scammers and bus passes

[KellyHabersham]

*Note: I don't know for certain that these people ARE scammers, as I'm not always good with face recognition (one of my Asperberger's symptoms. And because some aspects of this are definitely more appropriate for Fratching, I'm just focusing on where it gets sucky on my end*

Within the past few months or so (I forget exactly when we started it), the church which I work for decided to start handing out free bus passes to those in need......with the policy being that each person is limited to three passes per year. (And people DO get told this when they first fill out the form we use)

Around the time we started keeping bus passes on hand, a couple from the apartment complex next door apparently showed up in the church office asking for help with bus fare. Our pastor was the one who dealt with them, and I don't know what she told them, but it seems that they spread the word to friends/relatives/neighbors, so I've been seeing a semi-steady trickle of people showing up in the office asking for a bus pass.

Anyhow, let's just say that because of some people who may or may not be trying to take advantage of the assistance we offer, I'm now having to ask for a photo I.D./proof of address when giving out bus passes. and where this gets sucky for me is that the possible scammers always come in when it's just me in the office, so I have no back-up if they want to get sucky about it.

[Willis]

This sounds familiar. You're the one who hands out food to homeless people at your church right and some get picky? So now it's bus passes too and you're stuck without backup. How convenient eh?

[KellyHabersham]

I'd say the "bus pass" thing is a bit different though, because it was my idea to start asking for photo I.D. - I figured it would be the best way to cut back/down on possible scammers without ruining things for those who genuinely DO need the help.

I also feel that when our Missions/Community Outreach Committee makes decisions on these things, they need to keep in mind the possibility of people taking advantage of/becoming dependent upon churches for assistance. (I know our pastor is aware of this potential problem, but I'm not sure other people have really thought about it)

[Sparky]

These people may or may not be intentional scammers. They could just be following rumors.

"Where'd ya get the bus pass?"
"They're handing them out at the church."
"Can anybody get one?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Sweet!"

But you're probably right.

Either way, kudos for taking responsibility for this. When I was a bus driver, we had two kinds of passes -- one for full fare, and one for youth, senior, or disabled. A local organization that employs developmentally disabled adults asked for permission to sell our half-fare passes to their clients. Then they started selling them to everyone, leaving the drivers stuck with explaining to some perfectly healthy 30-year old, that the pass they's so helpfully offered to sell her was no good.

[MoonCat]

These people may or may not be intentional scammers. They could just be following rumors.

"Where'd ya get the bus pass?"
"They're handing them out at the church."
"Can anybody get one?"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Sweet!"

I can totally see this happening. Once you start giving something away, you never hear the end of it. The church could decide to stop doing this tomorrow and I guarantee you'll get people 5 years from now asking for a free bus pass.

[KellyHabersham]

Well, I do know for certain that word HAS gotten around one of the nearby apartment complexes, because that seems to be where the majority of our bus pass "customers" come from, and these people weren't showing up to ask for help with bus fare before.

Anyhow, the possible scammer part comes into play because a person is entitled to receive only three bus passes per year, and I'm suspicious that one or two people are using different names/addresses to get around this. But it's honestly hard to tell, because as I've mentioned before, my facial/voice recognition skills aren't always good, and I certainly have no way of proving that someone who lists their name as "Mary Smith, living at X address" actually IS that person.

hich is the reason I'd suggested asking for I.D. when people come in to ask for bus fare assistance, and so far it's worked well - I have to say that it felt good to tell one woman (who is one of my scammer suspects) that I couldn't help her with a bus pass unless she had photo I.D. with her.

[Imogene]

The church could decide to stop doing this tomorrow and I guarantee you'll get people 5 years from now asking for a free bus pass.

My mom used to run an in home daycare... quit and closed it AT LEAST ten years before we all moved down here to Texas, and DAMNED if I wasn't getting calls for her daycare up until the week I moved down.
Picture it, I'm the only person in an otherwise empty house, phone rings, I answer. "Hi, is this Juwl's Daycare?"
"*sigh* Years upon years upon millenia ago, yes, it WAS."
"Could you possibly take a two year old on Monday?"
"Where do you want me to take him? And do you want him returned in the same condition?"
"WHAT?"
"I said the daycare is CLOSED. *click*"

[smileyeagle1021]

Then they started selling them to everyone, leaving the drivers stuck with explaining to some perfectly healthy 30-year old, that the pass they's so helpfully offered to sell her was no good.

This is why UTA has been trying to convince the state to allow them to have a income restricted discounted pass for low income riders.
Their justification is quite sound... it is a lot cheaper to subsidize a bus pass for someone to get to a job than it is to subsidize... well, everything for the person. Of course the idea was with the person now having better mobility they would eventually be able to get a better job where they would no longer be dependent on the program...
Failing that, the state would still end up ahead (or at least UTA would) because grants from the federal government are based partially on ridership numbers, so get more people on the bus/train and more federal dollars come in.
But you see, that proposal makes sense, and we all know the rules when it comes to something making sense

That said, I can see a lot of suck coming the OP's way after three months when they start telling people they've already used their maximum allotment for the year.

[BlaqueKatt]

This is why UTA has been trying to convince the state to allow them to have a income restricted discounted pass for low income riders.

they did that here when bus passes went up to $60 a month(and I bought a couple bikes-cheaper than passes)-if you had a foodstamp card you could get a pass for $30-however there were only 500 discounted passes available on a fcfs basis-and then they wondered why ridership was down so much...

buses only run 5am until midnight mon-fri, and most routes run once an hour-some only run during "peak hours" and that's 4 hours a day-When I started riding the bus 15 years ago adult fares were 80 cents, youth was 60 cents, monthly pass was $20, now it's $60 for a monthly pass, $2 for adults and 80 cents for youth-so it's almost tripled for adults but only gone up 20 cents for youth....real fair....

[MoonCat]

My mom used to run an in home daycare... quit and closed it AT LEAST ten years before we all moved down here to Texas, and DAMNED if I wasn't getting calls for her daycare up until the week I moved down.
Picture it, I'm the only person in an otherwise empty house, phone rings, I answer. "Hi, is this Juwl's Daycare?"
"*sigh* Years upon years upon millenia ago, yes, it WAS."
"Could you possibly take a two year old on Monday?"
"Where do you want me to take him? And do you want him returned in the same condition?"
"WHAT?"
"I said the daycare is CLOSED. *click*"

True story, happened to a woman I worked with: When she was in her 20s she lived with her parents. They moved to a new house (new as in new to them, not a new build) near a fire station. She said as the trucks were passing on their way back to the firehouse, the firemen would often lean out their windows and wave at her and her mom while they were sitting on the porch. She thought they were just being friendly. A neighbor eventually clued her in.....previous owner of that house (a woman) used to run a little, ahem, "business" on the side...

[panda]

When I started riding the bus 15 years ago adult fares were 80 cents, youth was 60 cents, monthly pass was $20, now it's $60 for a monthly pass, $2 for adults and 80 cents for youth-so it's almost tripled for adults but only gone up 20 cents for youth....real fair....

When I was a kid, cash fare was 40p for children and 70p for adults. Now, kids are free and adults are £2. THAT is unfair!

[Whiskey]

*Note: I don't know for certain that these people ARE scammers, as I'm not always good with face recognition (one of my Asperberger's symptoms.

Its Asperger.

[Dreamstalker]

Then they started selling them to everyone, leaving the drivers stuck with explaining to some perfectly healthy 30-year old, that the pass they's so helpfully offered to sell her was no good.

The state disability org I'm working with offers the reduced-fare passes. A lot of people they serve have visible disabilities, but a lot (like me) don't...although I can look the part if carrying a lot of stuff (intermittent balance issues).

The passes have a photo on the back, and drivers are supposed to verify who's using it. They're also tracked in the transit system (the application process is fairly stringent as the agency needs to be the one to submit everything) so if I lose mine I just need to go down to a pass office and I can get it reissued and the money that was on it is transferred.

Drivers never check the photos, at least not that I've seen..in theory if someone other than the owner is caught using a disabled/senior pass it's confiscated and they are ticketed/fined. I once lost my pass on the way to work; when I was able to get to the pass office (the office IT guy let me take off early and drove me over to make sure I got down there in time) I was told it had been used after I discovered it missing--wish they'd been able to tell me where.

[Whiskey]

The state disability org I'm working with offers the reduced-fare passes. A lot of people they serve have visible disabilities, but a lot (like me) don't...although I can look the part if carrying a lot of stuff (intermittent balance issues).

If youre disabled here, you get a medicare card. If its a mental/non-visible disability, your medicare card is proof youre disabled.

[Solumina]

One thing that my mom's church started doing to cut out people taking advantage of them is to only make things freely available for someone if they sit down and go over their budget. That way they can A) make sure that people really need the help B) give them what they need, allowing them to help everyone who needs help but only giving the most to those with the most needs and C) do more to help than just give them a few free things, a lot of people were even able to learn of other organizations/programs that they would qualify for help from. It took a lot of effort on the churches end but it seems to have ended up being very much worth the initial investment in training and amount of time devoted to each case. If I recall correctly you would qualify for 6 months of help, no more questions asked but you would have to have a new visit after that time, this also helped them to help people make progress and wean them off of the assistance as their situation improved because a lot of people had been continuing to rely on the church, even after they stopped really needing it.

This may not work for all organizations but it sure did help them out.