And yes, people who do that are probably going to hell and I don't care if that's "judgmental".
When in doubt I always refer them to my church. If they are really in need they will be happy with the resource. I will call the pastor or church finance secretary who handles most of the calls and set up a meeting when I am not sure regarding safety issues. I am a female and must use common sense in these situations.
My church has a system in place that works in screening out the scammers and for those with genuine needs they will do what they can to give appropriate assistance. Even where I live in a mid sized city there are major problems here. I-10 runs through so we get some interesting characters just passing through.
In the 80's, the best was the woman who dressed very profesionally with makeup and all who would hang around the Herald Square subway stairs asking for some subway or PATH train fair since her handbag was stolen.
She was there almost everyday.
Even better, on the day of the NYC marathon, she was there in shorts and number tag doing more of the same!