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.
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