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I was at a Petro-Canada the other day minding my own bee’s wax while filling up the MenzoidMobile. The gas station is located at Bayview Avenue and Major Mackenzie Drive. Astute Rebel News viewers may notice that this corner is now a hotspot in Richmond Hill, Ont., for Roma scammers.

Here's what happened: a white Mitsubishi RVR rolled up alongside my car. Inside were two well-dressed and well-groomed young men. Here’s the pitch: they are from Dubai, you see, and earlier that day they had all their belongings stolen – their suitcases, their wallets, their passports. The works.

Given their dire circumstances, they needed to get to Ottawa in order to visit the United Arab Emirates embassy so they could get new passports. Just one hitch: their SUV was running on fumes. Please, please, please, they pleaded, could you fill up the tank so they could embark upon their odyssey to Ottawa?

Now, just in case you think I am a complete rube, I knew I was being scammed. But I decided to play along just to see how this con job played out. Thus, I pumped $53 worth of petrol into the RVR.

And they were very appreciative. But obviously, they looked upon me as a gullible cow to be further milked. So along came their next pitch: being moneyless, they were starving, you see. And they can’t eat the meat sticks and potato chips the gas station sells, because, naturally, they are both on restricted diets. Of course they are!

But to show their appreciation for the gas, one man gave me his “18-karat gold ring”. And he explained that I could show my appreciation for this windfall by using my credit card to get a cash advance at the gas station’s ATM. That way they could buy some grub.

I politely declined. But being such swell guys, this dynamic duo said Menzies could keep the ring nevertheless. Gee, wasn’t that so nice of them?

Now, let’s get to the crux of the matter: I visited Omni Jewelcrafters in Toronto to get an appraisal from owner Jack Berkowits. As soon as Jack spotted the ring with his naked eye, he called it out as a fake. A subsequent test proved Jack to be correct.

And get this: what happened to me is not a one-off. Jack said at least once a day (!) he receives a visit from a person who has fallen victim to the gas-for-gold scam. These are people who genuinely believe they had scored a ring worth $3,000 for being a Good Samaritan.

Moral of the story: should you happen to be in the Greater Toronto Area, beware of two gents in a white Mitsubishi RVR bearing gifts. As the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true – it is!