In the few years that I lived in the US, there were at least two occasions where I have been approached with a somewhat scammy story in different (large) cities

In the few years that I lived in the US, there were at least two occasions where I have been approached with a somewhat scammy story in different (large) cities. I'm not saying its endemic in the US, but it does happen. But compared to China, (a) the frequency of an encounter with a random person on the street as a pedestrian is significantly lower in US cities and (b) I imagine the levels of poverty in China were/are much higher, which might be a factor why scams are frequent?