Dirty barefoot children and foul-smelling alcoholics with outstretched hands on the streets are not helped as often as a few years ago. People are used to it being a "mafia" that makes money on compassionate citizens. Modern beggars look stylish and choose expensive metropolitan areas to “earn” their livelihood. Life found out what fraudulent schemes are used by the new "beggars" and how much they earn.
I want to go home
Suzanne is standing near the Moscow railway station in the center of St. Petersburg on high heels, in tight leggings. The poster says that the girl's money has been stolen, so she cannot go home.
- Do you know what real bad luck is? I live near the Moscow railway station and I see this girl every Friday. Throughout the year, tickets are stolen from her, but she does not become limp and does not give up. She has good makeup and looks great. And she doesn't give a damn. If my tickets were stolen every week for a year, I would have given up, - jokes a user on social networks under a photo of Suzanne. The girl has an open page on social networks, but she did not answer Life's questions at the time of publication of the material.
In the city center, in elite residential areas, in the metro, near railway stations and airports, people are standing in clean decent clothes, with suitcases or backpacks. In the hands of a sheet of paper or cardboard with the inscription: "Help me get home." Legends are always similar - a person either lost money and tickets, or everything was stolen from him.
According to “colleague” Suzanne from the capital's Chistye Prudy, it is the presentable appearance that helps to raise more money today. Nobody trusts the beggars on the subway. But people are ready to help a stylish young man or a pretty girl, which shows that the money will not be spent on alcohol or drugs. You can collect six to seven thousand rubles a day in crowded places.
Promotional video:
- On Friday and Saturday in the center of Moscow, you can "raise" up to 15 thousand, especially when there are a lot of tourists. Therefore, many write on tablets both in Russian and in English, - says a young man from Chistye Prudy.
Professional beggars point out that the exact description on the poster of what the money is supposed to be for helps to collect more. And the main thing is to change the legend more often. Last month I needed a ticket to Yekaterinburg, and this month, for example, to Sevastopol.
- Some people recognize the “needy” and start asking questions: “How long have you been standing here? You're a swindler! I saw you here in May, how can that be? I answer with a stone face that a person confuses me with someone. That I came from Nizhny Novgorod or Izhevsk three days ago and really want to go home, - explains the capital beggar.
In Moscow, a young man earns about 100 thousand rubles per month if he stands from Friday to Sunday from 14 to 22 hours. If passers-by offer to buy the whole ticket or call the police, the beggar must leave as soon as possible, otherwise there will be problems.
Guys will understand
An expensive car, stylish clothes, a pleasant smile and a confused look - this is how beggars from highways look like. They put the car on the emergency gang, catch a passing car and say that something is broken or they have run out of gas, so they need to call a tow truck, but there is no money with them and the card is blocked.
- A tow truck costs four to five thousand rubles. Compassion awakens in the driver: after all, this could happen to everyone, and a person in a good car does not look like a beggar. Therefore, the asking person receives the money, and after a couple of hours he changes the location and “spills” fresh good motorists,”said Life to one of the beggars who suffered from fraud.
Similar stories are encountered quite often on the Web. Someone was asked to help near the supermarket, someone at a gas station or in a parking lot. Scammers diligently write down the phone number of virtue and promise to transfer money to the card in the evening. Naturally, this is a deception.
Auto lawyers advise in such cases to take a receipt. If the beggar does not have a passport with him, he must have rights - take a photo of his document and the person himself on your smartphone. By the evening, the amount was not returned to the card - contact the police.
Children's requests
- The other day I went to the supermarket before work, and there is a boy of about eight years old. He was neatly dressed, his face and hands were clean, he asked me to buy him chips. He says he misses them. I am not sorry to buy a baby treat, but where are his parents looking? - outraged a resident of Yekaterinburg Marina.
The girl lives in an elite area of the city. In restaurants, supermarkets and even in a pharmacy, I began to often meet children of primary school age who ask their elders to buy them something.
Marina's neighbors say that this is a new child's play - "Mom does not allow eating harmful, then 'divorce' other adults." There is no terrible fraud here, but if the children are asking for money, not food, then they definitely do not need help. Perhaps the kids were persuaded by adult professional beggars: the money will be spent on the bad habits of the elders, and not on goodies for the children.
Teens flirt with begging as they take to the streets with posters "Help me with a ticket to Mars!" or "Not enough for a smoothie!" Passers-by put money in their hats with a smile. As a street musician told Life, pranksters-beggars can earn up to eight to ten thousand rubles a day. They especially love to wander through Friday traffic jams, and for a separate surcharge they agree to wipe the headlights of cars.
Today in Russia there are no sanctions against beggars. Only in the case of insulting harassment of citizens, a person can be fined up to 1,000 rubles or arrest for 15 days. For involving a minor in begging, the punishment will be more serious - imprisonment for up to four years.
In 2018, the State Duma discussed a bill against beggars, but until it is adopted, citizens should be more attentive and help those who really need it with a ruble. Lawyers advise doing charity work through trusted foundations, and not on the street, no matter how presentable the beggar may look. Most likely, he is not needy, but an ordinary fraudster.
Natalia Khomyakova