The only time I've given money to someone on the street he gave me a lengthy story which boiled down to "I just got into town and I need $5 to stay at the hostel down the street". (I was aware that such a hostel existed.)
I wouldn't have believed him except that he said "I figure that if I can get 20 people to give me a quarter each..." -- I figured that a scammer wouldn't have concocted such a complicated story just to ask for $0.25.
So I gave him the $5 he said he needed, and the look of shocked surprise on his face -- and his effusive thanks -- convinced me that I was right to believe him.
I wouldn't have believed him except that he said "I figure that if I can get 20 people to give me a quarter each..." -- I figured that a scammer wouldn't have concocted such a complicated story just to ask for $0.25.
So I gave him the $5 he said he needed, and the look of shocked surprise on his face -- and his effusive thanks -- convinced me that I was right to believe him.