Armani jacket scam Attempt to scam me with "free" Armani suits and jackets Nationwide

This is a classic scam, I now know. Whoever these people are, they sure get around. It happened to me yesterday in Saudi Arabia (where I work), of all places. I was walking to my car in a mall parking lot when a car stopped and a man asked me for directions to the highway. He was a real chatterbox and started to go on and on about how he had just opened an Armani shop in another nearby mall and was on his way back to Milano for his daughter's birthday but his cell phone GPS didn't work.

When I told him I was American, he pulled his car over, got out and began blabbering about how much he loves America and since he had these clothes that he would only have to pay customs on if he brought them back to Italy, he was going to give them to me for free. He showed me one suit and it had a price tag of 2,000 Euros on it. The next thing I know, he's handed me a large plastic Armani bag and he proceeds to put three suits in it, telling me they're free. Next he shows me this really nice looking leather jacket, which he says also costs 2,000 Euros and he puts it in the bag too. It's all free, he says, but can't I just do one favor for him? He's flying back to Milano for his daughter's birthday and can't I just buy a cell phone for her as a token of appreciation. It's such a small thing to ask for over $8,000 worth of free Armani clothes.

I have to admit that at first, before he started giving me free clothes, this guy was convincing. His Italian accent sure seemed real, and the suits and jacket were all nice looking (not junky as has been said in other reports), in Armani garment bags and had convincing price tags on them.

But when he insisted that we walk into the mall so I buy him a cell phone for his daughter, I sensed it was a scam and handed him the clothes and got out of there.

He failed to scam me, but I still felt creepy and violated.