Just got scammed for $180 last night. Exact same thing. Feel like such an idiot...I'm a college student who can't really afford it.
There doesn't seem to be much one can do...I reported it to the cops. Someone really does need to stop this.

Sad to say, I got scammed last week.  
Someone needs to put and end to this soon.
I wish I had seen this site earlier.
No more Mr. Nice Guy, I've been burned 2x now.

Just for the record, it just happened to me as well. I even helped her into a cab when she cried about her daughter. I probably need the money more than she does, after reading these other experiences. This woman needs to be apprehended before she hits more gullible fools like myself. And we should all form a support group.

The exact same thing just happened to me, almost verbatim, to the other stories on here: Jessica Mathews, pregnant and alone in the city because she had just come here from Atlanta, approached me for cab money to help her get home to LaPlata to get her daughter after she had been in an accident. I gave her more than I would like to admit, but something in me was suspicious, and I should have listened to that. I called the number she gave, and it just rang. That's when I Googled and found this board. I called Metro PD to report it, and was told, essentially, too bad, so sad, you're too nice and she didn't break any laws.  I made a big deal with the lady about how it was Christmas and time to help others, I guess hoping to appeal to a conscience if she was a scammer...guess there isn't a conscience there. I actually feel sick.

I was scammed by this woman last evening - 13th December.  I was in a traffic jam at Freedom Plaza when she flagged down my car and said that her name was Jessica, had just been in a traffic accident and police had towed her car away.  She needed $200 for a cab ride to her home in La Plata, MD.  She was crying and had no friends here because she had just moved to DC from Atlanta.  Her mother was in the police but was out of town for a training course. I believed her and gave her $90.  Unfortunately, I will now not believe anyone who might genuinely need help.

When and where did this happen? I'm trying to see if there's some pattern of where she's striking.

Marion, when and where did this happen? I'm trying to see if there's some pattern of where she's striking.

The same thing has happened to me.  The woman was named Jessica, told me her mother had a stroke coming to pick her up downtown in Washington, DC, and asked me for $150 to get a cab ride to get home since her mother could not drive.  I will report this to the DC police.  She gave me the same number and told me she was on her first day at the Dept. of Transportation.  I hope she gets caught.

Same deal as everyone else.

I meant to say that I wasn't able to get her the $150 she "needed"

This woman came up to me outside of Union Station!!  What was really believable to me was the fact that, as we walked by the police at Union Station, she thanked them for their help and they acknowledged her back and told her they hoped she was okay.  Luckily I had lost my debit card anyway and wasn't able to get me the $150 she needed to get back to La Plata, MD.  She kept saying she was a social worker for D.C. Child and Family Services.  What SCUM.  

I'm pretty sure I've met this woman before. It was in Stafford in 2008 or 2009. She drove up to me in a Cadillac SUV in a shopping center parking lot and in an entirely believable panicked voice, asked me for $67 so she could pick up her kid. When I reminded her that she was driving a Cadillac, she claimed she was just borrowing it. I wished her good luck and left.

Her mobile number is a Stafford exchange, so I bet she lives down that way. Bottom line, this woman's been at this for a long time and is very practiced. Keep your eyes peeled! :)

This crazy woman accosted me at Foggy Bottom! She said her name was Jessica and she was a lawyer from Atlanta. She was crying since she needed to get back to pick up her child. I gave her $25 then she called me asking to go with her to an ATM near my house. I hung up the phone on her.

You are all strongly encouraged to report this crime to your local police department and the neighboring jurisdictions, otherwise, there's little to stop her.  Our report with two more victims in just the last week will run on ABC7 in Washington tonight at 5:10pm.

Rule of thumb:   If their story is ten times longer than it needs to be, it's a scam.    If confronted with such a situation, especially if it allegedly involves some sort of an accident or situation involving public safety--a child is alone somewhere, etc--tell them you will call 911 for them and stay with them until police arrive, then do it.   It's no offense if you honestly convey their story to authorities.   Most of these fakers have criminal records and won't  hang around long if they think the cops are on the way.    If you do call 911 and your "victim" suddenly departs, call back and explain or if the cops actually show, explain to them.   NEVER give them money.

I agree with Willow on this. Contact the local PD. And I would also suggest that anyone with a phone camera could maybe take a pic of her and get it to them.

This is just a thought, but since you all seem to be in the same city, I wonder if it would be possible to turn this person in to the local authorities?

I just ran into this trash of a human being on 10/8 at approximately 830pm near across from UDC law school on Connecticut ave.  She said the same things to me; was in a car accident, needed to pick up young daughter, crying and shaking the whole deal.  I was also worried that it was a scam but I couldn't leave someone who appeared to be in such distress.  

She is a black woman approximately 5'11 280lbs with straight hair, it was up in a bun but the bun was small so it doesn't appear to be very long.  She has a small scar next to her right eye near the temple.  At the time of the scam she was wearing a black top and pants, along with a white plastic rosary, kept going on about being a catholic.

She is complete trash,  

Exactly the same happened to me yesterday, near McPherson square metro. She identified herself as Jessica Matthews, working as an office manager for a law firm (she even offered me their services in case I needed a good lawyer!). We walked together down the street at 7 pm to get some cash from an ATM. She went on and on telling me that story, which I can swear sounded extremely compelling (be careful with this woman, she's truly an actress!). When I was giving her some money ($200), I asked her for her ID as a proof, besides of exchanging our numbers(I made her calling me to double check), as we have agreed to meet the following day to give me the money back. Her mobile worked perfectly then. I suspected of her when she told me that didn't have any ID with her...but honestly, I wanted to cut the story and go home after having spent 40 minutes listening to her. Her tears were so real!!

I knew I had 50% chance that all was a bad cheat, which turned out to be what I was somehow expecting... She never showed up this morning and her telephone is busy all the time. Fortunately, a friend at work googled the number and got the truth from this forum. It's so sad that there are such bad and villain people like her. Never again I'll help anyone else in the street. Frustrating and disappointing that we live in a world with less and less humanity.

Wow, this person is quite the actress. "Jessica" said she just moved here from Atlanta.  She was so distressed - she had just been in a terrible drunk driving accident but thankfully had been unhurt - and I believed her because there were police cars down the road at what seemed to be an accident.  She went on to tell me how she was two hours from home, had a four year old daughter to get to, and needed money for a cab.  And she even had the audacity to act so thankful when I said I'd help her out; she hugged me repeatedly and called me her "little sister."  Oh, and she mentioned that her father had just passed away.  Using people's emotions against them...that's pretty frickin' messed up.

Darn, this happened to me too. She said her name was Jessica Mathew and worked at a law firm, just moved here from North Carolina. She was VERY convincing. Sobing and shaking saying she had just gotten in a car accident (and there really was a car being towed away). I sat there talking with her for about 40 minutes before I gave her money. She said she had to get a cab home but luckily I didn't give her too much. 571-296-3544 does not work.

Okay..same thing.. On Friday, Feb 22, 2013, around 7 pm, I got the same story from a Jennifer Matthews.  I was just inside the  L'Enfant Plaza Metro Station. Told me she got in a car accident, missed the VRE and the slug lines, needed to get back to Stafford to pick up her kid from daycare.  She was new in town, just moved from Atlanta. She was good, had tears and everything.   I gave her $80.  She wanted me to get money out of the ATM machine, but I refused.          I've been here for twenty years and never been scammed. First time for everything.   The one number I call just rings and rings and rings -- 202-727-1800.  And the number 571-296-3544 is turned off.    Just call me a sucker. My friends are going to tease me for some time about this one.

Exact same thing happened to me except in person at Metro Center. Said she was pregnant and got into a car accident etc. etc. Luckily just dropped her a $20 before running away. I spent an hour with her looking for cabs and asking people at hotels how she can get back to Stafford.

The woman 'Adele' pretended that she got into a car accident, was from Atlanta, was a social worker, and needed money to go back home to her daughter. I gave her $160 for a cab ride home. I was leaving my office in Ballston when she got a hold of me. She even asked if I would go to the ATM for her. I called her today because we were going to do an exchange and the phone is turned off. I feel stupid but I was trying to do the right thing by helping a stranger out. Sucks that I was just being naive and there are some people out there who just are scammers. AVOID!!!!