Lisa

Swindlers

Cab scam

For the most part I think cabbies in NY are pretty reliable, mostly honest, maybe a little nuts, but generally fine people. Last night I took a cab home, and the fare was $19. I needed to break a $20 bill to give him a tip, so gave him another $20, he gave me change, and I gave him $3 extra. I was about to get out of the cab when suddenly he accused me of not giving him the $20. I distinctly remembered giving it to him, so I argued, insisting that I gave him the fare, plus another $20 bill to get change from. He got really angry and slightly aggressive, threatened me with karma, god, shouted at me and berated me until I grew weary of his nonsense. In the end he made me question myself so much that I just gave him the money to save myself the hexing he was about to give me. I told my sister the story the next day and she said that this has happened to her twice before and she just left the cab knowing he was trying to rip her off. I definitely got scammed. Lesson learned: don't question yourself when you know you're right.

West Village, To Astoria