Pretty sure I was almost the victim of a scam today, and probably did something pretty dangerous.

I'm driving out of the Chipotle parking lot when a bedraggled man approaches my car and tries to get my attention. I roll down the window. He says he needs a ride to a 7-11 a couple blocks down the road. It's 30-something out, and windy, and rainy, so I decide what the heck, I'll give him a ride. (That was the dangerous part, probably.)

Anywho, after a few seconds in the car, he asks me if I'm a man of god. I say, "Ah..." and he says, "Okay, we won't go into that." I shrug and say, "I'm giving you a ride." He then tells me that he absolutely must explain his situation to me. Car stuck on the highway. Needs new alternator. He's not a poor man. He's got a bunch of cash on him, and he's got a shiny ring on his finger. He's a working man. He just doesn't have enough money on him to pay for a new alternator. He checks his smartphone for something. He'll pay me back double in a few days if I lend him the money for the alternator now.

I tell him I'm short on cash right now and can't help him. We get to the 7-11 and I let him out.

Anyone experienced something similar? How do you usually respond? Should I feel confident that a working man with a smartphone should have better options than approaching random strangers on the street for help and that this really was a scam?