davis_square | Spare change scammer redux

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Spare change scammer redux

I've seen a few posts here and

b0st0n lately about the "spare change scammer". This is a guy whose typical scam is to try to sell you a spare change newspaper and when you give him a $1, he walks away. He is also known to sometimes switch off and give you one of the free newspapers instead of the spare change paper.

Legitimate people who sell spare change newspapers will be wearing an ID badge.

Anyway, I saw him this morning and I took his picture with my crappy cell phone camera.

He is about 50 or so, wears a leather "beret" type hat and sunglasses.

X-posted to

b0st0n.

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Do you realize that when you keep pushing a guy who is already down and with a proven tendency to go ballistic (at least verbally), something bad may happen? I almost feel like that is what everyone is waiting for, in a vaguely sadistic way. Dunno, the guy throwing somebody under an incoming train or down the Porter/Davis station escalator. Why don't you stop and talk to him a bit, instead of bitching online? You might even find out what his problem is and why he's doing what he does...

All I want is for people not to give him money, so he'll leave the station.

That's an understandable sentiment, but your comment (rearranged a bit) shows why that might not be a good idea. Further up the thread people have reported being verbally confronted, and your suggestion of talking to him, yet him being someone who has a "proven tendency to go ballistic" -- that is not the job of a customer of the MBTA. It is a job for professionals, people who can actually help him if there is an issue where that can occur.

That may be true. But I presume he goes ballistic when confronted, not when people treat him like a regular human being. You make my general point though. It is NOT Ron's job to get this guy out of the T...

It's a public service that Ron provides to the rest of the customers on the T however, to inform them of the scammer and to help save the face of a reputable charity.

Fine, perhaps we need also somebody on the T pointing out that it is pretty sad that our employed and well fed friend (Ron) is so obsessed about getting a guy who seems to be spending all his days pretending to be homeless. One day we'll find him dead on the sidewalk outside Porter Sq. Then we'll feel really proud.

I seem to have missed the post where Ron came to your house and pissed into your cheerios.

You've made some comments on this community lately where I don't know if you are actually serious or trying to troll for your own amusement.

Seriously.

So what do you propose? Just allow him to continue to scam people, ruining the name of a charity that tries to HELP homeless people, as well as lowering the expectations of the general public regarding the homeless population? Because that seems like a great way for Spare Change to make money to actually help homeless people.

I buy Spare Change, when I have the, (ironically), spare change to do so. I know that it's going to a good cause. However, all these people who get scammed by our leather-beret wearing friend will look at all the authorized sellers with suspicion.

As for the legitimate Spare Change vendor in Davis, (you all know who I'm talking about, "Spaaaaare Chaaaange Newspaper!"), I've been buying from him since highschool.

I call troll on this post, but I needed to vent a wee bit.

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Spare change scammer redux

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