Warning

[Vanessa Valentine]

Ladies, please read:

This actually happened in Ottawa...

A lady stopped at a pay-at-the-pump gas station to get gas.
Once she filled her gas tank and after paying at the pump and starting to leave, the voice of the attendant inside came over the speaker. He told her that something happened with her card and that she needed to come inside to pay. The lady was confused because the transaction showed complete and approved.
She relayed that to him and was getting ready to leave but the
attendant, once again, urged her to come in to pay or there'd be trouble. She proceeded to go inside and started arguing with the attendant about his threat. He told her to calm down and listen carefully: He said that while she was pumping gas, a guy slipped into the back seat of her car on the other side and the attendant had already called the police. She became frightened and looked out in time to see her car door open and the guy slip out. The report is that the new gang initiation thing is to bring back a woman and/or her car. One way they are doing this is crawling
under girls / women's cars while they're pumping gas or at grocery stores in the night-time. The other way is slipping into unattended cars and kidnaping the women. Please pass this on to other women, young and old alike. Be extra careful going to and from your car at night. If at all possible, don't go alone! This is real!! The message:

1. ALWAYS lock your car doors, even if you're gone for just a second!
2. Check underneath your car when approaching it for re-entry, and check in the back before getting in.
3. Always be aware of your surroundings and of other individuals
in your general vicinity, particularly at night!

Daniel Bérubé
>> >Criminal Operations
>> >Interpol Ottawa
>> >1200 Vanier Parkway
>> >Suite A314
>> >Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R2
>> >TeL: (613) 993-5529
>> >Fax: (613) 993-1630
>> >E.Mail: Daniel.Berube@rcmp-grc.gc.ca

 

[LateComer]

Urban Legend:

Read the third example. Also read the update near the bottom of the page. It talks about the supposed Interpol report from Ottawa.

http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/backseat.htm

 

[Vanessa Valentine]

Something like this can easily happen. I've never given it much thought when I've pumped gas, or left my car unlocked and unattended for a brief moment.

I think it's important to share my concerns about safety with my friends and my community.

Vanessa

 

[DenWa]

When I was in high school there were people supposedly hiding underneath your car at the mall, then they'd slash your achilles tendons and steal your shoes...or your car.

Then there was the whole "don't flash someone who's lights are off or they'll kill you"...

it always pays to be careful. but this one's an urban legend.

DW

 

[Sasha Jones]

Not to say this could not happen in a different situation but I think you would have to be pretty brain dead to NOT notice someone getting into your car while you were pumping gas!

 

[DenWa]

exactly

 

[train]

Not to say this could not happen in a different situation but I think you would have to be pretty brain dead to NOT notice someone getting into your car while you were pumping gas!

I heard this story 2 days ago as happening in Mississauga so it's obviously an Urban Legend .

 

[Mrs_Stiffler]

Even if this particular instance is an urban legend, it is still very good advice to keep your car doors locked. I've also heard the advice that to glance into your backseat as you unlock the door is a good idea. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Vanessa Valentine]

Mmm, always a pleasure...

 

[ycghiydvo]

Mrs. Stiffler is correct...

Be safe, if your car is left unattended and unlocked, it can't hurt to just look inside to make sure no one is there. You should always be aware of your surroundings.

Yes, the item that started this thread is an urban legend, but one of things about urban legends is that they usually have some sort of moral to them. And the moral to this one is "be careful"

 

[Rearviewer]

Now here's a real story.

Travelling on the 401, I stop for gas at one of the big 401 service centres. This is my only stop on this trip. When I arrive at my destination I discover that a couple of things that were in the back seat are missing. The only place they could have been taken was during the couple of minutes I was inside paying my gas bill. When I reported this to the cops they said this was a common occurence along the 401.

Moral of the story: if you have to leave your car to pay, lock the doors, even if you know it will only take you a minute, especially if you're in one of those 401 centres. If you have a fairly high vehicle like a van or SUV and with tinted glass or if another tall vehicle parks between the office and your vehicle, you will never see the thieves. Better, and what I always do now, is to pay at the pump with a card. And that's where the urban myth above would be more believable-- if the gal was not paying at the pump. You would have to be stoned/deaf/blind to not notice someone enter your car when you are right beside it.