They get away with their scams and poorly performed jobs for two reasons.
First, these people are trained from birth to operated below the radar and they are slick characters. They're fast talkers and pushy to the point of getting what they want even when their "customers" (translation: victims) may not really want to do it.
Second, there are so many people out there that are not bright enough to recognize a scam when they are being fleeced. That's all the gypsies and/or travelers need to make a good living. These folks are not "poor" by any stretch of the imagination, except maybe in the area of conventional ethics and morals.
I was amazed how easy it was to get them to accept “No”.
Could have been the shotgun I was holding at the time.