Before I say anything…I never believe people and I never hand out money…this is unbelievable. What I’m about to tell you will make you never trust people again. I am not a nieve person, but it happened today…GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
So, I was walking from the bus stop and I see this guy and just do the usual “hola.” This guy keeps going and then turns around and looks kind of frantic. I was a bit worried and skeptical at first, but decided to listen. He first asks if I speak English and then proceeds to tell me this story…I should back up a bit. He was dressed as a tourist…He was about 55 years old, nice shirt, nice shorts, hat, and sandals. He tells me that he doesn’t usually do this, but he needed help and was desperate. He said he arrived in Mexico at the bus station and was held at knifepoint by 3 guys. He said he had on a fanny pack(which sounds dumb, but could really happen), was carrying a really nice guitar. He said this whole story of how his life flashed before his eyes and he really didn’ t think that could be the case, but it did. He said he was grateful that he was alive. He went on about how he learned a lesson and that he couldn’t stay anywhere because he didn’t have his passport(in his fanny pack). Oh he started kind of almost spitting and he apologized and said it was because he didn’t have his bottom teeth anymore, they were also in his fanny pack! He said he finally found one place that would let him stay for about 250 pesos…he said he hadn’t had anything to eat and was had to go to Mcdonalds to use the bathroom. He said the one at the bus station makes you pay 5 pesos or something…He started to tear up and said that he is ashamed that he even has to ask and that he would never otherwise ask… Long story, but all I had was 500 pesos(around $50 US). I figured that he could wash his clothes and get something to eat too. I was being nice! I really thought this guy was legit! He even gave me his name and said he had gmail and fb accounts and that he would send me twice the amount. He said I was heaven-sent or something…I felt so good about myself helping someone in desperate need! I googled his name when I get home and find this article…from a blog
http://aboutislamujeres.blogspot.mx/2011/10/tragedy-stirs-rumors-more-security-cams.html
This is Roy Allen Smith, an American who was arrested in July for attempting to steal $9500 pesos worth of jewelry from a store in Isla Mujeres. Yesterday I received an email from a German named Jakob Henschel saying he was scammed by this man in Cancun the day before and asked me to publish this picture and tell what happened. Jakob says he was in Cancun, at the corner of Bonampak and Chichen Itza. He says Roy Allen Smith and his wife Ann (nee Soto) Smith said they were tourists who had been robbed of all their money by a taxi driver and needed money to go to the US Embassy in Merida. He said they had American accents and he had no reason not to believe them, so he gave them money. He would like to warn others. I advised him to contact the police, which he will have to do via Internet, since he was leaving Cancun.
I just want to say all the swear words and I’m feeling really bad or ashamed that I fell for it. He took my time and my money! I need to let other people know this as well. I never fall for stupid stuff. I even left some parts out on how he talked about the guitar being from his ex, blah, blah,etc… He could’ve won an academy award! I came home and told my parents and they were like “Corinne, you got scammed.” I was so sure and now I’m going to be bitter! Like it’s going to take me some time to get over this! Yes, it was only $50, but still! I do have a big heart, and that is never a bad thing. I wouldn’t have fallen for it, if he hadn’t cried! Please someone tell me something to make me feel better! I feel like crap now! 😦
CHICANCUN 
That must have been scarey and infuriating at the same time! Probably even more scarey as you re-think about it. At the time you obviously couldn’t read the signs, but will now the next time anything similar happens…and hopefully that will be NEVER. You ARE a generous person and that’s of great value…only to be admired. Please don’t take this wrong, but a trusting attitude is typical of Americans. In fact, at the risk of generalizing, some foreigners can’t comprehend this and often think we are ingenuine…until they really understand us. I personally relish being back in such a trusting environment…I’ve missed it. Others may take (unfair) advantage of it. As long as you are safe now and in the future, chalk it up to another experience, because you’ll be more cautious from now on. Corinne, you are VERY pretty, intelligent, in great form…so use that to your advantage, but be careful. As far as the money, even giving a dollar to someone is more than they had before. This week WILL be a great one!
Amy,
I will admit that at first I was a little nervous, but I was on a busy street in broad daylight with tons of people going by. I did feel nervous though, despite all of that. I did learn a lot today about life and about myself! I learned so much, I had to write another post. Thank you again for all your comments! You’re right, I’m just putting this under experiences to learn from! Thanks so much!
God will still give you blessings because you gave from the heart. He was the bad one not you. Good karma for you, bad karma for him 🙂
Hi Raymundo,
Yes, thank you for your comment! I had some time to think it over and I’ve learned from it. I also think you’re right! I added a bit about that in my latest post.
You did a good thing. It may have been for a bad man, but what you did was the right thing. You believed he was in trouble and needed help. That is what God calls us to do. Naive? Perhaps. But there are people out there who legitimately need help and you can’t be faulted for trying to provide it.
I think what you did was amazing.
Hey Heather,
Thanks so much for the comment. You are right, I believed at the time that I was doing what God would’ve wanted me to do. You live, you learn, right? I thought the same thing, that there are people that really do need help! Too bad this guy(and others) have ruined it for others and you can’t trust/ help anyone without thinking you are being scammed. 😦
This loser is still around? He scammed me and my husband out of about 20 bucks. Same sob story, lost his wallet, passport, got jumped, blah, blah, blah. I’ll give him this though, he is very good at his craft. He’s been doing this for years.
What?!! You were scammed too! This guys must do this for a living! What a @#$%^!!!!! I won’t even say what I want to call him! You know, I’ve finally calmed down now. I’m not worried, I think eventually this guy will get what’s coming his way…sooner or later!
He is still in the Cancun Centro area, he’s very good at scamming people. First post description of him is perfect.
OMFG ! Can’t believe it ! I was in Cancun during fabruary 2012, and until today I believed that this guy would actually refund me …..
Same shit happened to me , I lent him 500 pesos. I felt sorry for this guy. Today I wanted to find another way then his email to contact him. That’s how I found this page.
Its kinda funny now to read the same story that happened to me.
Damn, I wont be so generous next time :((((((
Besides that I still had some great time in Mexico ….
I’m so sorry to hear you were scammed too, but glad that you had a great time in Mexico!! I just try to tell myself that I learned a lesson…
I was on vacation with my mother this past week and we ran into this same guy. We bought the whole story and gave him almost $80 US. Very convincing, the only spin on the story was a cab driver took off with his stuff after he needed to stop at a store real quick….. The cab driver took off with all of his stuff including his passport, return ticket and Gibson guitar. I only found this site after searching the internet when the contact info for the people back home home who would help him matched what he said, but never answered or replied. This guy is going to cause someone in real trouble to get screwed over.
Yes, he is very convincing…I wish they had some kind of warning for people in Cancun. 😦
My son and I just returned from Cancun….2-17-13. The jerk is still at it — different story (he said he had all his stuff in a cab on the way to the airport, stopped to get a bottle of water and the cab driver took off with his stuff) but ~ 80 US$ later, we were scammed. I know we did the right thing but the worst part about it — HE attempts to make the Mexicans look bad (and did a convincing job) — we were scammed by an American! He’s a dirt bag. I wish we would have seen this before we left! The fact is, I wish now we never saw it.
You know, I was thinking the same thing…for awhile I was pretty happy that I was able to help someone who really needed help. Then when I found out it was a scam, I felt very hurt/mad that I fell for it. Now, I just tell myself I learned a lesson and consider it a life experience…
Several years ago, just before we got on a plane back home from Cancun, there were about 5 woman from the US that were stranded due to weather — I gave them $100 — and my son saw me do it — thinking the very same thing we were thinking when ‘Roy” handed us his story — if I were stuck, I’d hope someone would help me…Well, these ladies promised to pay me back and I never expected to see the money, I knew I did the right thing. However, about 10 months later — just before Christmas, I got a check in the mail along with a Christmas card. I was really surprised and happy — my faith in mankind was restored. I’m not going to let this jerk pevent me from doing the right thing in the future — we made sure we had enought to do what we needed to do. He didn’t ruin our day, he actually made it becasue we THOUGHT we had done something good. The guy’s a jerk! Pathetic, no self respect. He’ll get his one day. IN the mean time, as long as you don’t put yourself in a bind, I still think it’s a good idea to help someone if you really think they need help and you can do it. NOT everyone is a jerk. What goes around comes around. I still kind of feel sorry for the guy. for different reasons of course — he’s pretty good a turning on the water works!
He’s still at it. Got me yesterday. Ass.
This guy is still at it. I got sucked into giving him about 25 bucks at noon today near km 11 in the hotel zone. Same story with lots of detail, and being a guitarist didn’t help – we ended up shooting the shit about music. I’m not really too worried about losing a little money but he’s clearly up to no good. Did anyone report their incident to the police?
Some of my friends and I were approached by this guy in MacDonalds while we were at spring break.
We’re from UK and got exactly the same story that some of you guys have had (cab drove off with his guitar, fanny pack etc….)
Smart guy, very impressive and convincing!! We only gave him about $20 to “catch the bus to the US consulate”
Still, you can’t feel bad for trying to help someone in need. Even if they were lying, your intentions were still pure 🙂
The Bastard got me yesterday even though it was only a cheap meal & $200 pesos. the guy should get an oscar for his believability. hopefully the cops will get him one day.
Chicancun, The best way to get this creep is to wander by the places one is likely to find gringos, Ado bus station, McDonalds etc periodically, if you spot him look for a cop & drag him over there immediately or simply buy a pepper spray & walk up to him while he is talking to a tourist & give him a blast,
If you encounter this man be wary. He is a convicted murderer and as a result an expat. I confirmed this by investigating and finding his cousin Nichole Burt. She is his family and saysheis a SOB, and a dangerous man. I will be back there next month with flyers to hand out to the cabbies that he is blaming for his “misfortune”. Let the wolves thin the herd.
Great idea Rob. Get him.
Good news, I have thought about going back to cancun for a few days to hunt him out but in reality too much trouble to make the 4 hr drive. Let me know when he gets his deserts.
Same story here. We encountered him yesterday across the street from our hotel downtown. Ambience Suites. Out $80 USD .
Bad news, Motherfucker still in the town…. a same shit !
He got us today in cancun. We only gave him like 12 dollars, but I’m just so mad. He is a really good actor indeed. Felt so sorry for him…:(
I just posted a reply but it’s gone so one more time. Now it’s june 2016 and he just did the same thing to us today. We gave him only 12 dollars and some sigarettes but I’m still very angry. Normally I don’t trust anyone, but he was really convincing indeed. Because I still had doubts I was watching his hands the whole time to make sure he wasn’t pickpocking my boyfriend. We really felt sorry for him. But remember that HE is the idiot. We are just good people who want to have a little faith in people, but it’s just a reminder that you can’t trust strangers 😦
Wow. I just goggled his name and found your blog, myself and three companions were scammed by this same guy last week. Same name, same story. Got a convincing lip quiver but no tears, still fell for it! What a wanker!
My husband just came back from Cancun and let me tell you that I gave him $20 because of his sob story about a cab driver running off with his luggage and expensive guitar. He is so convincing and even my husband believe it, and he doesn’t get fooled easily. Now his mad that I have found these story on him throughout the internet. Wow, can’t believe that Mr. Ray Allen Smith (if that is even his name) is still taking tourist money all of these years!!!! I gave the $20 with a good heart, he accepted it with a deceitful one. I know it has been some years, but eventually he will have to answer for what he has done. I am not mad or feel stupid because if I didn’t find these comments online, I still be thinking that I helped out a fellow person in a time of need and apparently he still needed the $20 more than I……..
Yesterday we meet this guy! He introduced himself as roy allen smiths and give his email address. He was very nervous and we believed him. Could this be the same guy? grrrr
it was in the las Americas Mall Cancun
Ditto adventure today in Playa del Carmen. Lost only 220 pesos because I wasn’t totally convinced, but anyway, this man is still doing this today! Very dangerous action for this little money… If I ran into him again, it could go wrong…
I have found his picture and posted it in my article today, so this might help: https://plus.google.com/+dhorseman/posts/Y7de75SD3nR
Just got taken by this guy in Playa del Carmen on our way to the Mega. 500 pesos – same sob story as above. My gut was telling me something was off but I didn’t listen. It will not happen again. I don’t feel bad as he is a terrific actor, but he probably wrecked any help I will give in the future whether someone really needs it or not.
He got me Saturday in Blvd. Kukulcan near Playa Caracol. I am not too upset about it. I figured, if the story is true, this guy could really use a hand… I’ve been robbed while abroad before so I know what it is like to be stuck in another country with no money and not knowing what to do next. If he lied – which he did – Karma will eventually get him and I will not let some asshole prevent me from doing the right thing.
That being said, I hope they catch him.