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Revisiting Common Street Scams
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 27, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 27, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Uh-oh, it's the "money for daughter's funeral scam":
About a year ago, I was on the 4/5/6 train when two people got on. They were looking for money. It was a man and his wife. Their story was that their daughter had died in a fire and they were looking for donations so they could pay for her funeral. The guy stated that it would cost them $325. I remember thinking that, if his story was legit, it was really very sad. If it was fake, it was really brilliant and horribly shitty. He even had the death certificate.
Well, I made a note of it and told my husband about it. He was pretty certain it was fake. I, for some reason, had my doubts. (Wishful thinking?)
Last night, I was on the L Train when the same couple got on. And guess what? They gave the exact same story. I was furious, which is pretty pathetic. I mean, of course they were full of crap! I'm such a lame, naive New Yorker! How long have I lived here? I guess I wanted to believe that no one would stoop that low. Go figure.
Clearly, I need my New Yorker ID revoked.
Not at all - many New Yorkers want to help, because empathy can sometimes overwhelm cynicism. The problem is that most of the time, the cynics are right and the people are scammers.
We discussed common street scams six months ago, like the "You broke my glasses" routine and "do you have a quarter" guy at Union Square. Are there any other ones you've come across?
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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