NYC's BIGGEST Scams, Rip-Offs, and Tourist Traps in 2023 (Times Square and More!)

today I'll be warning you about the biggest  scams rip-offs and tourist traps in New York   City that every visitor needs to know about  we even have some that I've never talked   about before pay close attention here we go  welcome to Times Square Ground Zero for so   many scams and ripoffs the fake monk scam and  literally uh I see one walking right there as   we film this he will walk up to you and try  to slap a bracelet on your wrist and try to   solicit a donation for a Buddhist temple  well guess what this Temple doesn't exist   I don't even know if he's Buddhist and  you can get that bracelet probably for a   dollar around the corner so best advice  like most of these scams don't engage this has gotten so bad in Times Square that they  actually have signs for it up if your hand did a   compact disc it's free tipping is optional we'll  take it one step further if anybody tries to hand   you a CD just don't take it it is not worth the  argument because the guys giving them out are   going to expect money for one of their mixtapes  sometimes they'll even try to autograph it for   you to put extra pressure to get a donation so  my best advice if anyone tries handing you a CD   just keep walking and don't make eye contact now  a lot of times around the city especially in Times   Square you'll see groups of street performers  many times doing aerial acts jumping over each   other trying to pump up the crowd all fun and  they are going to expect tips which is perfectly   fine they are giving your performance but where  things get dicey is when they ask for volunteers   and you volunteer to go in the middle of their  show now what some of my viewers have told me   is they're going to ask you quietly to give them  10 maybe 20 fathers to ensure that they actually   jump over your head again no issue with this but  just know if you want your friends and family to   film and take photos of this if you want to  be the center of attention they are going to   expect a tip so don't be surprised speaking of  video most tourists realize that if you want to   take a picture with Mickey Mouse or Elmo they're  gonna ask you for a tip maybe quite aggressively   but also if you're even walking by and start to  film any of the costume characters I have seen   them get very upset even with me for filming and  them being in the background they may demand money   from you remember you have a First Amendment right  to record whatever you want in public but is it   really worth the hassle to argue with these people  probably not Resort fees I've never talked about   it on the channel before but so many of you have  complained about it and if you've never been to   Las Vegas a resort fee is basically any fee that  a hotel tax onto your bill to cover perks like   free internet service gym entry access us to the  pool and where it starts to get a little tricky   is that a lot of third-party sites will put Resort  fee in small print at the bottom so there's a big   surprise when you check out that you're paying  an extra 29 per night and this gets a lot of   people upset you can try to avoid booking a hotel  that has it but I would just be extremely careful   about reading the fine print reading all the texts  when you book to see if the resort fee is included   so there's no surprise there's a new scam in New  York City which is targeting senior citizens in   all five boroughs and I want all my tourists to  know about it as well the victim walks into the   ATM vegetable and puts in their card enter their  pin and then a stranger comes behind them and puts   a few dollars on the ground the scammer is going  to tap you and say you dropped some cash and then   they are so quick they'll switch your card out of  the machine with a dummy card take off with your   card and go on a spending spree I've also read  that they are so sophisticated that they will   stake out ATMs with surveillance gear Bluetooth  technology it is very high-end crime going on in   New York City right now at ATM machines want to  warn especially my senior citizen viewers to be   on the lookout for this another new scam that has  been reported on the news in New York we'll call   this the candy scam some teens will approach you  selling candy now if you have cash you'll just buy   the candy but if you don't have cash they'll  say it's fine we can accept venmo or zellpay   and then instead of you putting in their phone  number they'll ask for your phone and when they   get your phone you're going to lose a lot of money  thousands of dollars coming out of your account so   the rules of thumb here and the advice I give  is never give your phone to anybody if you're   trying to donate money if you're visiting New  York for the first time and you need advice on   itineraries cheap eats and so much more check out  our digital guides link down in the description   I'm actually taking some of your suggestions here  Steven Reese wrote I had a guy try and sell me the   hop-on hop-off bus same day about 20 minutes  before they stopped operating it happened a   few days during my stay okay nothing against the  Hop On Hop Off buses and this goes for any tour   of New York work if someone's trying to sell you  it you should know what time it closes even hour   isn't enough time for one of those hop-on hop-off  buses so if it's the end of the day and someone's   trying to sell you a tour make sure you know how  much time you have left something else to be on   the lookout for in Midtown are Petty cabs also  in Central Park now some of them are amazing   guides to the city but do not jump blindly onto a  pedicab without agreeing to a price first because   many of them will charge six seven eight dollars a  minute so after 20 or 30 minutes you're basically   paying for an airline ticket okay Broadway ticket  rip-offs this is something that so many tourists   fall for if you want to see any Broadway show  what you need to do to get tickets for it is go   directly to that show's website there's different  ticket providers like telecharge or Ticketmaster   and in this example here we go to Aladdin and we  find a show next week May 23rd on the official   site we jump to Ticketmaster it starts at 64.50  but if you Googled Aladdin you would find a   website that looks official like this one where  you would see a start price of one hundred six   dollars a ticket and they're barely showing you  any inventory because these are ticket resellers   and you're going to spend a lot more money if you  go away from the primary source of tickets you   also have the ability to go to the tkts booth if  you want to get discounts for same-day shows but   for really popular shows or really busy times of  year always recommend pre-buying for your favorite   show street food rip-offs and scams I've mentioned  this so many times but if you ever go to a food   vendor on the street and they do not have their  prices listed ask what the price is first before   ordering I've heard too many reports of my viewers  paying ten dollars twenty dollars for a hot dog I   wish I was making this this up so always check you  do not want to fall for this back to the viewers   the baggage tip hustle scammers outside the train  terminal of Moynihan people looking for a buck   helping with luggage he charged me 20 bucks just  to carry the luggage into the terminal fortunately   the red caps were kind and patient thank you  Amtrak well thank you Enya for this I actually had   something similar happened to me many years ago  in Bridgeport Connecticut you may have some people   trying to help you with your bags outside of a  Moynihan train Hall a Port Authority right behind   me or a Penn Station don't let some stranger take  your bags and expect that they're going to do it   for free they will want a tip okay so be on the  lookout for that the bus train airport stranded   local scam I see this happening all the time at  the area transport hubs somebody's gonna walk up   to you and say they are seven dollars and 25 cents  short of their bus ticket up to Syracuse and if   you give them that money they're going to get home  safely they're going to be in the same place same   time the next day maybe going to a different city  so if anybody asks you for money to catch a bus   or catch a train no they're doing it to everybody  the dropped food bottle medicine glasses you name   it scam somebody will be walking past you in my  case it was carrying french fries and they very   intentionally bump into you hoping that you  didn't notice dropping their food everywhere   dropping their prescription medicine everywhere  and demanding money from you right away if this   ever happens keep it moving just keep walking  that's it don't engage they're gonna look for   a more gullible Mark around the corner you need to  be on guard at any of the area airports the second   you step outside of the terminal if you don't  have your ride arranged somebody may approach   you offering you a lift into Manhattan never  accept any random Livery Cab drivers offer they   could really rip you off the second is I have  seen it myself people holding up signs that say   Uber trying to encourage you to go ride with them  they don't work for Uber every Uber must be called   by the individual they're just gonna give you a  very expensive ride into the city filbert km with   this one the scammers in Battery Park and around  the Staten Island Ferry Terminal everyone should   know the Staten Island Ferry is free and offers a  pretty good view of a Statue of Liberty indeed it   does and indeed the Staten Island Ferry is always  free never accept any offer trying to buy tickets   for the Staten Island Ferry and be careful of some  of the people down there trying to sell what's a   Statue of Liberty cruises or boat cruises you can  go directly to Castle Clinton or statuecruises.com   to get the official tickets for the Statue so  be on guard for that if you're visiting New   York for the first time there's certain tips and  tricks that'll really help you out in this video   I share 25 essential New York City tips in 10  minutes worth the watch trust me at here next

Channel: Here Be Barr

Views: 480,860

Keywords: nyc, new york city, new york, here be barr, nyc scams, rip-offs, tourist traps, what not to do in nyc, new york scams, cd guys, fake monks, nyc 2023, tourist traps in new york, tourist scams in nyc, fake, 2023, 2024, tourist scams, midtown manhattan, times square, nyc travel guide, nyc tourist traps, nyc vlog, is nyc dangerous, nyc crime

Id: 5JNh5lGdlu0

Length: 10min 10sec (610 seconds)

Published: Sun May 21 2023