I once offered to buy food for a woman who was looking rather rough outside a fairly upmarket supermarket like Marks and Spencer or something. She said it was a waste of money to get expensive for her and there was an Aldi or something just round the corner.

Just around the corner turned out to be a ten minute walk through parts of the city I didn't know. I hated the loss of control and the fact that I didn't know exactly where I was. It made me uncomfortable the whole time. I'm a big, fairly strong man who wasn't in real risk of being overpowered by one woman (assuming she really was alone), and even I was concerned for my safety. He could have overpowered you.

Anyway, I recognised where we were when we re-emerged from some side street, and I got her some food, then she suggested something else I wasn't happy with like giving her cash or something or buying her something else in another shop, can't remember which.

I said no and it was all fine, but I will absolutely never do that again. It was unpleasant.

I strongly recommend not following someone you just met who wants you to go to a location you don't know. Been there, done that, it ended fine, but I won't ever do it again. You chose well. He might have been honest and no danger to you, but you can't know that and your instincts told you to be cautious - don't ignore those instincts; you might be picking up on clues you simply can't put into words about his behaviour and your surroundings.

I had the same same thing happen with the ATM being very close and all that.

Yeah, the ATM is a tricky location, they can either grab your purse or, while you are focused on the keypad, they can step up behind you, show you a knife or screwdriver and suggest you might want to consider increasing your charitable donation.