Messing with the Uptown "Broken Bottle" Scammers

One of our most commented-posts was the one about various scams that are pulled on people, especically on susceptible people unused to New York City-style hustle, grifts and cons. And many con artists do like to stalk areas that are flush with tourists and students. So we were pleased that all of the tips and scams our commenters had given us the first time around could benefit other people, such as reader Josh who sent us this email:

So I was hurriedly walking uptown on Broadway from 96th street to make a meeting with a professor--i was already late because they were running the 1 trains express and I decided it would be faster to walk to 116th rather than to go to 145 and then down again, local. As I passed 104th st, there was this couple, looking kind of down and out, he had a suitcase, and they were headed towards this payphone (ahead of me, to my right). As I sped up to pass them, the man bumped into me and dropped the black plastic bag he was carrying in his right hand. As I was on my phone at the time, i kept walking after saying sorry as I passed--it seemed like his fault. But I heard the lady calling, "Excuse me, excuse me!" after me...

I should just have kept walking, but I turned around, hung up, and apologized and offered to pay him for what was in the bag, broken (which looked like a beverage). He said he didn't want my money and that it had this prescription in it and it was gone and he wanted me to walk with him up to this pharmacy....etc. He threw the bag away while flashing a prescription in my face--I remembered where he tossed the bag--and started walking, giving me threatening looks. I kept asking him questions--what was it for, why in the bag, etc--and he wouldn't really reply.

So after a block, I said, you know, I'm happy to pay for it if it is what you claim it is, but I want to see what was in the bag. He assures me that it's fine, that I should just walk east with him to the place, "it's right around the corner" and explain to the guy that "I broke it" and to ask him to replace it. I refuse after he won't tell me the name of the place or what it was he bought, and I walk back to the trash can--the two are now concerned--and I look inside
the two black plastic bags, to find two broken Sobe bottles. I say, "Well, there's some broken beverages here, want me to pay for them?" At this point, the guy says, "I'm just gonna go in this Rite Aid, come after me when you're satisfied and tell the guy here that you broke it." He goes in. The woman says, "They must have emptied the can!" and points to two trash bags nearby. i look in them. nothing. So I say, "Well, do you want money for the beverage, or...?" She looks bewildered and says, wait til he gets out! I say, "Well, OK then, sorry for the trouble," and take off up Broadway.

I had remembered this article on Gothamist when this whole ordeal began.

And, as it fit the description, I pretty much knew I was getting scammed (or set up to be robbed). So I basically went with it long enough to be completely and utterly satisfied that I was in the right and then hauled off. What did I get for my trouble? One cut finger (from rooting in the trash can) and the satisfaction that, while I may look like an easy mark, I knew better and pulled out of it in style.

Thank you, Gothamist!

We offered to send Josh some band-aids and First Aid cream, but he said he had that covered.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on May 26, 2006 1:35 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

Sounds like Brian Ellington. His pictures are on this website: www.james-brian-ellington.com - there are arrest warrants for him in two states. Victims have been begging police to pick him up for months. He's currently in North Carolina, still scamming people. Complaints come in all the time. He stole $4000 from Da Gennaro restaurant and $2000 from the elderly restaurant manager in November '06.

If anyone has been scammed and recognizes this picture - we think he's gone by aliases also - please report to us so we can forward to authorities.

Larry

Another great one is the "Oh you broke my glasses" scam. When you're not paying attention, someone walking by you will bump into you somehow and make a lot of noise. When you turn around, there's a pair of broken glasses on the ground. This happened to me several times around the Garment District, both in sunny conditions and rainy (e.g. "Oh you bumped into me with your umbrella, poked my eye, AND knocked my glasses off!")

The thing is, I don't think anyone wears glass lenses anymore and you'd have to really smash plastic lens glasses hard to cause the sort of damage you see on these glasses.

Don't fall for it.

Rach

Has anyone ever noticed that these bump and break scammers tend to victimize men only? I've never heard of it happening to a woman.

lsd

there was this black guy who was pretending to eat salad when he walked straight into me. and He was alll pissed off when his salad was on the floor and asked me for money. I was like "black people don't eat salad, stop playin" and left his conman ass.

whatever

I haven't seen him in a while, but there used to be a 35-40 yr. old guy around Grand Central Terminal.

His con was that he was a student at Yale and had no money for train fare to return to New Haven, CT.

The first time he gave me his sob story, I gave him some money (but only because I thought it was so creative). The next time I just walked away.

S.D.

If one has a Camera Phone, Snap a shot and call the Cops...

Michael

I live in the Wall Street area and have repeatedly been subject to what I call the "guilty White professional" scam. A black man walking on the street will smile broadly and exclaim "hey, don't you remember me from work? I was a security guard in your building. How are you doing". If I respond in a friendly manner I soon learn that he's not doing too well, having recently suffering a personal tragedy, and a few dollars would be much appreciated. His not unreasonable belief is that I can't recognize the anonymous black men working in my buiding and/or that I can't disntinguish one black man from another. I'd say this has happended to me about a dozen times over the past three years.

Wayne

That reminds me of the two occassions, literally two years apart. Once on the UWS when I was walking home I was passing these two black guys, decently dressed I suppose. They were walking unusually slow and as I tried to pass them, it seems I got in their way (more like they tried to make it look so) and bumped elbows. So as the scam goes, he drops this pair of sunglasses on the ground. I say sorry and keep walking, but then he says 'Hey, hey buddy...you broke my glasses man'. I said well sorry, didn't mean to. He says 'these cost me $50 dollers bro'. I said well you could easily have bumped into me. He had this look on his face as if I had just dissed him, but I wasn't buying it. I said sorry I bumped into ya, but it wasn't my fault you dropped your glasses. I just walked off, no harm done.

Now fast forward two years later. I was going back to the office from lunch in Midtown. Wouldnt you know it? I get that strange, unusual bump again and the same two guys. Immediately I know what's up. I hear him say hey, I turn around and shake my head at him as if to shame him. He says nothing and turns around quick. These guys never give up.

gotmeonce

some interesting experiences have been posted on the original link... i grew up in brooklyn and live in manhattan, so i am usually aware of scammers, but my dad got hit once in the 80s and i fell for one in 2001. a contractor that had done some work in our bathroom for 5 boro tile at our house in brooklyn knocked on our door one night a few months after the job was done. he said his car ran out of gas a few blocks away and he had no money, etc. my dad was suspicious, but didn't like that the guy knew were we lived, and knew that 3 little kids lived in the house. my dad gave him $20 and the guy said he would mail him a check from work the next day. needless to say, he no longer worked for the company and my dad never heard from him again. he could have given him nothing, but i think it was an acceptable write-off since this skell knew where we lived and my dad didn't want to piss him off. In summer of 2001, I was approached by a well dressed black man in a suit, carrying an appointment book in the world trade center. he claimed that he had just finished an interview but had lost his wallet and needed $20 for a cab to get back to newark airport. he was running late for his flight back to north carolina and was desperate. he even gave me a copy of his resume with his address and phone # (both fake of course) to prove he was legit. he took my business card and promised to mail me a check for $20. At this point, I wasn't sure if i thought it was a great scam or just a guy in a bad spot that needed help. I think i was 50-50, but feeling generous, so i gave him the $20 and googled his name when i got back to my office. never heard from him of course, and it's one of my last memories of being in the world trade center before 9/11. :(

WHITE GUY

where they black?

jdog

I got hustled on 125th Street in a similar way. Instead of medicine, it was some sort of fat burner so this guy could lift weights. Eventually he threatened me so I gave him some money. I can't wait to go Travis Bickle on his arse someday.

j0sh

they are real batteries, just not real duracell bateries like they look like.. they usually say "PURECELL" instead. They are dry-cell not alkalines either, they will generally last about one fifth as long as real duracells, so its still not a terrible deal if your walkman is dead or if you need them for something that you dont really care how long it lasts, like a remote...

bklynd

I think they are just cheap batteries. Do you buy them? How long do they last?

Joe Texas

Don't give the woman on the corner of Houston and A your money when she begs for it. She's just going to go inside the deli and spend it on scratch off lottery tickets.

Anyone know what's up with the battery guy on the subway? Not a scam I don't think, but how are they so cheap? btw that guy is awesome.

Paul

Hey, I'd really like to keep reading this article, but I'm at Starbucks and about to run out of wireless internet minutes. Do you think you could paypal me $19.95 so I can finish reading it?