Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Columbia Students are Easy Marks
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 27, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Jen Chung
Published Apr 27, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Ooh, we love a good street con story. A bunch of people are reporting that they've been swindled by a couple around Columbia's neighborhood. The Columbia Spectator reports that the con artists are a "homeless looking couple":
Their modus operandi is simple. Walking into unsuspecting passers-by, the couple—a young man and woman—drop a plastic bag containing a glass bottle. The bottle shatters. The man angrily demands to be repaid for the contents, while the woman insults the stunned fall guy. If the “bottle job” is successful, the couple runs off with cash.
A Spectator photographer, who was a victim/mark of the scheme, was told the bottle held vitamins for the pregnant woman; he decided to pay the couple $40, and he wasn't the only one to fall for it. The police say this a common scheme, and the Spectator has seen it before, but in the form of "You Broke My Glasses." That's tough - there are scams all the time. We almost fell for the "Help me, I'm trapped here in NYC" scam at Grand Central last year ("I'm a professor visiting from Korea but I was robbed and need money to get to NJ"), but then the guy became disgusted with us when we tried to convince him to go the information desk or a consulate. And then we saw him Times Square two months later, when he asked us for money again.
Have you given money to a con artist? What are some good street scams?
Tagged
art
Columbia Spectator
grand central
homeless
jen chung
love
money
News: NYC
nj
nyc
people
police
scam
The Columbia Spectator
Times Square
walking
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot by ICE in NYC still has bullet lodged in neck, attorneys say
Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old immigrant from the Dominican Republic, was in solitary confinement at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park on Monday.
By
Liam Quigley
Published Oct 12, 2026 at 11:37 a.m. ET
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
News
NY measles spread prompts 'disaster' emergency. It didn't have to be this way, health commissioner says.
The state health commissioner says the disease outbreak is wholly preventable.
By
Elizabeth Shwe
NYC wants to move deliveries onto the waterways. It's starting with a 55-year-old boat.
By
Liam Quigley
Inside the luxury Greenpoint high-rise powered by a rumbling generator for over a month
By
David Brand
Mayor Mamdani orders review of NYPD use of force policies
By
Michael Sol Warren
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .