please do
not feel sorry for her and enable her addiction. If you feel you must give her
something, buy her lunch or buy her some food or clothing, but please do not
give her any more money.



Her
story is always the same; she’s from South Africa and needs to get to her
embassy; she has been robbed of all her money and passport….but based on the
large take she took in from the above expat, and the fact that a bus ride to
Quito is only $10 where the South African Embassy is located, and after all,
she's still in Cuenca! That story has obvious flaws.

 

This is the original photo. I enlarged the one above so you can get a better view of her.

She’s
pretty upset because she is exposed and will probably have to move on somewhere else. There’s
enough scamming going on in Cuenca as it is, we don’t need more of it. 



Be
careful gringos! 

We're an Expat Family of Five Living Frugal, Healthy and Happy in Cuenca Ecuador! Enjoy the Discover Cuenca Ecuador blog!