It’s either this or the tickets are from last nights game. Happened to me at a concert, 3 out of 4 were real and the 4th one was an old ticket.
Hell they do it right on Central Park South in front of the Park Lane Hotel. Even the “antique” store next door was selling obvious fake erotic “ivory” netsuke on the front counter.
And then again, I saw a homeless guy drop his drawers and take a dump in front of the Trump Tower. Got to love New York.
A few scams can be “played along with”. When a fun looking dude tried the “where you got your shoes” on us in NOLA, I told him we knew the gag, but he could join us for a few drinks. We wound up enjoying his stories and picking up some tips.
I actively seek out a St Martin “scammer” each vacation. He hangs out near Rancho Argentine Steakhouse and asks for $$ because the ATM is “broken” (it has a flashing yellow light to attract attention. It isn’t broken). I give him $20 (he is asking for five). In exchange, he becomes my buddy; helping me out of parking spots, waving hi when he sees us, etc. He will refuse any additional money.
Also in St Martin, at the Grande Case Carnivale, we thought we were being scammed by a very drunk, destitute looking man who told us he was the mayor of the town. It was ludicrous, but he was funny and so we played along. I went to buy a round of drinks for us and “the mayor”, only to have my cash refused. He was the mayor. The evening was fantastic.
This isn’t EXACTLY a scam, but a lot of beggars in Trinidad have a standard sob story of being brought to the USA or Britain illegally as a child and they were just arrested last week and deported and they have no money to buy food 
I get a kick out of stopping them mid story and finishing their tale of woe for them, sometimes they get pissed but some laugh.
EDIT:I mention this because they target what they think are foreigners, and adapt the story as needed. You know those damn racist cops in country X.
I wouldn’t even call most of the items in the OP’s link ‘scams’ - they are either simple distractions for pickpocketing or glorified attempts at begging. In most cases you just have to either keep your valuables safe or be firm and refuse to pay in order to avoid being had by them.
So what is the shoe scam?
“Betcha $20 I can tell where you got them shoes!”
"They’re on your feet! Gimme the $20!"Not the cleverest or most original thing I ever heard, and I dealt with it (in NYC) by ignoring the drunk who tried the setup.
Regards,
Shodan
In the Houston area, I am constantly amazed at the number of people who apparently have driven into town for a ‘job interview’ but don’t have any money to buy fuel to get back to Huntsville or College Station, or wherever they claim they’re from.
I was at a gas station one evening a couple of weeks ago and had put a couple of gallons of gas in a gas can and was in the process of filling up my truck when a man comes up and asks if I can help him out because he had run out of gas up the road and needed to some gas so he could get home. I smiled and said “hell yeah I can help you out - I got a couple of gallons in a can right here - hop in and I’ll take you to your car”. He mumbled something and quickly walked away.
The article mentions Three Card Monty and the Shell Game. Do people still run those? Is the article padding itself with ancient cons, or are there still suckers out there that have never heard of the scam? Who could be that stupid?
I mean, there were a few on there I had never heard of, but 3CM is as old as dirt. I bet it was being played in cave man times. Is this a failure of our education system?
Exactly this except both times they tried it I was with a large enough group that someone had to sit in the front seat where they were accused of sitting on the glasses. Both times I just took out my phone to snap a photo of their Id card and they lost all interest in being compensated for their loss.
There were at least three of them going on at the same time on the Pont d’Iéna (the bridge closest to the Eiffel Tower) two weeks ago. I said the same thing to my wife - “who hasn’t heard of this scam?”
I’m amazed.
Did you win? 
Not that time, but I’m sure I will next time!
I wonder how many people have waited for the “somebody bent a corner of the winning card” part of the scam, and then, knowing it was done by a shill, bet on one of the other two cards?
Of course, there are a number of ways around this as well. Three that I can think of:
(1) When you bet, the shill bets on the same card, and the dealer pushes back your bet, claiming that only one player at a time can play and “his bet was first”;
(2) Someone nearby yells, “Fold!”; the dealer picks up and leaves in a hurry, usually leaving the bettor with the cards just in time to have to explain it to the police;
(“the version I heard was,” if somebody says “fold” just once, it just means that the particular area is pretty much dead; saying it multiple times is the signal that the cops are in the area)
(3) How about that - you won, and managed to walk from the game with your profit! Say, isn’t that “stranger” getting a little close to you for comfort…what? Why am I lying in this alley in what appears to be a pool of my own blood, and where’s the money I won - or my wallet, for that matter?
I remember a story - by John Scarne, I think - about someone who figured out a way to beat a Monte scam by attaching a $50 bill to a staple gun, then quickly stapling the $50 to the winning card before the dealer could come up with any excuses. The story ends with the “wimmer” in an emergency room, with the $50 still stapled to the board on which the game was played - and the board stapled to the guy’s forehead.
Usually, they just ignore your bet.
Yes. The whole point of the game is there is no way to win. There’s no “magic” way to beat them.
Except, by pulling a gun and robbing them. That would work, but it strongly discouraged,
I have seen 3 card Monte on the Vegas strip on the sidewalks outside of the casinos. This was two or three years ago. The games looked pretty lively with lost of people watching. I never stopped long to watch because I prefer to loose my money in places where they bring free beer.
There are a swarm of three card monte scams run along on Westminster Bridge, yards from the Houses of Parliament. Literally a dozen or more groups the length of the bridge.
The police have found it almost impossible to stop. Even when they try extreme measures.
Around the world, dodgy taxi drivers are attracted to airports like flies. Much more surprising: at Shanghi the drivers I used (even the dodgy drivers at the airport) go straight to the destination, charge only the metered fare (not adding even turnpike tolls), and don’t expect a tip. [I say that the driver at the airport was dodgy because he drove well over the speed limit going up the line between two lanes trying to dodge the turnpike tolls which he wasn’t going to charge us for.] It was pretty amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else in the world.