This Costume Scam Is The Stupidest Scam Ever (NYC Photo Scam)

I found one of the stupidest scams happening in New York right now and it blows my mind that people still fall for this. If you’ve ever been to Times Square you already know the scam with the costume characters running around trying to grab tourists for pictures and then demanding money. I went down a rabbit hole watching these clips of the NYC costume photo scam and it’s honestly unreal how aggressive some of these people get. You’ve got the cross-eyed Elmo, knockoff Minnie Mouse, Spider-Man, and more all crowding around tourists and trying to force them into taking a picture so they can shake them down right after.

It’s the classic Times Square scam where they say the picture is free and then suddenly they want twenty bucks fifty bucks whatever they can get. There are so many videos of tourists getting swarmed or trapped in these weird photo circles and half of them don’t even realize what’s happening until the money comes out. I’m doing commentary on these clips because the whole situation is ridiculous and somehow getting worse every year. Watching people fall into the exact same trap over and over is wild and it feels like nobody talks about it unless they experienced it themselves.

If you’re visiting New York this is one of the biggest tourist scams you’re guaranteed to see and it’s honestly one of the funniest because of how over-the-top these costume characters act. This video covers the Times Square photo scam the NYC Elmo scam the New York tourist trap scams the Times Square street performer hustle and all the other nonsense people get caught in. I’m reacting to multiple clips breaking down how the scam works talking about why Times Square is such a magnet for this stuff and why it keeps blowing up online. Be sure to drop a like on the video.