Residents approached by con artist

By Tracy Farr
Editor, The Daily Spittoon

An alleged con artist has descended on our fair town, and Stinky Creekians should be on the lookout for any suspicious activity.

According to Sheriff Max Welter, the con artist has approached several local residents but has not been successful.

"We're not really sure what this man's game is," the sheriff said, "but we'll find out sooner or later.  Luckily, the citizens he's talked turn never fell off any turnip trucks."

The man is described as being under 6 feet tall, between 45 and 65 years old, a bit pudgy, has a white beard, glasses and a receding hairline.  He approaches his victims by trying to show them brochures about a traditional Mongolian tent called a Yurt.

"Out of nowhere this man walks up to me and asks me if I've ever dreamt of owning a vacation home but didn't have the money," Marvin Reynolds said.  "Before I could say anything, he opens up this brochure and starts talking about Yurts.  I had no idea what a Yurt was, and I tried to walk away, but he was very adamant about them. He followed me for three blocks, talking all the time."

Yurts are moveable tents lived in by some indigenous tribes of Eastern Europe.  The Mongolians made them out of reindeer hides.

"He didn't really try to sell me one," Reynolds said, "but he wouldn't stop talking about them.  I kept thinking he's probably trying to sell me something like the Brooklyn Bridge, maybe a Brooklyn Bridge Yurt, so that's when I alerted the police." 

If you are approached by the "Fast Talking Yurt Con Man", be polite, listen intently, keep him talking (which shouldn't be a problem) and call Sheriff Welter on his cell phone.