Scamming & Style

Everyone has experienced a time in their life when they have been cheated or wronged. Whether it was buying a fake Gucci wallet or staying at a shitty hostel while traveling abroad, life is full of adventure. Everything that is beautiful is not always good for you. People will believe anything as long as the story looks and feels real and that’s where a scam can live. Good prices don’t always yield good results. Individuals who fall into a scam think the deal is so good; it has to be true. It is a unique experience where you feel vulnerable when you realize everything that nice salesman told you was false! A scam takes place in the hood every day. Usually in the form of credit card fraud related to buying designer clothes or material goods. Growing up in Philadelphia, people would buy prepaid credit cards for a cheaper rate than the actual money on the card. A $100 in cash could get you $500 in a prepaid credit card if you knew the right person. The biggest scams are always in retail. Such was the case when a friend told me he got scammed into buying fake Armani Exchange jackets in Midtown Manhattan. It was during the holidays when people are the most vulnerable. He was on his lunch break when a man with a thick Italian accent approached him about directions to the airport and a story about trying to get rid of a set of “leather Armani Exchange” jackets because he

needed the cash to get back home since he maxed out his credit card. By the end of the hour long scam-pitch, my friend brought three fake Armani Exchange ( disguised as “Emporio Armani”) jackets for $300 because he thought he was saving so much money while helping out a frazzled foreigner who even had a fake business card from “Giorgio Armani” the brand. However, when he got home and examined his prized possessions, he noticed the tag said “EZ Collection” and they smelled weird. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He never heard of the “EZ collection” even as a former retail associate at Armani Exchange. Upon a quick Google search, he discovered that the jackets were fake and dozens of people have reported that these jackets were part of scam thanks to message boards like Reddit and a recent blog post on Gothamist. As a Brooklyn native, my friend felt salty AF. Not only was this the first time he got scammed, but he also lost $300 because he wasn’t going to wear anything fake and couldn’t sell it to anyone because the jackets would be sure to bring him “bad Karma.” In the end, it doesn’t matter how street smart you think you are; scammers are the most skilled artisans after the government. Beware of too - good - to - be - true deals. Don’t walk in public with your purse open and be aware of your surroundings at all times.