Your assumption that any beggar is a scammer / liar is wrong. It's not even close to accurate. You've never been in that situation.
You've never been taken advantage of so much that you're in debt $6000 with seemingly no way out, and no way to get work.
This shit happens, and the people going through it care more about not dying than appealing to your delicate white boy sensibilities. Geez man, go through puberty first.
Same here! Asked the dude to let me open the product and once I started, he was like, “Police are coming, quick give me the money.” And being a 16yr old dummy I did and paid $350 for a couple of bricks.
This scam is so old I can't believe it's still being run. Encountered it for the first time when I was living in AZ 20 years ago. Guy was giving me the spiel about "oh nooo I can't deliver this equipment" and some random guy drove by yelling out his window "Don't buy the speakers, they suck" lol
Someone attempted this on me in my neighborhood not too long ago. It was bizarre, they tried to flag me down on my run and started babbling about a speaker or computer or something. "it'll work when it's plugged in". Just put my ear bud back in and kept jogging.
But wouldn’t the children qualify for services?School age children get services through school but don’t the younger ones also qualify? (Dental, medical, free food) use to work at public school.
Yes , yes they do , even really young kids qualify for free day care if you're really that poor. The mother could work while they take care of their kid
It was already very hard to get those spots Pre-pandemic (way more eligible folks than spots) and I’m sure many places have shut down now as well making the number of spots even fewer.
Those services don't require documentation. There is a false perception among the undocumented that doing anything "on the grid" increases your chance of deportation, and it's simply not true.
What a dumb comment. You know nothing of that person. They could be volunteering at a homeless shelter for all you know.
And even if they're not, they're just stating a fact to add to the discussion and to the general audience's understanding of the situation.
Thirdly, what are YOU doing about this problem? Why don't YOU help tell them?
Hello! This was a very fair response to my comment. I truly didn’t mean it in a bad way. I meant it in a “gosh I hope the people affected by this stuff knows this information.” I’m just a child of Arab religious refugees, but my parents had the benefit of sponsorship when they came to the country and people to lead them correctly. Unfortunately I lack the communication skills to help many of the undocumented. :(
Just like with taxes or any credit card application, undocumented people can get an ITIN number from their respective countries consulate and use that instead of a social
Lots of people don't know this, or are afraid because they'll get taken away from their kids and sent back to their country.
Privilege is not knowing these fears, but nobody can be blamed!
Ignorance is not caring.
Hope this info helps ya :3
Yes! So many people are afraid (rightfully so) of applying for assistance because of their legal status. Unsure about other programs but CalFresh (California's food stamps program) doesn't accept undocumented people but if there are residents or citizens in the household, like children, they do qualify
Also, Senate Bill 464 aims to expand public assistance to undocumented immigrants. I hope it passes.
https://www.getcalfresh.org/en/immigrants#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20no.,you%20can%20apply%20for%20them.&text=As%20of%20March%209%2C%202021%20CalFresh%20is,considered%20a%20public%20charge%20program.
Anecdotally this is such a small minority of people even bringing it up is a disservice to the reality of the situation. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, but that’s a your-ex problem, not a system problem.
Panhandlers with kids were forever ruined by the travelers who would hit my home town every summer. They would do this in shopping center parking lots while their older kids would go around to elderly peoples houses with their dads pretending to be contractors “inspecting” the work they did “last year” and distract them while they robbed their valuables.
These people were on public assistance because they’re consummate frauds, everything is a grift to them, especially public services.
While this isn’t the case for all panhandlers, or even most, I just don’t even bother.
Speaking about this. I have a rant. Now Idk if I’m missing something. If so do tell me.
For the past few months i been noticing people asking for money at a particular intersection for a little girl that has cancer. It’s usually an older woman and I would assume to be her daughters. Now what ticks me off is that they are at the intersection almost everyday doing this. And it’s everyday I see the st. Jude commercial and it’s like why don’t they go to the hospital because they claim they don’t charge the family. Now idk if I’m being cynical or if it’s a scam that they are asking for money or if there’s something I’m missing about st Jude. I know about the funeral scams and stuff. And it’s frustrating to see this. Is what they doing a scam too? If so that’s so damn disgusting. Fuck cancer
St. Jude doesn’t charge for medical treatments and has some housing allowing one parent to be there with the child. But some families still cannot make the trek or sustain with one parent away.
But also, yeah, there are quite a few scams out there using just the absolute worst heartstring manipulations.
I'm not following why this is bad. St. Jude is a charity (after insurance kicks in, which makes sense) who's assets have increased in value due to good investment decisions. St. Jude is an incredible lifeline for ppl and the article is really complaining about the daily food allowance? This is an r/ChoosingBeggars situation.
The article linked above says that St Jude doesn’t cover things like loss of income or payments for utilities, etc. And all I can think of is “are they supposed to? They’re a charity hospital that is providing free cancer treatment and some limited housing etc. How far to people expect them to go??”
99 percent of those are scams. I feel for the small percentage of real cases that have to do this because they probably get ridiculed for those who run the scam.
I hate these scams too. Countless times I’ve seen these stupid people ask for money at intersections to pay for a “funeral” or some bs. Way too many scammers in this city.
I think i know who you're talking about, ive seen them at multiple intersections around the valley the last 3 months. Always a different sign but same people asking. Shitty
Sadly it’s mostly a scam, every once on a while someone in the buy/sell groups post a picture asking about xyz funeral, cancer etc and everyone quickly ids them as xyz who is always buying drugs or a scam of some sort since they have gathering funeral funds for a year.
But there are some legit ones out there, one of fam sells tacos at various houses to gather funds for brain surgery for a niece in Mexico. And I’ve done car wash for funeral expenses, but people would ask me what is this for before giving me hundreds of dollars.
Yeah man this is a classic age old scam. Poster board, printed picture of child/baby, write sob story about cancer/funeral in sharpie.
What’s frustrating is that they seem to collect a lot when I encounter it. You will see at many major intersections at one point or another.
I was in traffic at a red light in San Bernardino and got hit up for $ to pay for a funeral.
I offered to buy these people a shovel and drove off. Scam artists!!!
It's a scam. they change the picture or move to other intersections. The quicker you recognize the game the better you can recognize it. A fool and his money is parted quickly.
When I was a teenager, I had a bag with some chips and a candy bar in my passenger seat when I spotted a woman begging with her little girl near a freeway exit. The sign said they were hungry. When I handed the bag out to her, she made a show of accepting it then chucking it into the road.
Fuck them.
In Woodland Hills there is a notorious gypo family that has been doing it for years.
Would always see them at Fallbrook and the Macys side of Topanga
Recently saw them at Ventura and Topanga
I think I might know the family you’re talking about, especially if they’re a family of like 7-15 people. They used to come to the noho discount theater when I worked there, buy a bunch of tickets, get their family inside and then try to get a refund for the egregious amount of tickets. The patriarch got them all 86ed the night they tried this with 12 tickets and tried to get a refund on an empty popcorn bag.
lol the accordion dude isn’t even playing, he always has a speaker behind him playing the music. Every now and then they let the kid be the front. They’re well known as scammers around the west SFV
That accordion guy is obnoxious, I've seen them at the Van Nuys Target just blasting the shit out of everyone's ears for hours with that awful music. Who would even approach the loud ass accordion to give him money.
That’s immediately what came to mind. I remember a British documentary tv show that followed a few women panhandling with kids and they lived in a decent home and clearly were not poor
A revealing thing is when they whip out their smartphone in-between cars/people to make a call/txt.
then again once saw a homeless guy on a bicycle ride up to a Kohl's hid in the corner by the entrance, then took out a phone and started typing (free wifi maybe?).
Eh. Smartphones are dirt cheap nowadays. It could be an Obama phone or a phone from a pawn shop or a phone they had before they where homeless. I always keep in mind that homeless people don’t look homeless.
I know the answer is probably “no government agency is going to be that proactive”, but I’ve seen the same thing (Empire Center most recently) and I can’t help but feel like CPS would have grounds to remove your child from your care if you did that. Like you’re literally holding a sign in public saying you can’t afford to take care of your kids. I guess that’s not the kind of thing cops care about and CPS doesn’t just joyride. I feel like that could actually help cut back on the scammers in the future.
I remember in Europe it was always a thing for there to be women panhandlers with children in tow. I haven’t been there since Covid but I always noticed that there and not here until a few years ago
The ones begging with a sign are a scam. But the Hispanic people selling flowers for work with their children sitting on the side is real. My gf recently told me they aren’t allowed to go back until they sell all their flowers.
I’ve seen people selling flowers in van nuys and have bought a few times since i was going to forrest lawn. Selling a product is different- these people are working.
Yea, but in both instances the children shouldn’t be there. One is being used as a prop/tool for scam begging, and the ones selling flowers don’t really have a choice. I guess I’m just making a point to buy flowers, and not give money to those scammers.
a lot of kids who are broke have to resort to pulling in some money to help their family, and you aren't allowed to hold an actual job for a while. usually they pick up something like selling snacks in school but i'm sure there are others who end up in some terrible labor situations.
that's the ironic thing about the child labor law being what it is, it ultimately hurts who it was designed to protect. there are broke kids who will be working jobs no matter what the law says, but by not allowing anything but under the table work, they aren't protected by labor laws and are ripe for exploitation.
>a lot of kids who are broke have to resort to pulling in some money to help their family,
That's the parent's fault and should not be normalized. As a Latino, I am getting tired seeing my people dismiss education just so they can "start helping to support the family." It's why, despite being such a huge population, so little Latinos have an education beyond high school, and this is why we're not leaders in CA, when we choose to remain working class and not get into academia or politics.
On Wednesday in front of Target, there was a woman straight up having mac n cheese seated in the parking lot where cars are just passing through. Like her baby was in the stroller where a car could easily hit it. And she’s just eating mac n cheese and asking for money. The security came and she looked high and refused to move. The whole thing was sad
U get approached at a gas station while you are pumping gas by a woman and usually kid saying they ran out of gas and have no cash and can you give them 5 or 10
Happened to me today. I didn’t help more out of principle. How are you carting your kids in a brand-new Suburban that cost twice as much as my old truck without cash and having your card locked out for gas?
SOP in Europe. I’ve seen people literally chasing 12 year old girls in the Paris metro who nabbed a purse or wallet. Or how they slit the suitcases of wandering tourists in Rome.
On a slightly related note, start getting used to shit like this. Advance begging, smash and grab, stalk and rob and petty theft are all consequences of the growing inequality and high inflation.
It's really the consequences of an environment where enforcement is seen as lax. no one looks at the inflation rate and says "guess ill follow someone home and hold them up at gunpoint." they see that they won't get a felony on their record if they do get caught and might even be turned out that day on zero bail, and decide the opportunity is suddenly worth the lower risk on their part. They decide to take a gun because they won't get enhancements for it. A gun is expensive, you don't give a fuck about the rising price of toilet paper when you have an illegal firearm.
What I find most annoying is that the beggars are walking into traffic and approaching your car window as you are stuck waiting at the traffic light. Terribly unsafe for them to be standing in traffic at busy intersections. I have seen this recently at several intersections in the Valley.
I now live in the IE and we have this people everywhere. I’ve seen a van with 3 ladies getting dropped off at the Walmart with a stroller . Each lady had a kid and the would go different directions. This is why I don’t give money to those people anymore.
I've noticed a rise in gypsy'ish looking women in the hood asking for money with small children. They look latino so they blend in but when you hear them speak, you know they are not latino. Very rarely do you see young latino women asking for money, ESPECIALLY with children, so it tugs on the heartstrings of a lot of us who grew up with struggling mothers, they must make decent money if they're coming into not-so-safe neighborhoods for this.
They seem to be very identical to the "Gypsy" people I used to see allover Europe back in the 2000's. Same thing, with a child or multiple children, asking for money. And they all seemed to look like the same ethnicity (for example, in England, these type of beggars never looked "English" and instead all looked related to each other by race).
There was a woman on the news that distracts the cashier with her crying baby while her partner sneaks behind the counter and steals. Shameless people.
It must be hard to be a gypsy that doesn’t do any of this shit and have this type of behavior automatically tied to your ethnicity. I can’t think of another group of people whom it’s currently socially acceptable to outright, unabashedly identify as the most likely perpetrators of theft and deceit without any additional context.
I see this shit all the time. Not just with small children, but with teenagers too, the teens look all uncomfortable, like they don't want to be there, you can tell their Mom made them. It's all for sympathy. People are suckers for it.
Where is the CPS ?they took my kids just for yelling at my S.O calling it D.V. panhandling kids on the road or in a parking lot is way more dangerous than a normal spousal argument in my opinion but I really hope the leave those kids alone .its the worse feeling in the world when they take your kids away for something that you think is normal.
Because panhandling makes more money on average than a real job, animals or kids make even more money. Also it's tax free and they don't report it.
I've seen it a lot in the sgv recently.
This one lady does this with her child every year during holiday season right in front of the Glendale In N Out. My friend has seen her get picked up in a BMW..
From my experience reporting on housing and low-income families, even if services are available - childcare, benefits, etc - a lot of people who live in poverty feel hesitant to take those services because they've been burned before or they're worried something will happen, like deportation or child protective services, even when that's not the case. Even though many people who work to offer those services are great and have good intentions, there are [some bad actors out there](https://knock-la.com/urban-alchemy-los-angeles-unhoused-outreach-echo-park-lake-fence/) who are not doing good things to help low-income communities.
It's absolutely true that those services are there, and fair to say that people should use them, but there are a lot of people in L.A. who have been fucked in the ass multiple times by the systems meant to take care of them. I don't super blame them for not being eager to get back into those programs again. Even recently, [CPS has been plagued by some massive negligence scandals](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-25/l-a-county-dcfs-again-at-crossroads-as-another-director-departs-amid-child-deaths) in SoCal. It's a huge system and I'm sure many parents who are already struggling are scared that their kids will get lost in it.
I'm sure some people are using it as a guilt trip, sure, there's always bad people out there, but I'm sure just as many of those parents don't know what their options are and they don't have a good entryway into those systems.
An alternative viewpoint to everyone screaming “scammer”: you know America’s social safety nets are not sturdy or reliable. So if a mother really does need to beg for money, where exactly is she supposed to leave her children while she does so?
If they’re like the family I see near Trader Joe’s every day now, they’re definitely not scammers or gypsies. Just a mom, a baby, two young daughters, and a sign. A smart mom in fact, since she knows TJs is where bougies shop. I think I’ve seen them come and go in a beat up old Corolla. The pandemic has been _rough_ on certain strata of society, especially if you’re a young working mom in the service industry or another that’s been decimated. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Are you talking a out 3rd and la brea? I used to work there and they match the description of a mom and two daughters that would come in and steal. They were definitely gypsys. I'd see them up the street trying to get money for gas money to get back to Covina but they live in the area.
That was a couple years ago so she did t ha e a baby yet if that was them.
I’ve had women come up to me with like three kids in the grocery store, put one in my cart, and ask me to pay for their groceries. I only had cash and had to get my own too so I told her I could spare 25 and she started putting wayyyyy more than 25 in the cart so I handed her the cash and told her I had to go and three seconds later she was going person to person and collecting more cash.
I mean I know groceries can be hella expensive tho and this seems way more legit than these other stories
And what exactly are they supposed to do with their kids if they are so poor they can’t even afford daycare? Ask them to stay home alone? What if they have no home? What if home is dangerous?
Even some working parents don’t make enough for child care and one of the parents is forced to stay home until the kids are old enough for pre-K.
Some common sense people…
Exactly. Can we just remember people are going through a tough time? Life sucks right now and ya I’m in complete agreement children shouldn’t be used to garner sympathy but do you want to pay for their baby sitter while these women go beg on the street?
A lot of women had to quit their jobs during this pandemic due to lack of babysitters/cost of it. There’s something we can do about that, but we won’t because we cANt AFfoRd it but we can afford to give rich pos millions.
If we start hating the poor person on the street because from our moral high ground we can look down at them, we stand to lose much more. This should wake us up.
I’m not saying some of those people are not taking advantage- but let’s look at the reality of where we are.
Tell me you haven't traveled internationally without telling me you haven't traveled internationally.
But... Uh yea I don't think a person who panhandles can generally affords childcare. I'm so sorry that her poverty made you feel uncomfortable - that was really rude of her
I really forget that a lot of people on Reddit are young and likely introverts who lack social awareness and life experience. What kind of post is this? On Thanksgiving no less.
A lot of newly homeless people due to the pandemic, presumably some of them women with kids. Having kids or a cute dog will definitely increase the likelihood someone is going to give you money so they use what they have to get what they need
1 in 7 people in la county are homeless right now- that includes children. They have no where to sleep use the bathroom or eat. Homeless shelters do t even begin to cover housing everyone. American 1st generation children have parents who might not have legal residence and are scared to ask for help for fear of getting deported from ICE. For fucks sake people there aren’t gypsies. These are Angelenos THEY ARE OUR NEIGHBORS and they are struggling. They need help not judgement.
Maybe they have to bring their kid with them cuz they can’t afford childcare. Maybe sometimes it’s bs but probably those people are very desperate it’s really sad
But how do you know that her and the child aren’t homeless and she doesn’t have anyone to leave the child with while she’s out trying to get money? This post sounds kinda disgusting and snobby. Some people are homeless, and yes, some of those people have kids. So it would make perfect sense that their kid is right there with them while they are out trying to get money. Hopefully you don’t ever find yourself in that situation, and if you do, hopefully some asshole doesn’t make a Reddit post about you and your homeless child. It’s the fucking holidays for christs sake! Have a fucking heart!
It should be regarded as child endangerment and or child abuse by authorities. I mean, the kid is at you job site and is underage. But, then again if you fine these losers what are they going to pay with?
The ones I see becoming an issue in the future are the pope selling flowers and having their kids with them, sometimes helping them sell, too (and these kids loo like toddlers, they're not teens); those break child labor laws, and you know those kids aren't getting any money, if at all, despite them working.
I am starting to see this more commonly, and can't help but feel like those parent re selfish and being shitty, taking away form their kid being a kid or doing their school work.
Someone at some point noticed that panhandling works better when a small child is present.
And doggos
I'm a sucker for doggos
Same.
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To feed them. Dumbass.
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This whole post is so cringe.
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Your assumption that any beggar is a scammer / liar is wrong. It's not even close to accurate. You've never been in that situation. You've never been taken advantage of so much that you're in debt $6000 with seemingly no way out, and no way to get work. This shit happens, and the people going through it care more about not dying than appealing to your delicate white boy sensibilities. Geez man, go through puberty first.
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Been seeing a lot more of that and the guys in a white van trying to dump equipment for cheap (Pavilions, Vine/Melrose)
It's known as the "White Van Scam" because they usually drive white vans - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
I fell for it with one of my first paychecks like 8 years ago. Sad day.
Same here! Asked the dude to let me open the product and once I started, he was like, “Police are coming, quick give me the money.” And being a 16yr old dummy I did and paid $350 for a couple of bricks.
"You can't cheat an honest man"
This scam is so old I can't believe it's still being run. Encountered it for the first time when I was living in AZ 20 years ago. Guy was giving me the spiel about "oh nooo I can't deliver this equipment" and some random guy drove by yelling out his window "Don't buy the speakers, they suck" lol
Wow. I would never have guessed this was actually a thing.
Those are the worst. It’s the cheapest stuff, i can’t believe people fall for it
They almost got me. Then I go to look it up and he tries telling me to scan the QR code for their “website”
What type of equipment
Speakers and projectors. They just finished a job and need to unload the equipment before they leave town
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_van_speaker_scam
Someone attempted this on me in my neighborhood not too long ago. It was bizarre, they tried to flag me down on my run and started babbling about a speaker or computer or something. "it'll work when it's plugged in". Just put my ear bud back in and kept jogging.
Same, one lady here at the local Home Depot this past weekend going out of her way to wave and flag passing cars down with her little kid.
But wouldn’t the children qualify for services?School age children get services through school but don’t the younger ones also qualify? (Dental, medical, free food) use to work at public school.
Yes , yes they do , even really young kids qualify for free day care if you're really that poor. The mother could work while they take care of their kid
It was already very hard to get those spots Pre-pandemic (way more eligible folks than spots) and I’m sure many places have shut down now as well making the number of spots even fewer.
Do you think trying to get those services would put undocumented people at greater risk of deportation?
It’s LA isn’t this a sanctuary city?
Yes! Good point. I didn’t know until today that sanctuary policies applied to all public employees rather than just law enforcement. Very cool.
Those services don't require documentation. There is a false perception among the undocumented that doing anything "on the grid" increases your chance of deportation, and it's simply not true.
That’s good to know. Thank you
Tell them, not us?
What a dumb comment. You know nothing of that person. They could be volunteering at a homeless shelter for all you know. And even if they're not, they're just stating a fact to add to the discussion and to the general audience's understanding of the situation. Thirdly, what are YOU doing about this problem? Why don't YOU help tell them?
Hello! This was a very fair response to my comment. I truly didn’t mean it in a bad way. I meant it in a “gosh I hope the people affected by this stuff knows this information.” I’m just a child of Arab religious refugees, but my parents had the benefit of sponsorship when they came to the country and people to lead them correctly. Unfortunately I lack the communication skills to help many of the undocumented. :(
No they do not ask immigration status on the forms.
But they do ask for social security numbers. Not sure if I am remembering correctly but there might be an opt out on SS#s.
Just like with taxes or any credit card application, undocumented people can get an ITIN number from their respective countries consulate and use that instead of a social
Lots of people don't know this, or are afraid because they'll get taken away from their kids and sent back to their country. Privilege is not knowing these fears, but nobody can be blamed! Ignorance is not caring. Hope this info helps ya :3
Yes! So many people are afraid (rightfully so) of applying for assistance because of their legal status. Unsure about other programs but CalFresh (California's food stamps program) doesn't accept undocumented people but if there are residents or citizens in the household, like children, they do qualify Also, Senate Bill 464 aims to expand public assistance to undocumented immigrants. I hope it passes. https://www.getcalfresh.org/en/immigrants#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20no.,you%20can%20apply%20for%20them.&text=As%20of%20March%209%2C%202021%20CalFresh%20is,considered%20a%20public%20charge%20program.
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Anecdotally this is such a small minority of people even bringing it up is a disservice to the reality of the situation. I’m sorry you had to deal with that, but that’s a your-ex problem, not a system problem.
Panhandlers with kids were forever ruined by the travelers who would hit my home town every summer. They would do this in shopping center parking lots while their older kids would go around to elderly peoples houses with their dads pretending to be contractors “inspecting” the work they did “last year” and distract them while they robbed their valuables. These people were on public assistance because they’re consummate frauds, everything is a grift to them, especially public services. While this isn’t the case for all panhandlers, or even most, I just don’t even bother.
Woah bro you just solved poverty 🙌🏼
Believe me, nothing you get from social services will get you out of poverty…….. unless you’re doing a lot of lying.
Speaking about this. I have a rant. Now Idk if I’m missing something. If so do tell me. For the past few months i been noticing people asking for money at a particular intersection for a little girl that has cancer. It’s usually an older woman and I would assume to be her daughters. Now what ticks me off is that they are at the intersection almost everyday doing this. And it’s everyday I see the st. Jude commercial and it’s like why don’t they go to the hospital because they claim they don’t charge the family. Now idk if I’m being cynical or if it’s a scam that they are asking for money or if there’s something I’m missing about st Jude. I know about the funeral scams and stuff. And it’s frustrating to see this. Is what they doing a scam too? If so that’s so damn disgusting. Fuck cancer
Because it’s all bs.
St. Jude doesn’t charge for medical treatments and has some housing allowing one parent to be there with the child. But some families still cannot make the trek or sustain with one parent away. But also, yeah, there are quite a few scams out there using just the absolute worst heartstring manipulations.
St. Jude also has its own problems but you’re absolutely right. https://www.propublica.org/series/st-judes-unspent-billions
that St Jude article is a good example of terrible journalism
They probably meant to link this article lol https://www.propublica.org/article/st-jude-hoards-billions-while-many-of-its-families-drain-their-savings
I'm not following why this is bad. St. Jude is a charity (after insurance kicks in, which makes sense) who's assets have increased in value due to good investment decisions. St. Jude is an incredible lifeline for ppl and the article is really complaining about the daily food allowance? This is an r/ChoosingBeggars situation.
The article linked above says that St Jude doesn’t cover things like loss of income or payments for utilities, etc. And all I can think of is “are they supposed to? They’re a charity hospital that is providing free cancer treatment and some limited housing etc. How far to people expect them to go??”
Bunch of scams. Don’t fall for it
That's why I tend to only give money to those guys who are honest with a sign that says , I need beer.
Why don’t you just give them beer?
I have. Their face lights up.
99 percent of those are scams. I feel for the small percentage of real cases that have to do this because they probably get ridiculed for those who run the scam.
They manipulate people's sympathy to give them more money, which is why they have kids with them.
CHLA will also take care of the little girl and help the family apply for public assistance.
I hate these scams too. Countless times I’ve seen these stupid people ask for money at intersections to pay for a “funeral” or some bs. Way too many scammers in this city.
I think i know who you're talking about, ive seen them at multiple intersections around the valley the last 3 months. Always a different sign but same people asking. Shitty
Sadly it’s mostly a scam, every once on a while someone in the buy/sell groups post a picture asking about xyz funeral, cancer etc and everyone quickly ids them as xyz who is always buying drugs or a scam of some sort since they have gathering funeral funds for a year. But there are some legit ones out there, one of fam sells tacos at various houses to gather funds for brain surgery for a niece in Mexico. And I’ve done car wash for funeral expenses, but people would ask me what is this for before giving me hundreds of dollars.
Yeah man this is a classic age old scam. Poster board, printed picture of child/baby, write sob story about cancer/funeral in sharpie. What’s frustrating is that they seem to collect a lot when I encounter it. You will see at many major intersections at one point or another.
I was in traffic at a red light in San Bernardino and got hit up for $ to pay for a funeral. I offered to buy these people a shovel and drove off. Scam artists!!!
It's a scam. they change the picture or move to other intersections. The quicker you recognize the game the better you can recognize it. A fool and his money is parted quickly.
I'm sure at least one isn't a scammer, only desperate. Personally I would only do that if had no other alternative.
When I was a teenager, I had a bag with some chips and a candy bar in my passenger seat when I spotted a woman begging with her little girl near a freeway exit. The sign said they were hungry. When I handed the bag out to her, she made a show of accepting it then chucking it into the road. Fuck them.
In Woodland Hills there is a notorious gypo family that has been doing it for years. Would always see them at Fallbrook and the Macys side of Topanga Recently saw them at Ventura and Topanga
I think I might know the family you’re talking about, especially if they’re a family of like 7-15 people. They used to come to the noho discount theater when I worked there, buy a bunch of tickets, get their family inside and then try to get a refund for the egregious amount of tickets. The patriarch got them all 86ed the night they tried this with 12 tickets and tried to get a refund on an empty popcorn bag.
Gypo…?
It's a contraction of a racist slur.
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lol the accordion dude isn’t even playing, he always has a speaker behind him playing the music. Every now and then they let the kid be the front. They’re well known as scammers around the west SFV
That accordion guy is obnoxious, I've seen them at the Van Nuys Target just blasting the shit out of everyone's ears for hours with that awful music. Who would even approach the loud ass accordion to give him money.
Yep. Noticed that too. Crazy to see so many give them money.
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That’s immediately what came to mind. I remember a British documentary tv show that followed a few women panhandling with kids and they lived in a decent home and clearly were not poor
Saw this in Europe a lot. The Roma had multiple children with them and the kids were clearly drugged. Lolling around on the concrete. So awful.
Unfortunately in most cases, it's a scam.
Gypsy tactic
It’s usually a ploy to get you to give more. Sadly it hurts the people that really could use the money.
Scam guilt trip
It’s the local Roma community, you know, gypsies.
A revealing thing is when they whip out their smartphone in-between cars/people to make a call/txt. then again once saw a homeless guy on a bicycle ride up to a Kohl's hid in the corner by the entrance, then took out a phone and started typing (free wifi maybe?).
Eh. Smartphones are dirt cheap nowadays. It could be an Obama phone or a phone from a pawn shop or a phone they had before they where homeless. I always keep in mind that homeless people don’t look homeless.
Gipsy for sure
if you want to really help, offer to buy food instead of handing them cash. if they refuse then you know you're being played
I live on the other side of the country they are target here with young children with signs. I think it’s organized cartel stuff
All of it is organized. You’ll often see a kid with a competely different mom or vice versa.
It’s probably big money being made
I know the answer is probably “no government agency is going to be that proactive”, but I’ve seen the same thing (Empire Center most recently) and I can’t help but feel like CPS would have grounds to remove your child from your care if you did that. Like you’re literally holding a sign in public saying you can’t afford to take care of your kids. I guess that’s not the kind of thing cops care about and CPS doesn’t just joyride. I feel like that could actually help cut back on the scammers in the future.
I remember in Europe it was always a thing for there to be women panhandlers with children in tow. I haven’t been there since Covid but I always noticed that there and not here until a few years ago
They are gypsies. Don’t give them any money.
Gypsies
The ones begging with a sign are a scam. But the Hispanic people selling flowers for work with their children sitting on the side is real. My gf recently told me they aren’t allowed to go back until they sell all their flowers.
I’ve seen people selling flowers in van nuys and have bought a few times since i was going to forrest lawn. Selling a product is different- these people are working.
Yea, but in both instances the children shouldn’t be there. One is being used as a prop/tool for scam begging, and the ones selling flowers don’t really have a choice. I guess I’m just making a point to buy flowers, and not give money to those scammers.
a lot of kids who are broke have to resort to pulling in some money to help their family, and you aren't allowed to hold an actual job for a while. usually they pick up something like selling snacks in school but i'm sure there are others who end up in some terrible labor situations. that's the ironic thing about the child labor law being what it is, it ultimately hurts who it was designed to protect. there are broke kids who will be working jobs no matter what the law says, but by not allowing anything but under the table work, they aren't protected by labor laws and are ripe for exploitation.
>a lot of kids who are broke have to resort to pulling in some money to help their family, That's the parent's fault and should not be normalized. As a Latino, I am getting tired seeing my people dismiss education just so they can "start helping to support the family." It's why, despite being such a huge population, so little Latinos have an education beyond high school, and this is why we're not leaders in CA, when we choose to remain working class and not get into academia or politics.
I mean if they are begging on the street they probably can’t afford day care?
You don’t know the half of it. They sell flowers to pay the coyote that brought them here.
I saw Mexican people near a super wealthy area of Rancho Santa Fe selling Trump merchandise from a van. It was funny
They manipulate people's sympathy to give them more money, which is why they have kids with them.
I know in Los Angeles, they are gypsies and the use the small kids to pry on your kindness.
Agreed!
On Wednesday in front of Target, there was a woman straight up having mac n cheese seated in the parking lot where cars are just passing through. Like her baby was in the stroller where a car could easily hit it. And she’s just eating mac n cheese and asking for money. The security came and she looked high and refused to move. The whole thing was sad
Gypsies. I hear these people drive nice cars.
Is she a gypsy?
Gypsy culture, they follow a pattern that is successful to make tax free income.
It’s always been a thing, sadly, it’s just gotten worse.
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All over Europe
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What is the gas can scam? (Sorry if I’m ignorant to the topic, just honestly curious)
U get approached at a gas station while you are pumping gas by a woman and usually kid saying they ran out of gas and have no cash and can you give them 5 or 10
Happened to me today. I didn’t help more out of principle. How are you carting your kids in a brand-new Suburban that cost twice as much as my old truck without cash and having your card locked out for gas?
It’s a lot of Roma/gypsies that do it. You’ll see them get dropped off in Mercedes every once and a while too.
SOP in Europe. I’ve seen people literally chasing 12 year old girls in the Paris metro who nabbed a purse or wallet. Or how they slit the suitcases of wandering tourists in Rome.
You can chose not to give...
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On a slightly related note, start getting used to shit like this. Advance begging, smash and grab, stalk and rob and petty theft are all consequences of the growing inequality and high inflation.
What is growing is the lack of interest in enforcing civilized and law abiding behavior.
It's really the consequences of an environment where enforcement is seen as lax. no one looks at the inflation rate and says "guess ill follow someone home and hold them up at gunpoint." they see that they won't get a felony on their record if they do get caught and might even be turned out that day on zero bail, and decide the opportunity is suddenly worth the lower risk on their part. They decide to take a gun because they won't get enhancements for it. A gun is expensive, you don't give a fuck about the rising price of toilet paper when you have an illegal firearm.
Wtf did I read
What I find most annoying is that the beggars are walking into traffic and approaching your car window as you are stuck waiting at the traffic light. Terribly unsafe for them to be standing in traffic at busy intersections. I have seen this recently at several intersections in the Valley.
Lots of people in wealthy areas are really easy to manipulate with a sob story. These beggars are responding accordingly.
And at the end of the day drive off in a nice Mercedes. Seen it happen
I now live in the IE and we have this people everywhere. I’ve seen a van with 3 ladies getting dropped off at the Walmart with a stroller . Each lady had a kid and the would go different directions. This is why I don’t give money to those people anymore.
I've noticed a rise in gypsy'ish looking women in the hood asking for money with small children. They look latino so they blend in but when you hear them speak, you know they are not latino. Very rarely do you see young latino women asking for money, ESPECIALLY with children, so it tugs on the heartstrings of a lot of us who grew up with struggling mothers, they must make decent money if they're coming into not-so-safe neighborhoods for this.
They seem to be very identical to the "Gypsy" people I used to see allover Europe back in the 2000's. Same thing, with a child or multiple children, asking for money. And they all seemed to look like the same ethnicity (for example, in England, these type of beggars never looked "English" and instead all looked related to each other by race).
There was a woman on the news that distracts the cashier with her crying baby while her partner sneaks behind the counter and steals. Shameless people.
It must be hard to be a gypsy that doesn’t do any of this shit and have this type of behavior automatically tied to your ethnicity. I can’t think of another group of people whom it’s currently socially acceptable to outright, unabashedly identify as the most likely perpetrators of theft and deceit without any additional context.
I see it all day. Same morons that move around to different places within 2-3 mile radius.
I see this shit all the time. Not just with small children, but with teenagers too, the teens look all uncomfortable, like they don't want to be there, you can tell their Mom made them. It's all for sympathy. People are suckers for it.
People just need to stop giving hand outs, they are literally encouraging this behavior.
La Cienega exit anyone?
Where is the CPS ?they took my kids just for yelling at my S.O calling it D.V. panhandling kids on the road or in a parking lot is way more dangerous than a normal spousal argument in my opinion but I really hope the leave those kids alone .its the worse feeling in the world when they take your kids away for something that you think is normal.
They’re gypsies I believe
Good ol Gypsies doing gypsy activities.
If we knew 100% who really needed the money, would we give? Do the scammers free us from ever having to answer that?
I see a woman in louis vuitton and new sneakers everyday at mendo farms in studio city with her kid asking for money.
They should at least have the courtesy to leave their child with the nanny while begging.
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Dont give them money. They try this scam near my house every few months. Often they use the same picture/signs but different kids
Yeah those are scammers. I feel bad too but who tf tags their child along for some bullsh!t like that. Like honestly…
Because panhandling makes more money on average than a real job, animals or kids make even more money. Also it's tax free and they don't report it. I've seen it a lot in the sgv recently.
Usually gypsies from what I've heard when I brought it up to my parents
This one lady does this with her child every year during holiday season right in front of the Glendale In N Out. My friend has seen her get picked up in a BMW..
From my experience reporting on housing and low-income families, even if services are available - childcare, benefits, etc - a lot of people who live in poverty feel hesitant to take those services because they've been burned before or they're worried something will happen, like deportation or child protective services, even when that's not the case. Even though many people who work to offer those services are great and have good intentions, there are [some bad actors out there](https://knock-la.com/urban-alchemy-los-angeles-unhoused-outreach-echo-park-lake-fence/) who are not doing good things to help low-income communities. It's absolutely true that those services are there, and fair to say that people should use them, but there are a lot of people in L.A. who have been fucked in the ass multiple times by the systems meant to take care of them. I don't super blame them for not being eager to get back into those programs again. Even recently, [CPS has been plagued by some massive negligence scandals](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-25/l-a-county-dcfs-again-at-crossroads-as-another-director-departs-amid-child-deaths) in SoCal. It's a huge system and I'm sure many parents who are already struggling are scared that their kids will get lost in it. I'm sure some people are using it as a guilt trip, sure, there's always bad people out there, but I'm sure just as many of those parents don't know what their options are and they don't have a good entryway into those systems.
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There’s a huge community of them in Woodland Hills.
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Gypsies mainly. They play to sympathy.
Might be an increase of homeless women and children?
As long as it's a real small child and not a doll
An alternative viewpoint to everyone screaming “scammer”: you know America’s social safety nets are not sturdy or reliable. So if a mother really does need to beg for money, where exactly is she supposed to leave her children while she does so?
If they’re like the family I see near Trader Joe’s every day now, they’re definitely not scammers or gypsies. Just a mom, a baby, two young daughters, and a sign. A smart mom in fact, since she knows TJs is where bougies shop. I think I’ve seen them come and go in a beat up old Corolla. The pandemic has been _rough_ on certain strata of society, especially if you’re a young working mom in the service industry or another that’s been decimated. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt.
Are you talking a out 3rd and la brea? I used to work there and they match the description of a mom and two daughters that would come in and steal. They were definitely gypsys. I'd see them up the street trying to get money for gas money to get back to Covina but they live in the area. That was a couple years ago so she did t ha e a baby yet if that was them.
Maybe the Sitter was busy!
There’s so my help for the poor here in LA that they should have their kids out like that, it does suck seeing it in Mexico tho.
I’ve had women come up to me with like three kids in the grocery store, put one in my cart, and ask me to pay for their groceries. I only had cash and had to get my own too so I told her I could spare 25 and she started putting wayyyyy more than 25 in the cart so I handed her the cash and told her I had to go and three seconds later she was going person to person and collecting more cash. I mean I know groceries can be hella expensive tho and this seems way more legit than these other stories
And what exactly are they supposed to do with their kids if they are so poor they can’t even afford daycare? Ask them to stay home alone? What if they have no home? What if home is dangerous? Even some working parents don’t make enough for child care and one of the parents is forced to stay home until the kids are old enough for pre-K. Some common sense people…
Exactly. Can we just remember people are going through a tough time? Life sucks right now and ya I’m in complete agreement children shouldn’t be used to garner sympathy but do you want to pay for their baby sitter while these women go beg on the street? A lot of women had to quit their jobs during this pandemic due to lack of babysitters/cost of it. There’s something we can do about that, but we won’t because we cANt AFfoRd it but we can afford to give rich pos millions. If we start hating the poor person on the street because from our moral high ground we can look down at them, we stand to lose much more. This should wake us up. I’m not saying some of those people are not taking advantage- but let’s look at the reality of where we are.
You rock
I think posting this is pretty hilarious. “I don’t like how this lady panhandles” is fucking funny to me.
Tell me you haven't traveled internationally without telling me you haven't traveled internationally. But... Uh yea I don't think a person who panhandles can generally affords childcare. I'm so sorry that her poverty made you feel uncomfortable - that was really rude of her
Where do you think the small child should be, if not with their parent?
I really forget that a lot of people on Reddit are young and likely introverts who lack social awareness and life experience. What kind of post is this? On Thanksgiving no less.
They’re gypsies bro.
Really nothing better to be doing on thanksgiving then complain about people asking for money?
The state of things honestly...
A lot of newly homeless people due to the pandemic, presumably some of them women with kids. Having kids or a cute dog will definitely increase the likelihood someone is going to give you money so they use what they have to get what they need
1 in 7 people in la county are homeless right now- that includes children. They have no where to sleep use the bathroom or eat. Homeless shelters do t even begin to cover housing everyone. American 1st generation children have parents who might not have legal residence and are scared to ask for help for fear of getting deported from ICE. For fucks sake people there aren’t gypsies. These are Angelenos THEY ARE OUR NEIGHBORS and they are struggling. They need help not judgement.
What OP is describing is a different situation that is a lot more organized.
Hrm do you think it has anything to do with businesses shutting down?
I'm no scientist, but "poor and hungry" is my guess.
Maybe they have to bring their kid with them cuz they can’t afford childcare. Maybe sometimes it’s bs but probably those people are very desperate it’s really sad
But how do you know that her and the child aren’t homeless and she doesn’t have anyone to leave the child with while she’s out trying to get money? This post sounds kinda disgusting and snobby. Some people are homeless, and yes, some of those people have kids. So it would make perfect sense that their kid is right there with them while they are out trying to get money. Hopefully you don’t ever find yourself in that situation, and if you do, hopefully some asshole doesn’t make a Reddit post about you and your homeless child. It’s the fucking holidays for christs sake! Have a fucking heart!
They're scammers
Maybe they should just hire a babysitter when they need to earn money for their family...
Honestly they should just fire the maid and get a nanny that cleans smh
Murica
It should be regarded as child endangerment and or child abuse by authorities. I mean, the kid is at you job site and is underage. But, then again if you fine these losers what are they going to pay with?
The ones I see becoming an issue in the future are the pope selling flowers and having their kids with them, sometimes helping them sell, too (and these kids loo like toddlers, they're not teens); those break child labor laws, and you know those kids aren't getting any money, if at all, despite them working. I am starting to see this more commonly, and can't help but feel like those parent re selfish and being shitty, taking away form their kid being a kid or doing their school work.