Do you have a source for this story? First I've heard of it and interested to know more

It's a form of respectable begging, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that it would eventually be exploited by entire families of professional beggars who come thousands of miles to use the magazine as a prop alongside their wheelchairs and dogs.

If you want to see this in action, walk around the financial districts of London at lunchtime.

But if one had the ability to travel thousands of miles why not use those resources to buy a car to do deliveries or some other gig work? Gym memberships are like 10p if you have a car life is like 75% good

A professional beggar, as you describe it, has little to do with modern slavery, as mentioned by the grandparent comment.

This thread is wild any sources or first hand anecdotes to back this up?

This is the rote response to anything designed to help homeless people. That it’s being exploited and is therefore unworthy of support. However we seem fine with businesses and individuals exploiting the tax code and banking system without making claims we should simply abandon commerce.

Any system with value will attract a degree of exploitation. It’s proof of its worth, not evidence of it’s irrelevance.