'Airportman' made nearly $30,000 a month preying on sympathetic travellers http://m.smh.com.au/world/airportman-made-nearly-30000-a-month-preying-on-sympathetic-travellers-20150503-1myomy.touch.html?skin=smart-phone there is a story in this
I met a couple in Costa Rica that were living on donations they got from telling their sad story to sympathetic travelers. I am a bit dubious of this guy's claims of $30K/month but no doubt he made money.
"The Man with the Twisted Lip", one of the 56 short Sherlock Holmes stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle