This is absolutely insane. Most New Yorkers who born and raised in the Big Apple remember back in the day when they had their old school style bus and train passes made out of paper and when they wanted to go through the yellow gates nearby the token booth, all they had to do was flash their badge to the token booth operator and walked on through the yellow gate. They got these combination paper train and bus passes from the high school or junior high school they attended. In those days, some people were able to even successfully jump the turnstile or walk through yellow gate without getting court for not paying their fare which was only one dollar. But now, NY1 reports a new style scam using the New York City subway Metrocard.
Metrocard scammers "there's always some kind of scam going on in New York City" are now allegedly selling illegal turnstile swipes hoping to profit. As soon as NYPD became hip to the scam operation, uniformed police and detectives have been closing in on the alleged "NYC subway metrocard scammers." Arrests have been made, according to this NY1.com report.