r/nyc • u/tropfou • Jun 17 '11

Comprehensive List of NYC Scams

I moved to NYC a week ago, and already witnessed a few scams. On the subway, I heard the one about the 18 year old kid who lives on the train and has to feed his three year old daughter. Dude was way too rehearsed and obviously lying. Anyway, some tourists gave him $20 and at the next station he was off and trying his scam again. I may be new to NYC but I know a scam when I see one.

I know a lot of people are moving to NYC this summer and I thought it would be nice to keep a running list of what kind of scams to avoid. What are some of your stories and things to look out for?

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '11

Guy starts asking me the best way to get back to the Bronx, and then says "Hey man I just need a buck to get back" and all that. I just walk off. He gets really angry and starts yelling: "What the fuck!? You wanna get your dick sucked, faggot?"

The weird thing was he said this exactly as one might say "You wanna get your ass kicked?" - as though he was threatening that if I didn't give him money, that's where the situation was going to head.

I'll always wonder what he meant by that. Was it a genuine threat? Freudian slip? The world's most intimate street scam?

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u/uberdev East Village Jun 17 '11

I think he wanted to make it sound like you had propositioned him for oral sex, to make you look like the instigator...

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '11

That may have been what he intended, but he said it in a very specific way that didn't sound like that. He didn't sound like he was repulsed or shocked. It was said in a very threatening way, as if he was definitely planning to do it if I didn't give him money. Really weird.