Attentiveness Puzzle: Guess Which One Of Them Is A Professional Panhandler

We are sure it didn't take you long. The woman with a violin earns money with her musical skills. The one holding a bag of flowers is trying to sell it. The third one, perhaps, needs money for dog food, but gold earrings suggest otherwise.

But this is just a puzzle. How to figure out a scammer among those who really depend on our help? Many people on the web shared their opinions on this subject.

©Antti Laakso:

Everyone standing on the street in a crowded place is a professional beggar. ALWAYS. No exceptions. People who don’t have money or those who ended up on the street due to an accident (a real estate scam etc.) usually get any basic job.

©Daria Drezner:

Some just beg...others sell something! It is elderly people mostly. They are ashamed to panhandle, so they choose a more dignified way.

Tomsickova Tatyana / Shutterstock.com

©Elena Malakhovets:

If you see kids begging (troubled children, you can see that) – don’t ever give them any money. One of these kids earns the same as an average family. You can offer to buy them food, but the little insolents will ask you to take them to a café and order something expensive.

©Alex Arutyunyan:

Here’s what I do: I approach a person and offer to solve their problem in another way. Then it’s obvious who is sincere.

@Erica Green:

When they come up to me, I never give money. Once in a store I was approached by an elderly woman, she asked for bread. I offered to buy it for her. And she agreed, ladies and gentlemen. She asked for any cheapest bread. Then I offered to buy her milk and eggs. She said that then she won’t be able to take the bread, or it will be too expensive. In the end, I bought everything, and gave it away. I was thanked with tears in her eyes. I was very sorry for her and sad in my soul. But I've never met a woman like this in this place, although I live nearby.

Dmytro Zinkevych / Shutterstock.com

Professional beggars are quite easy to suss out. They work in crowded places, and in most cases they are:

• pregnant women and young mothers (using a pillow or a doll);

• people who appeal to religion (they rarely explain what they need the money for);

• volunteers collecting money for the needs of orphans, widows, sick children, animals, etc. (real ones have all the necessary papers);

• the ones who “got mugged” and urgently need to make a call;

• degraded-looking people asking for pennies to buy, for example, a bus ticket.

Followtheflow / Shutterstock.com

No doubt, everyone can end up in this situation, and we can’t immediately call a person asking for help a fraud. It is a personal choice whether to give the money or not. But before you do, you should always think whether you are wasting your kindness on those who prey on it. After all, there are people who are in desperate need, and our small help could mean a world to them, but their conscience and dignity don’t let them beg.