What NYC Scams Or Tourists Tricks Have You Seen? (for sale, buy)
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A post in the tourist thread got me thinking what scams have you seen in NYC that people use to get money?
For example, the age old "my car broke down and I need money for the train" or, it is out of gas and I need money for gas (holding a gas can). Or the tourist trick of selling a camcorder/digital camera cheap on the street only to have it be a sealed box with a brick inside.
I'm sure this could be a very long list. Looking forward to hearing some!
All those extremely overpriced electronics shops around Times Square take tourists for more money than any fake sob story ever could.
I'll second that, the tourists who have done a modicum of research head for J&R Music/Computer World. (Not an ad I have no affiliation with J&R.)
Not a scam, but a little high-pressure sales trick I've seen is guys selling their homemade CD's--once they get the tourist's name, they'll sign a CD with the name, making the tourist feel uncomfortable not to purchase it--it is now unsaleable to anyone else.
Not a scam, but some tourists don't know how to "blow off" a panhandler.
When I was in Atlantic City, some two-bit scammer in the casino tried to give me a story using some confusing math to convince me that all he needed was a couple of bucks because he coouldn't get his bills changed properly otherwise. It was quite humorous and ridiculous. So beware funky math!
Don't forget B&H Photo and Adorama for good camera shops, though B&H also has some consumer electronics and Adorama has some other optics like binoculars.
Avoid the electronic shops on 14th st as well. They sell refurbished equipment as new. Since they cleaned up Times Sq I haven't seen the hustler's and peddler's around. They used to offer up anything you want for sale, usually illegal stuff like switchblades, drugs, guns, prostitutes etc., ask for your money and tell you to wait right where you are and they'll be right back. Of course they don't come back and even if they do you can't call a cop because you got burned trying to score dope. Three Card Monty guys haven't been around in some time either. Basically anyone giving you a sob story for money is full of it.
One guy I keep seeing over and over - about a half-dozen times over the years - is a guy who claims he locked himself out and needs money for a taxi or something. He has such a good rap that I even gave him some money the first time. The most recent time I saw him, I was tempted to ask him if he ever had a job.
Selling you oregano instead of pot. And then someone chases you down and says, "Oh that bastard, he sold you oregano. Here's some real stuff." And that's oregano, too. Ha ha ha ha. And I got a huge laugh out of it after I stopped feeling pathetic (which was how they latched on to me in the first place--that hangdog look).
So simple and brilliant. Almost as good as Bernie Madoff's scheme. Much more pleasant than "give me your wallet."
This was many moons ago when Bryant Park was still a hellhole.
Here is one that happens at Bryant Park: There is a tall, thin Black guy that walks around the park with his glasses in his hand, and his arm to his side so that it is swaying as he is walking. He then purposely "bumps" into you, and his glasses fall and "break" (they were broken before of course). He will then provide you with a great story about how he is on his way to an interview for a job, and he is about to get kicked out of his apt blah blah blah. He will ask for just $20 and thats all it costs to fix, and he can then immediately get them fixed and be off to his job interview. If that doesn't work, he will ask you to "just follow him so he can show you where he can get them fixed." If that doesn't work, he finally resorts to asking for $15, or even $10, "come on man YOU broke my glasses after all." I am gonna call the police if you don't just give me $5 bucks. How do I know? It happened to me...of course I never stopped when he hit his hand against me, so he chased me down as I sat to eat lunch in the park. Of course I called his bluff, and said NO, and told him to call the cops...I'll be sitting right here eating my lunch. He left angry of course. When I was done, I was walking out of the park and guess who was there? He was walking looking for his next victim..when he saw me he said "yo you better watch out." To which I replied..."that's funny...I was gonna say the same thing to you!" True Story! Beware.
There is a guy who stands on a corner in Rockefeller Plaza, right near the Today Show area. He ropes people in by shouting, "Hey! you can't go there! There's taping going on!". When one of his "marks" stops, he does this whole charming conversation where he ultimately just tries to sell you an overpriced baseball cap for some fake charity.
I remember running into this guy six years ago, before I lived here, when my wife stopped for the guy and dragged me over to him. (no... we didn't buy the hat). This past summer we had family visiting, and they wanted to go to the Today Show. When we went to Rockefeller Plaza, I was surprised to see the same guy working the same corner, using the same line. I said to him, "Wow, you're STILL working this corner! I saw you here five years ago". He replied, "Yeah, it's a good corner".
However, IMO, the biggest scam is how the price of everything is jacked up around Times Square and Rockefeller Plaza. I once actually haggled with cart vendor over the price of bottle of water. He wanted $2 for it, when the going rate everywhere else in the city is $1. We settled on $1.50. Hey, it's a "principle" thing
Speaking of cart vendors, a guy in Central Park charged my wife $3 for a bottle of Mountain Dew. When she questioned why (sodas were listed at $2), he said it was because Mountain Dew is "juice" (listed at $3).
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