Revisiting Common Street Scams

My favorite is the "There are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq" scam.

I remember seeing these guys on the A train a few months ago. Although I didn't give them any money I totally fell for their story too. They are really good at what they do... I guess...

If the daughter was a baby, I think I saw this couple about three years ago on the W. And then about 6 months later on the W again. I asked them loudly if they had been keeping their daughter in their freezer, because I saw them collecting money for the same funeral a long time ago. They changed cars.

Seen them a few times....felt bad the first time...

Perhaps legit, but:

How bout Ralphie on the L?
Very skinny Latino man with long dark hair and beard who delivers this message...

(Spoken really fast)
Ladies and gentlemen good evening my name is Ralphie. I am homeless and HIV positive. I sell this newspaper to put money in my pocket. It's not much but it's an honest living and keeps a roof over my head and helps me get a bite to eat...

Saw him almost every week for 4 years. Last year, I saw him AND is TWIN BROTHER walking uptown w/ wives(?) and kids. Boggled my mind.

Kalulani: See, I have wanted to call them out but that guy always looks so freaking angry. Instead I stand in silence and shake my head.

Bastards.

Miquel: If they are legit, their daughter's dead body would be horrid by now. Or, the have a lot of daughters dying in fires and therefore the police should investigate.

Not commitment, they just think nobody would call them out on their scam. then pull every card in their play book. Someone should put up a "holla back" type site for these scammers. Maybe someone already did.

i carry $100 bills in monopoly money (i thnk they're pink) for these scammers. it's as liegit as their stories.

You guys aren't seeing the true scenario. This couple has LOTS of babies and live above a candle store, leading to at least 6 baby-killing fires per year. RESPECT THEIR DEAD, BURNED BABIES!

Oh, that pisses me off. That was the one and only time I ever gave someone money (6 train about a year ago) because my life was going well and their story was so damn sad.

I can't wait to see them again.

I never give money. Donate to a reputable charity instead, whose bookkeeping has to account at some point for every penny they receive--unlike beggars on the street who unfortunately use the money for more drugs, alcohol, etc.

And I never stop to listen to anyone's b.s. story. We all have a sad story. We all need money. That's why I GOT A FREAKIN' education and bust my ass at WORK. I keep earphones on even when I'm not listening to music (keeps people from approaching you)and if anyone dares to come over even to ask for the time, they get no response. I don't even make eye contact.

Trust me when I say that's the best way to do it in NY. Otherwise I'd get mugged everyday by scammers asking me to spare a quarter or ask me what time it is while their accomplice picks my pocket...

Back in the 90's, I remember the "Street News" guy on the F who always said the same lines everytime for many years. I could recite them word for word (not anymore). Could he be Ralphie? He didn't mentioned HIV though.

Also the kids who sold $1 candies and said they were for their basketball team uniforms. Then later they change their stories and said they sold candies just to keep out of trouble. Could they be considered scams? Where do they get their candies?

That couple has haunted me since I saw them only once about three years ago, particularly because at one point she started crying hysterically and he started yelling about how awful it was to not even be able to provide a dignified burial for their little girl.

At the time, I was broke but kept out of homelessness by my generous mother and had just lost my dad a year before.

If I ever see them again, there will be a public shin kicking.

The "homeless" on the street with the tables and giant old water bottles filled with pennies, nickles and dimes: they're not legit... they're scam artists as well posing as a legit org.

I've seen this couple for years. First was on the 1 and 3 trains and now they've moved to the L. I knew this was a scam from the get go. Honestly, if you had to pay for funeral arrangements what would a person without funds logically do? Start begging from strangers? Probably never. Never, ever, give to pandhandlers on the subways. The situation is out of control. If you want to do something, give to a soup kitchen. By the way, there are an abundance of heroin dealers off the L line. I see half-dead smack heads on it all the time. So consider that.

A few months ago I finally got around to going to the DMV to renew my license and was waiting outside on West 34th Street where the DMV Express office is. Some black man comes up to me and said "Hey, how are you? I haven't seen you in a while." Before I could say that I wasn't who he thought I was he said "You probably don't recognize me because I am on dialis (sp?) now because of my kidneys and my face is bloated. I was one of the security guards in your building until they let me go."

Of course this went the route of "so I need a transplant in the next 10 months or I will die and need money."

For a second I almost bought into it - In fact it was pretty smart on his part- think about it- He can tell by looking at me that I either live or work in a building with a security guard; that I have enough white-liberal guilt to make myself feel bad when he said "you probably don't recognise me" (i.e. you white people think we all look alike); and before I have time to think has a good excuse as to why I wouldn't recognize him. It was all in presentation. Had I been quicker I could of said "which building" or "which entrance" and totally shut him down. But his timing was great, like he had the answer to your question just before you said it.

I didn't give him a thing but for a second I almost understood how these things are so successful.

When I lived in Park Slope there was a guy who claimed he was far from home and needed his car fixed. He would drive around in the same beat up old piece of crap for the entire 5 years I lived there claiming that he was either stranded, or that the car was at the shop and he needed the money to pay for a new radiator or something.

Maybe this is old news, and considering its not New York, nonimportant, but hey, anyway.

I was the "victim" of a scam in Moscow (luckily i'd been warned about it before). Basically someone walks by you and drops a few rubles, and you, being the good-hearted tourist, pick it up to give it back to them. Say they dropped 10 rubles. They then claim that they had dropped at 50, and a second person comes up and argues on their behalf. You, feeling bullied, give the first guy the remainder of what they feel they are owed (otherwise you're chased around, usually red square, and thus attract unwanted police attention).

i haven't heard of it happening here, but since returning i've definetely thought twice about picking up that lucky penny.

What about the Chinese speaking scammers? I had a woman come up to me speaking in Chinese about how her wallet was stolen and she needed train fare on metro-north to her sister's house in brewster (we were in grand central). She said she didn't speak English, how hard it is in the country....I felt bad and gave her $5. I told my friend the story and she said a Chinese GUY tried the same thing on her a couple weeks earlier. I told a Japanese friend the story and he had the same thing happen to him at Penn Station.

When I lived in Paris, a very dignified African man (he said he was a scientist from Kenya) walked up to me and a friend one evening saying he needed 100 francs to buy a Camping Gaz cannister so his wife could cook dinner. He told a story of having been pickpocketed, and not wanting money for food because he had food, but his wife was waiting for him to come home with the cannister so she could cook for the family.

He even told us what his research specialty was, and we were impressed! Of course we wavered between believing and not believing. We both were thinking the same thing -- this hapless scientist is never going to get the money together to get that gas cannister before the stores close, and he's going to feel like such a loser... We gave him 100 francs (we split it between us).

Of course, we passed the bar down the street later, and saw him drinking there. We felt duped, naturally. But we felt more sorry for the duper than for us. Somehow we were glad we'd taken the leap of faith that once, and consoled eachother. But we'd never do it again.

scamtastic..

he IS still doing it. i was once walking near astor place.. he runs at me from across the street and starts talking to me about how he's gay and a costume designer for sweeney todd and how he had locked all of the costumes inside the wardrobe room. he ended up talking to me for like 5 minutes about theater stuff and it was obvious it was bullshit, but by the end of it i figured "the guy has put this much time and thought into getting some money, ill give him a buck"

i remember him having a few very rotted out teeth. hmm.

Jen or someone,
Could you elaborate on the "Do you got a quarter" scam around Union Square? I almost got mugged by a group of 3 surrounding me saying that last year in Union Square area. Is this isolated or is it more common of a mugging trap than I think?

the uho scammers with the water cooler bottles are a complete scam. ditto the kids selling the candy (which you'll note is mysteriously always the exact same candy, m&m's and now&laters). theirs is an even sadder story, they do all the work and then have to give up all the money to these disgusting adults who are forcing them to sell the candy.

I've seen a shoeless lady on the E several times who claims that her shoes were stolen while she was sleeping at a shelter. She asks for money for new shoes--it seems like everyone in the car gives her a dollar. Once I saw her go through the routine, get off at 42nd Street, then sit on a bench and pull a pair of old sneakers out of her backpack.

"He then proceeded to spin a tale about how he was an assistant to Issac Mizrahi, and he had locked all of the clothes needed for a fashion shoot inside his apartment. He claimed to have lost the key, and needed cab fare to go to his grandmother's house and pick up the copy."

I had this happen to me at least 10 years ago - no lie.

There used to be a guy I'd see occasionally around Grand Central who claimed he was a student from Yale who needed money for a train ticket back to New Haven.

He looked about 40 years old.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the whiney guy on the 1 train. He gets down on his knees and starts begging for help in the whiniest voice ever. He has the Charles Manson look to him. I've been seeing him for years and the only thing legit about his spiel is his age: He claims to be 37 now.

if you wanna see a pic of the quarter guy he's posted here. http://www.normalbobsmith.com/quarterguy/
he's come up to me many times, usually w/ excuses to get something to eat. but then i see him using the quarters to play pac man at crif dogs. he lives on st marks i think. saw him walking out of a building on st marks b/w 1st & 2nd ave

The fact is, the older we get the more knowledge we gain. Most of us had a loved one die and know how much a funeral cost and even a certified death certificate costs money. Most funeral homes give you 2 free. For $2000 you still can get the full deal, plot, casket and funeral. and, if it's a real sob story, you know someone from EMS will help out.
I usually tell these people a sadder story, my life. Same thing I tell the jehovah witnesses, my sad life.

As noted by others, the dead kid couple have been working the green lines for years.

Anyone run into Carline on the trains on the other side of town, who's been on the subways for ages because of her dead husband and hungry kids?

There's another woman who works above-ground in the high 40s on the east side, usually near Madison. She's generally reasonably well-dressed and carrying a backpack. Her story changes -- sometimes she's not from here and lost, sometimes she's out of work, other times she's grappling with having been molested by her father -- but she's usually hungry and needs change. Yet I've seen people buy her lunch and have her make all kinds of demands as to what they buy her. "No pickles touching the sandwich!"

Running through the comments on the other scam post, I've run into the Cobble Hill "My mom's in the hospital and I work for NBC" guy too. He's pretty believable, but the story makes no sense. The offer of free concert tickets is definitely a fun add, though.