MIDLAND, Texas — It seems charitable enough.
Give some cash to help a little girl named Sofia get the surgery she needs for her heart condition.
And many people give.
“I’m behind people that I see when I’m driving at intersections that I see stop and give money, you know… pulls at their heartstrings,” said Midland resident Pam Ereira.
A post on Nextdoor alerted West Texans about the panhandling scam, where a group of individuals go up and down intersections and sidewalks asking for donations to help pay for surgery for a young girl named Sofia who, according to the signs, has a rare heart condition.
Sometimes, the individuals will also change the name of the girl or the condition to try and fly under the radar.
Commenters on the Nextdoor post said they have seen panhandlers with these signs around Midland Drive and the Loop 250 entrance near Highway 191.
This Facebook post from a South Florida sheriff's office warned their residents of the scam, with the post getting hundreds of likes, comments and shares.
Newswest 9 called the sheriff's office in South Florida and they confirmed that a group with those signs were sighted in counties such as Martin and Palm County.
The City of Odessa currently has an ordinance against panhandling, while Midland has signs placed around the city warning drivers about panhandlers and telling them not to give money or other donations to them.
Odessa Police Department Community Relations Officer Corporal Steve Lesueur helped put some of the legal language of the ordinance into layman's terms.
“If they are on private property, for example, if they are near the entrance of a shopping center on private property, then in that case it is legal because they are not on public property," Lesueur said. "But if they are on public property or if you see the sign from the street or the road or the sidewalk, then it is illegal.”
Ereira has her own way of dealing with panhandlers asking for donations.
“Ask them for a verifiable donation page to go to," Ereira said. "Because when somebody really needs help, they set up GoFundMes and there’s a whole donation involved. When you check out the GoFundMe page, there’s some ways to trace it, you know and verify it.”