Ripoffs

== Gun Buy Back ==
We met a guy who had a pretty sweet scam, now several of us have tried it successfully. Many cities have a monthly gun buy back program awarding a $100 gift certificate for every gun turned in, most turn ins have an upper limit so find out. We avoid the free shoes for guns unless our shoes are really falling apart. This fellow visits the hardware store and builds a $5 pipe shotgun and handgun to turn in every month at a different station, he always wears gloves to prevent fingerprints, in the summer bike gloves. This $200 of gift certificates goes a long way to keeping him fed or buy camping gear since he hops between squats. He mentioned that the gun just has to look like it works and he will only go to buybacks with no questions asked, even better if it is city employees instead of cops accepting the trade-ins. He always scopes the site out for cops photographing the crowd and he tries to get a different city worker every time through the line. He has a story ready if he is ever asked that he found the gun in a bush, and he always goes in clean clothes and freshly shaved to not draw attention. If you are lucky you might even find a city who gives out cash. This trick should be done carefully especially for kids and minorities, cops are allowed to lie about the no questions asked policy as they are at all times. Minorities participating even in good faith in a gun buyback should suspect the pigs of arresting them for an illegal weapon as they are approaching the buyback station, even more so when gaming the pigs for prizes in their own station. In the end this is getting a real gun off of the streets so maybe it is not a ripoff, maybe you can sell enough gift certificates to buy a decent gun.
== Donation Boxes ==
If you're all about scams, an easy way to make some small bread is to get a bunch of Tupperware containers (about $2.50 for 12 of them), cut coin slots in the lids, and print some labels saying "Donate to the Salvation Army" ,"Donate to Goodwill" or make up some sob story (NOTE: Do a plausible story, a lady was arrested for doing this method with a child who "had cancer", when she actually shaved the child's head). The former is an actively proselytizing religion that discriminates against LGBT people in rendering charitable service and the latter a "poverty corporation" who makes big money posing as charities, so it's OK to collect money for yourself on their behalf. Walk around and ask stores if you can put one on their counter for a week or so. Almost all of them will say yes, and if not, give them some bullcrap story. Odds are that if you come back in a week, all of your buckets will either have $3-5 in them, or be stolen. Either way, for roughly $6.00, it's a pretty good change-maker. If you see boxes for known fake charities like Goodwill, the Salvation Army, Sierra Club, or the Make-a-Wish Foundation, you can work this the other way, and rip off their boxes. Just walk in with a clipboard and tell them you're here to collect them. Don't feel too bad, though. Most of those organizations pocket 85% or so. Don't do this unless you know the charity is fake though, many organizations really need the money and use it to help our cause. Never steal from fellow revolutionaries! Another good scam is to make signs saying you'll help natural disasters, like earthquakes, hurricanes, or poverty in some random country (Africa or Southeast Asia is best at this) If you use the first two methods when an earthquake or hurricane hasn't happened in MONTHS, then you won't get any money, obviously. And if the feeling of guilt plagues your mind, never donate more than 10% to the real charity.
== State Highway Administration ==
Find out when and where they are mowing the lawns or doing road work, and contact them claiming that your vehicle was damaged by flying/loose debris. Oftentimes, they will simply send you a check to cover the cost of "repairs" so they don't have to worry about lawsuits.
== The International Yippie Currency Exchange ==
Every time you drop a coin into a slot, you are losing money needlessly. There is at least one foreign coin that is the same size or close enough that will do the trick for less than a penny. The following are some of the foreign currencies that will get you that Coke, call or subway ride.
Just wanted to help to shed some light on one of the great things from Abbie Hoffman's book. The International Yippie Currency Exchange is still alive and well. Here's a little bit of info that I tried just today 6 October 06. I went to my local coin dealer and took a U.S. quarter with me to use as a sizing guide. Well I spent about $2.00 to buy 24 coins that looked about the same size as the U.S. quarter. I then took these back to my office and tried them in the vending machines at work to see if they would work or not. Well, I always say, "If it looks like a quarter, it will spend like a quarter!" Well, I'll be God-Damned, it worked just like the original stuff said it would. So here's one way to triple your money in a hurry. Go to your local coin dealer and check and see if they have assorted foreign coins. Another good resource for this is E-Bay as one can buy a bag of several pounds of assorted foreign coins for just a couple of dollars a bag. Not to mention that it is possible to get them at the International Currency Exchange of any major bank. If so buy them and remember, "If it looks like a quarter, it will spend like a quarter." Not all work well but those from Panama, Jamaica, New Zealand and Canada worked wonderfully in the place of U.S. quarters. But the others will work well in hand to hand transactions with the agents of corpgov at places like Walmart, Target and other overstocked corpgov greed monsters. So for those of us of the New Resistance, "Power to the People, and Down with the Greedy Corporate Monsters!" Long live The Yippie International Currency Exchange!
It is a little harder now because of the Euro and the terrible exchange rate of the dollar. However, South American coins should still be a good exchange, and a lot of Asian currencies have low exchange rates, so you could try that too.
All Canadian coins are exactly the same size as their American counterpart but some are attracted by a magnet to help machines reject them so they are easy for you to reject also. The Canadian quarter is the same size as an American quarter, the Canadian nickel as the American nickel, the Canadian dime is just a little smaller than the Amerikan dime. Canadian coins are a little more expensive at coin dealers than other foreign coins. The Canadian dime is a bit lighter and thinner than the American dime, you may have a hard time with payphones, vending machines, and soda machines. The Canadian dime will always work in newspaper machines. Canadian coinage is especially common in CHANGE gathered in northern U.S states.
Note: The current exchange rate makes using Canadian coinage a bad idea.
=== Grifter Tricks ===
Further information on this Yippie International Currency Exchange. Here's a wonderful little trick that I worked out that will turn $4.00 U.S. into $10 U.S. What you do is this. Most international coins run for $0.08 U.S. a piece. The next thing to do is to get a rolling paper for a roll of quarters. Then the first coin in should be a U.S. quarter and then you fill the tube with the quarter sized coins until you have put 38 of these in. You then put a final U.S. quarter on the end of the roll and close the end tightly. This now creates a situation where you have a $10 quarter roll made of foreign quarters and you've used $0.50 of Amerikan money to create this. Then take this to one of the Corpgov agents like Walmart or any other large store. When the line is busy go up with about a $1.00 item and purchase it. Then you'll receive the $9.00 change from giving the cashier the quarter roll. Usually they won't even crack the roll open to give you change back. Plus to insure they don't it's always a good idea to carry a few small coins to cover the taxes on your purchase. And if you should by some unfortunate chance get your roll cracked open and the cashier questions you the simple answer is to play shocked and swear that you had just given somebody else a $10 bill in exchange for the quarter roll and you got scammed. Usually, this will work. Keep in mind though that many stores and restaurants will take the difference out of the cashier's pocket if they come up short, so be sure to only perform tricks like this at places that take large amounts of cash daily and therefore won't hold employees responsible. I've tried passing the foreign coins as quarters in smaller amounts and it has worked 100% of the time when I've claimed that I got them back as change from someone. If you're really ballsy and want to fuck the bastards good you might try giving this quarter roll over to a bank or a casino in order to get the full money back. Most small town banks or those within WalMart, etc., will not check the roll before giving you the full amount. Tellers at branches of TD Canada Trust tend to not break rolls of coins, which makes it easy to pass rolls full of washers to their tellers. And least with most Corpgov agent retailers, you're dealing with teenagers who usually don't give a damn or you're dealing with those people who aren't the sharpest tool in the shed if you know what I mean. Go to a local coin shop and buy about 40 quarter sized coins. Unfortunately washers from your local hardware store will not work with machines in the USA, Amerikan coins are non magnetic and the weight is wrong so they will be rejected, although they work for the tube scam. Washers also work in the old school vending machines (the ones you have to crank to get the item). Just another way to stick it to the man plus it's quite fun. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.
Put a number 14 brass washer in a newspaper vending machine and take out all the papers. Stand around the corner or go into the local bar and sell them. You often get tipped. Don't do this with underground papers. Remember they're your brothers and sisters.
== Sources ==
Just a little further info for you all who might be wondering where to get the coins that I've mentioned above. The best source that I've found is your local coin dealer shop. However, if you don't have a coin dealer in your area then E-Bay has a section where you can find bags of several pounds of these coins being sold for just a few dollars a piece. I have tried this gig personally and know that the quarter roll gambit above works wonderfully and that it has returned for me a 200% or more profit in just a few days.
Many vending machines will give you a different coin than the one you put in when you press the coin return button. I've only used this property to search for coins of interest, not for any scam, but I'd estimate you can feed a couple hundred coins through before you start to get back the ones you put in. Older machines seem not to recycle coins and will sometimes eat your money or reject all coins once their change supply is depleted. Using this technique to exchange foreign coins would require a very close match to the target coin, but it's also much less risky than walking into a store and hoping they don't catch on and call the cops.
== DIY Inflation ==
Just an addition on money when one is in a tight spot. If one has access to a color copier or a scanner that will copy in color then one has access to a quick way of counterfeiting a dollar bill that might be passed in a vending machine. Don't try this with other money as the security features will allow the vending machine to tell a counterfeit from a real thing. But I've done some checking and desktop counterfeiting will work in almost all cases of money but all U.S. bills except for G.W. have security measures to prevent copying as the original work has suggested. But $1 bills lack any security features aside from the paper they are printed on. Look at the type of paper your dollar bills are on and then try to match that paper up with something similar at the office supply store. Although there are similar materials, none will feel exactly like a USD bill, as those are made with a secret formula of which a percentage is cloth. Use that paper to copy the front and back of dollar bills to and you should end up with a crisp new dollar bill that will pass in most vending and change machines.
Just remember that counterfeiting is a Federal Felony Offense and will bring you lots of trouble if you're caught. And you will probably get caught -- most color printers/copiers sold since the very early 90's have a "watermarking" feature -- they print a grid of faint yellow dots, nearly invisible to the naked eye, over all their printouts. The EFF has a list of printers that do not. This grid contains information such as the printer's serial number, batch number, etc -- allowing the FBI to track a counterfeit bill down to the very machine it was made from. At the very least, make sure you purchase your printer (and the paper) in a retail store a good distance from your home, and pay cash! If you are low on cash you may wish to check the free section on craig's list as printers are commonly put up for free if you pick them up. More importantly with watermarking the feds will know every bill and document printed comes from one printer and not waste their time trying to run down multiple counterfeiting rings.
== Trying automated in-store coin counters with foreign coins ==
We bet it would work and would give you a credit slip, but how much you wanna bet the machine has a camera that takes a few frames of still pictures or video every time it is used like at the ATM machine? Look at the machine for pinholes or windows (maybe black plastic to us, but IR transparent so it will take an infrared black and white shot) or cameras nearby watching the machine.
Coinstar will not accept Canadian coins because they are of magnetic metal, this is a reject feature in nearly all US coin-op systems, test your coins with a magnet, if your foreign coins attract they will not work an Amerikan coin machines.
== Edited 1969 Original The International Yippie Currency Exchange ==
Quarter Size Coins (in 1969)
* URUGUAYAN 10 CENTISIMO PIECE
** works in many soda and candy machines, older telephones (3 slot types), toll machines, laundromats, parking meters, stamp machines, and restroom novelty machines. Works also in some electric cancerette machines but not most mechanical machines.
* DANISH 5 ORE PIECE
** works in 3 slot telephones, toll machines, laundromats, automats, some stamp machines, most novelty machines, and the Boston Subway. Does not work in soda or cancerette machines.
* PERUVIAN 20 CENTAVO PIECE
** works in new (one slot) telephone and some electric cancerette machines, but does not work as many places in the Uruguay, Danish and Peruvian coins.
** NOTE: There have been many issues of the 20-centavo piece over the years, with different specs, so who knows which really work. Plus, these are all old, with a new currency system in place which makes them likely too costly or too uncommon now to be useful. There are new coins, however, which are promising in terms of specs. The 5-nuevos-soles piece, for example, is the exact diameter of an American quarter, and exactly one gram overweight. The 2-nuevos-soles piece is a little smaller in diameter, but almost exactly the same weight as a quarter. Unfortunately, as of August, 2010, the exchange rate is definitely not favorable for usage of these coins as quarters. If there is devaluation in the future, however...
* MEXICAN 10 CENTAVO PIECE
** works in new (one slot) telephones and some cancerette machines, but does not work as many places as the Uruguay, Danish and Peruvian coins.
** NOTE: The new 10-centavo piece of the early 90's would not appear to be a promising candidate for substitution for the old centavo piece originally mentioned here. Its 17mm diameter and 2.08g weight make it too light and small to adequately masquerade as an American quarter. Basically, this means the old centavo piece is likely too costly or too uncommon now to be useful.
* ICELANDIC 5 AURAN PIECE
** most effective quarter in the world, even works in change machines. Unfortunately, this coin is practically impossible to get outside of Iceland and even there, it is becoming difficult since the government is attempting to remove it from circulation.
Dime Size Coins (in 1969)
* MALAYSIAN PENNY
** generally works in all dime slots, including old and new telephones, candy machines, soda machines, electric machines, stamp machines, parking meters, photocopy machines, and pay toilets. Does not work in some newer stamp dispensers, and some mechanical cancerette machines.
** NOTE: This coin (called the "1 sen") is going bye-bye as of 2008. It will still be around, but it is being aggressively phased out. See http://www.adinochang.com/archives/1-sen-coin-myths-and-facts-you-must-know.html)
* TRINIDAD PENNY
** generally works the same as Malaysian Penny. As of 2010, it seems that this coin is as useful as it was back in '69, with no significant changes since then to alter its usefulness.
All of the coins listed had a currency value of a few cents as of 1969, with most less than one penny. Foreign coins work more regularly than slugs and many, but not all, are non-magnetic, hence cannot be detected by "slug detector machines." Also unlike slugs, although they are illegal to use in machines, they are perfectly legal to possess and exchange.
Large coin dealers and currency exchanges are generally uptight about handling cheap foreign coins in quantity since they don't make much profit and are subject to certain pressures in selling coins that are the same size as Amerikan coins or tokens.
People planning trips to non-Eurozone or South American countries should bring back rolls of coins as souvenirs or for use in "coin jewelry."
Washers were once the most popular types of slugs, and still are for certain applications. You can go to any hardware store and match them up with various coins. Sometimes you might have to put a small piece of scotch tape over one side of the hole to make it more effective. Each washer is identified by its material and number, i.e. No. 14 brass washer with scotch tape on one side is a perfect dime. When you got the ones you want, you could buy thousands at wholesale (especially at industrial supply stores) and pass them out to our friends. Gumball machines and restroom novelty machines will take anything the size and shape of a quarter. All push-in and turnable coin slots will accept coin slugs and quarter-sized foreign coins. Some laundry machines, sticker machines, and gumball machines will work in your favor.
Unfortunately, since '69, metal prices have gone up such that washers (at least the kind that you have to purchase) are not the attractive proposition that they once were.
Xerox copies of both sides of a dollar bill, carefully glued together, work in a few machines that give you change for a dollar.
Excuse us, there is a knock at the door... Fancy that! It's the Treasury Department. Wonder what they want?