Transit Police are on the lookout for a man who allegedly milks T riders for money by pretending to be a member of the military trying to get a train home.
Amanda, who wouldn’t give her last name, said she was fooled by the alleged thief and gave him cash for what she thought was a ticket out of town.
“He deserved an Emmy for his performance,” she said of her encounter outside of Porter Square last month.
According to Amanda, the suspect, a man in his mid-20s, wears a shirt and tie and carries a large military bag.
Transit Police Lt. Robert Lenehan said the scam suspect, who is always on the run, camps out at T stops, sometimes in army fatigues, with his head down.
“He is preying on people by dressing up like a veteran,” he said. “[He] will work it for a couple of weeks and move on to another location.”
Amanda said when people stop to help, the suspect tells them he left his bag containing his laptop, wallet and cell phone on the train.
He then tells them he has no money to get home.
Amanda said she fell for the trap, but saw the suspect one week later pulling the same scam on someone else.
“I went up and I told [this woman] not to believe anything this guy says, and I told him he should be ashamed of himself,” said Amanda.
Amanda said the suspect acted as though he had never met her.
According to Lenehan, the man, and others operating similar scams at T stops, usually ask for $25 dollars.
“That’s $200 for a couple of hours of ‘work,’” he said.
Follow Steve Annear on Twitter @steveannear.
