The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas (WTFLV) sign is one of the most photographed landmarks on Earth. And that makes it a magnet for one of the most persistent scams on Earth. There are no “official” Las Vegas sign photographers.

The sign provides enough frustration without the need to for a scam at the head of its long lines. (Image: Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

These individuals are official like Rolex salesmen doing business out of the trunks of their cars are official.

Times of the Sign

The scam in action. (Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)

For decades, snapping a photo at the WTFLV sign meant risking your life and disobeying the law. In a game of human “Frogger,” you needed to cross Las Vegas Boulevard where no crosswalk or traffic light permitted it.

In October 2008, Clark County finally decided to stop trying to beat the trend and joined it. It built a dedicated parking lot — 12 spaces at first, later expanded to 33 — complete with a pedestrian path and landscaping that screamed “Instagramable.”

That solved the safety problem but created a new one.

Almost any time of every day since, scammers have stood near the front of the line. They speak with confidence while directing tourists exactly where to stand for their “official” photo.

To enhance their illusion of legitimacy, many will wear laminated “Las Vegas” or “Clark County” ID badges that they purchased for $20 at Amazon. Some will even carry professional cameras with lighting rigs or reflectors — though most just offer to take photos with their own smartphones or yours.

A sign from Clark County attempts to upstage the more famous one with a warning that most tourists don’t bother reading. (Image: Scott Roeben/Vital Vegas)

“There are two photographers, a young woman taking the photos with a cell phone and a woman with a professional camera,” Claudia Restrepo posted in the Las Vegas Travel Tips Facebook group this summer. “They transfer the photos to your cell phone. The quality is very good. We were four in the photo and she took 9 photographs. I gave her $20. She tells you how to pose.”

The scam works because it’s slick. Tourists see people with badges and feel pressured to do as they say — especially after everyone in line in front of them has.

The irony in all this is that the designer of the WTFLV sign, Betty Willis, refused to copyright her creation because she didn’t want to make a dime off it. She wanted it to belong to the people.

And it still does.

What to Do

Betty Willis, who designed the sign, poses in front of it for a real photographer in 1998. (Image: Las Vegas News Bureau)

Don’t listen to the scammers. Don’t let them touch your phone. And especially don’t tip them after refusing to take their bait.

Just ignore them.

A photo that’s just as Instagramable, and at least $20 cheaper, can be taken by the person waiting in line behind you to pose for their own. (When you walk back to retrieve your phone, ask for theirs and offer to return the favor.)

Will the “official” photographers be mad? You bet. They might even call you out for “breaking the rules.”

Smile and wave goodbye as you walk back to your vehicle.

They won’t follow or assault you. They won’t even cause a scene. Dozens more of their marks are watching you, most with their iPhones already out and ready to record anything that happens.

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