I was talking w/ some friends the other night and one of them was telling me about someone he knows who begs "for a living".

He said that "the beggar" rooms w/ a few guys who have "real jobs" and begging is his way of earning income. He wears old clothes and dirties himself up a little bit, doesn't shave for a few days... and he goes to areas where he believes people from his home life wouldn't recognize him.



He learned a few "tricks of the trade" from a few other beggars out there on how to get people to notice you. They said that by having an animal w/ you, like a dog or a cat, really tugs on peoples heartstrings and they tend to give you more $.

Or if you use a wheelchair or crutches to make it look like you're injured. I asked how much money he makes and my friend said that "the beggar" comes home w/ $100s of dollars a day.



When he's not "acting homeless" he pretty much trolls the streets of NYC wearing good clothes and asks people for spare change, saying that he's a few cents short of a MetroCard (public transit).

I heard that he makes about $40.00 - $50.00 in change doing this for the day.







I was wondering on how you feel about this? I mean, it's a scam as you are not homeless at all and are putting on an act. It is also part of the reason why I tend not to give money to people on the street.

If I have some food on me or a gift card to McDonald's or something like that, I give that instead.

I attended college and worked in downtown Chicago and saw this all the time. I've heard the variations, such as a young mother (with kid in tow)who needs money to get on the train/bus/L, or the tourist stranded who needs money, or the disabled person (usually with wheelchair or crutches)or the other beggars. If I know they are truly homeless (and I saw the homeless sleeping when I walked to the train)then I would buy them lunch. Another scam was the newspaper one. There is a legit newspaper sold by homeless people to help them find a job called Streetwise. However, scam artists were pretending to sell it then you see it was one of the many free ones.

I would think this would be a way to make great money but it's a scam unless you are homeless.

Where I live you see them standing by the freeway ramps or by the street in front of Walmart. All holding signs, some you can't even read. Lately they have been older guys.

I remember one of our local news stations did a story on this and secretly followed one of the guys home. He lived in a nice house in a nice neighborhood. They tried talking to the guy but he ran in the house and shut the door.

There's one guy who stands at the stop sign in the Lowe's parking lot asking for money. Every time I go through there, I see him but don't ever stop. Several of the employees said they've seen him get into a fairly new car & drive away at the end of the day. So how do you know who's truly homeless and who's a scam artist?

"Will Work For Horror Movie Blu Rays"

Scammers are the lowest form of life.

I know there are people out there who are living on the streets and not by choice. However, I never give cash out. I used to carry business cards from a local homeless shelter and hand those out. Needless to say, I got called a delightful assortment of names. I usually have extra bottles of water in the car with me and I give them out if approached at an intersection. Some maybe scammers, I know. I do report parking lot panhandlers to strip mall managers when I'm approached since that is a safety issue. If I was running a store, I wouldn't want people loitering in my parking lot and harassing my paying customers.

I've encountered many of these people...I tell them "no" because if they have better shoes on than the ones you're wearing...it IS a scam!