To be broadcast Thursday, Feb. 9 at Noon on Fox 5

New York, NY – Feb 9^th – New York City is flooded with people on the streets asking for a handout. You see them everywhere on street corners across the country—the homeless and the destitute holding signs and begging you for spare change. INSIDE EDITION investigates just how genuine some of these New York panhandlers really are. INSIDE EDITION’s Lisa Guerrero and the I-Squad expose bogus beggars taking your hard earned cash.

One of the bogus beggars we investigated hobbles on crutches, is completely hunched over and shakes her cup for donations. Her territory was The Avenues of Avenues—Fifth Avenue—where stores like Tiffany’s and Prada attract wealthy—and apparently, generous shoppers. INSIDE EDITION follows her as she gets off a bus in Queens and hops into a minivan. But, it’s a totally different looking woman that emerges when the van pulls over. She walks perfectly fine and, of course, the crutches are gone. We found that when it’s time to go to “work” she changes into her “work” clothes in the back of the van. Voila! She’s ready for another day of bogus begging.

INSIDE EDITION’s Lisa Guerrero decides to confront the woman.  

GUERRERO: “We saw you this morning walking perfectly fine…isn’t this just a scam to play on peoples heartstrings?”

Like any good actor, she never broke character and claims it’s not her even after we show her our video.

Experts say the best way to make sure your donations don’t end up in the wrong place is to give to a reputable charity that supports programs for the homeless.

Part 2 of this series will be broadcast tomorrow, Feb. 10^th.

INSIDE EDITION is produced daily by Inside Edition Inc. and distributed by CBS Television Distribution.

Check local listings for stations and times.

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