Nowadays, you can always say, “Sorry- I don’t carry cash”. The pros snap away and head for their next mark the instant those words come out of your mouth. Had one just like that last night in the Safeway parking lot tap on my window as I was leaving. The way they break the contact off tells me whether or not they were a scammer.
Had one guy a couple of years ago approach me while I was gassing up the bike. I have an unusual motorcycle, he wanted to talk about it. He mentioned that he was down on his luck, but wasn’t asking for anything- he was just interested in the bike. He was obviously homeless. I talked to some folks that I know in the neighborhood who’d had brushes with the guy, they thought he was authentic. I helped him out as much as I could. I tracked him down and put some money in his hands and he struggled- and then cried. It killed him to have to take it.
Found out later that he’d gotten off of the street, gotten involved with a gal and was working as he could. Once in a great while you meet a real one.
The scammers are very direct and waste no time launching into the tale of woe du jour. Heavy eye contact, too. A “newbie” genuinely down on his luck is embarrassed and lacks such aggressive confidence. They’re grateful for an offer of a hot meal, whereas the scammer will stalk off or even curse you. That’s what I noticed in over a decade of encountering them on a daily basis.