does anyone have any in depth knowledge of this stuff? last night i was approached by two different grifters and it was interesting to note their very different approaches.
i've long noticed that generally people who try and scam me act very differently towards me based on their race (and mine, i assume), and this played out last night... white dudes ALWAYS act stressed out/angry or even manic. generally their story involves how "that bitch" took their car while they were at a store and they are now stranded, or "i just got mugged" or something similar (one of the guys last night used the i got mugged and am stranded story). black dudes usually act very very calm and friendly, even deferential, and explain how they need to get bus fare to get back home to their family for their kids birthday or something similar (the guy who used this story on me used a variation on this last night, even though i see him all the time). i've never been approached, that i can think of anyway, by a female grifter.
i'd love to read people's accounts of grifts and scams that they have been involved in/the target of,
josh [email] said at 1:27 PM 08-03-2007: ive been approached by a female beggar, but beggars in my opinion are the people that ask you to give them change, not dudes that are like "i got mugged can you give me twenty bucks so i can take a cab back home, give me your number, i will pay you back" etc.
ive always heard of grifters being people who try and trick you out of like, twenty bucks, as oppossed to con men who try and take your life savings... but i could be wrong.
kiche [email] said at 3:57 PM 08-03-2007: tricking you out of your life savings is a pretty big con. i've always seen grifters as trying to get a couple hundred bucks. $20 or $40 out of a scam of say counting a register seems like a grift too; but these guys, does anyone ever give them that much money? they seem to be just begging for change.
i see the guys who have a box of sandwhiches and walk through subway cars offering food to "anyone who is homeless" and soliciting money to buy "food for the homeless shelter" as more of a "grift" than "i got mugged" or "i'm trying to get bus fare" lines.
but then, that's just my oppinion. it seems like a pretty fine line.
kara [email] said at 4:02 PM 08-03-2007: i agree with kiche.. these people are just beggars/liars
grifters are more tricky and make you think youre getting your money back and stuff like that
brandon [email] said at 1:09 PM 08-03-2007: My favorite one, that I think I've related here, happened in Chicago a number of years ago. A woman, who was very obviously crack-addled leapt out of dumpster or from between some dumpsters as we were walking through Roger's Park. She started talking very fast and very crazy about how she needed money for a hotdog. We weren't going to give her any money, so she starts running after us, brandishing a could-be pregnant belly while shouting "I'm eating for two! I'm eating for two!"
That was pretty much the craziest.
Usually black guys take the hat in hand approach with me. I've run into a couple of them that tried to be intimidating, usually they were taller, and basically, you know, you just have to outstare them.
There was this guy that used to ride the "L" all the time.
His thing was that he would visible piss and shit on himself while announcing his homelessness. His pants would become wet or wetter, and you could smell and hear him as he laid fresh layers of shit in his pants.
Then he would stand close to you. The quicker you give him money, the faster he would take his drippy draws away.
One time on the Redline, this dude was like, give me money so that when Jesus returns and the race wars begin, your name will be in the book of life, and we won't lynch you. That was a fun one.
There was another one, where, this woman would tote around her daughter and either she had cancer, or the daughter had cancer, or the boyfriend had been raping her daughter, or they were on their way to cincinnati to meet with the grandmother, but, she was trying to sell her jewelry - the same jewelry - to finance the trip.
The "need to pay for a bus trip to New Orleans" thing dried up after the Hurricane, because there was a free bus running to New Orleans.
But the "My car broke down and I need to get back to my apartment in Denham Springs so I can get money to buy a new battery" still happens.
Oh, and the "Would you like to donate money to a Basketball league that we're starting for underprivileged children?" complete with loose-leaf prop signed by previous "donors" who seem to have a surprising amount of correspondence between their handwriting. For some reason, I still get approached at Albertson's - any Albertson's - around town with this one.
I've never been grifted grifted, by pro's, matchstickmen, or whatever. But I'm pretty slim pickings for the likes of them.
josh [email] said at 1:30 PM 08-03-2007: yeah i have encountered a lot of people accepting donations for nonexistant football teams and so forth before
john [email] said at 1:12 PM 08-03-2007: A few scams that I've noticed in Chicago. About once a month, I'll spot several corners around the north side of the city where there is an Indian woman all bundled up with two or three small children next to her, holding up a sign that says, "hungry" or "please help" or something like that. But it's several women placed around several different places on the same exact day about once a month. It's like someone is taking these women out once a month and placing them around at all of the hot spots to beg for money, and then collecting the money from them. Secondly, there has been a recent ring of black guys that have been riding the trains all day long trying to sell shit such as cologne, beard trimmers, etc. I'm assuming that this shit is stolen. I've never seen anyone buy anything from them on the train. They mostly get ignored or given a stern, "I said, 'NO!'" by the passengers. But they pretty much walk up and down the trains all day long trying to sell this crap that's hidden in their coat or in a bag. It comes and goes. I'll see them for a week or so, then they dissappear for several weeks, then they're back again. They white guys that I see are usually toting some haggerd looking drugged out white chick with them acting like a couple trying to get you to give them your transfer for the train or any left over change that you might have so that they can get on the train and head up to wherever they desperately need to get to, the doctor, or whatever, etc. They never just take, "no" for an answer. They keep up the excuses until you walk through the gate and leave them behind on the other side. The black dudes usually just shut up after you tell them no, but they sometimes mumble things to me afterwards.
john [email] said at 1:22 PM 08-03-2007: Also, recently, there's been this black guy that lives in my apt. building that has about 50 bikes stored in our basement. He has a partner that he says is his brother. I never see them leaving to go anywhere, such as to a job, etc. They're always hanging around, walking up and down the block or just around the apartment building. They're always outside working on the bikes. Every Saturday, they take all 50 bikes out of the basement and set them up in the alley and act like they are "repairing them to give them away to some children's program" or something. One day Myriam and I were coming home and they had to move about 7 bikes out of my parking space so that I could park. Myriam asked them what they where doing with all of the bikes. The guy gave her the children's program story, but when he noticed Myriam looking at one of the bikes, he said, "oh that one right there just happens to be for sale."
woody [email] said at 1:36 PM 08-03-2007: Downtown Dude: Sorry to bother you sir, but I haven't eaten in 2 days.
Woody: I'm sorry, I don't carry any cash on me.
Indignant DD: MAN! I don't want your MONEY!!!
Confused Woody: Well, I'm not going to take you out for dinner!
DD: (Mumbling loudly, walks away)
??????????????
Also, my wife called me from her parked car downtown and I heard some guy approach her talking frantically and almost in tears. I told her to lock the doors and roll up the windows, which she did. He told her through the crack in the window, this long story about he just got custody of his little kids, but had to travel 200 miles to pick them up and if he didn't do it by morning, then his ex would get the kids. So he wanted to take the bus but if he paid by credit card, it would take 24 hours to get the bus ticket, so he needed $57 something something blah blah blah. He started acting crazier and crazier, so I told her the story about the credit card is ridiculous, and to drive away as soon as she could. I mean, why put in the credit card part? Would somebody really believe that???
kiche [email] said at 4:09 PM 08-03-2007: funny beggar incident, a few weeks ago a few friends and myself were standing outside of a restaurant on st. marks waiting for it to open. a crunchy looking chick in her 20s approached us and asked, "hey y'all got any cents?"
the guy standing closest to her said, "yes, i do." he then reached in his pocket took out one (1) penny and put it in her hand.
she threw the penny away, and went on this long tirade about what a bunch of jerks we were. how we thought we were hot because we were from new york and how he could have just said "yeah i got some cents", and then jingled some change in his pocket and said "now get away from me you junky bitch!" and how giving her a penny was the most insulting thing he coul have done.
carla [email] said at 5:43 PM 08-04-2007: When I was living in Baltimore there was this one grifter who hit me up a few times (obviously forgetting he'd already told me his story before) right around the Convention Center.
Sort of Mediterranean looking, long hair in a pony tail and a 'stache. Sort of Frank Zappa-ish looking. He'd always say the same story: He JUST got out of the hospital (he had the hospital wrist band to prove it!! You could even call them to check if you wanted to!!) and he was stranded and needed money for bus fair.
He'd get increasingly more rude with each time he'd ask, at one point I was like "Nooooo" before and he didn't even bother finishing his story he just sighed exasperatingly and muttered "fuck you" under his breath or something.
Then there was this other guy who manaed to swindle $50 from my cousin (who was visiting from SF) but that could have really been avoided had my cousin been more saavy. He claimed that the homeless/grifters were much more polite in San Francisco. I was like "yeah whatever" but now that I live in the Tenderloin and a lot of these people are my neighbors, I find that he has a point.
john [email] said at 7:49 PM 08-04-2007: One time I was at a bank drive through in Baton Rouge and this Chevy Blazer pulled up along side of me and told me to roll my window down. He pulled up along side of me as I exited the teller lane and started telling me that he had just bought some stereo equipment at Circuit City or something and that they had mistakenly given him way too much equipment, such as an extra stereo, home speakers, vcr, tv, etc. All by mistake. He said that he tried to take it back but that they wouldn't take it back, so he was looking to sell it. I almost laughed at him when I told him no and I think that it angered him because he started shouting, "what, you think I'm lying or something?" I pulled up some to get around him and he pulled up right along with me and started going back into his story saying that I could have a whole home stereo set really cheap if I wanted it right now, etc. I picked up my cell and said, "I'm calling the police" and he flipped me the bird and said, "fuck you then" and drove off. He was one of these early 20-something white dudes trying to act business like but also keeping it real urban at the same time. I know several people that have had this exact same thing happen to them in BR.
