Alec Baldwin and his family were scammed by a fake Statue of Liberty tour operator that tried to send them on a bus to Liberty Park in New Jersey, some nine miles away from the monument.
The actor and comedian posted about the con on Instagram, revealing that he had paid $40 per ticket only to discover that he, his wife Hilaria and his children could have boarded the Staten Island Ferry for free.
Describing himself and Hilaria as “two sharp, savvy NYers”, Baldwin wrote: “We buy the tickets for the ‘boat tour’ of the Statue of Liberty. We are escorted to a shuttle bus. To New Jersey! I kid you not.
“We paid. Then we read the tickets. NO ONE EVER MENTIONED NEW F***ING JERSEY!!!
"This is a scam. Take the SI Ferry. It’s the best ride in NY.”
Bogus ticket sellers have reportedly been scamming tourists keen to see the Statue of Liberty for years.
In 2015, the New York Post exposed how scammers charged people up to $200 for a ticket onto the Staten Island Ferry, a free service.
