A tourist was chased by characters in Times Square after he exposed the 'biggest scam' at a tourist hotspot.
There is no questioning that New York is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the planet, with around 566.7 million people visiting the Big Apple in 2022.
However, as many of us are well aware, popular tourist destinations can be the perfect hotspot for scams to take place.
And there is one particular one prevalent in Times Square now and it features a bunch of famous characters.
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Husnain Asif, a TikTok content creator and a contestant on Squid Game spin-off, Squid Game: The Challenge, showcased the 'scam' on the popular video platform.
In the video, Asif takes snaps with costumed icons such as Mickey Mouse, Elmo and friends.
As the content creator takes a photo with the characters, he utters a quick 'thank you' before the characters start pestering him for money.
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Asif exclaimed: "I don't have money!" which led to the angry group following the man.
At one point, the group asked Asif to delete the photo as he didn't pay them for the selfie opportunity.
"Woah, woah, Mickey Mouse is after me," Asif said. "Don’t fall for the scam people!"
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Minnie Mouse is particularly aggressive in this altercation, as she quipped: "You should be at home if you don’t have money."
This came after the tourists told his fellow sightseers that 'you don’t have to pay them, you can just walk off'.
The last character that Asif came face-to-face with was the Grinch, who walked towards the reality TV star to remove him away from all the other tourists taking photos.
"Everybody, free photos," Asif yelled.
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Understandably, the costumed characters were not best pleased as Asif told his fellow tourists not to pay them.
However, many tourists have admitted to having an 'unpleasant interaction' with characters at Times Square.
The costumed character of Mickie, Minnie and more have long caused problems for tourists and locals in New York, which even led to city officials passing a new law.
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It made it unlawful for the likes of costumed characters loitering near designated zones to essentially trap tourists into giving them money.
Recent TikTok videos have certainly shed new light on the situation that has caused problems in the New York for a while.
Callum Jones