• Alec Baldwin shared on Instagram that he and his family had fallen victim to a classic New York City scam: fake "boat tours" of the Statue of Liberty.
• The actor said he paid $40 per ticket for himself, his wife, and his kids.
• Shortly after Baldwin's post, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement that there'd be a crackdown on scammers.
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Sometimes it just takes one notable incident for authorities to finally crack down on long-time criminals. In this case, it was the victimization of Alec Baldwin.

For many years, scammers in Lower Manhattan have been selling unauthorized "Statue of Liberty cruises" and then sending them off on a bus to New Jersey to view it from afar. Nothing has been done about this until this weekend when Alec Baldwin and his family were scammed (celebrities, they're just like us!). Now the city is ordering these companies to cease and desist.

Baldwin said he spent $40 per ticket for himself, his wife, and three children to visit the Statue of Liberty by boat before learning they had actually paid for a long shuttle bus trip to New Jersey.

Anyone can tell that the crackdown isn't exactly a coincidence, especially if you listen to Alec Baldwin himself. "I think if it's someone who's well known, who has a lot of followers in the media," he said. "I doubt my recommendation is going to move de Blasio's office in any direction. But if you see someone write something and many, many other people chime in and say, 'I've had the same experience,' I think that's what it was."

In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, "Tourists and visitors have been taken for a ride, and it's unacceptable. We won't let up until illegal and deceitful practices are a thing of the past."

While a spokesperson for the mayor did not admit a direct correlation between Baldwin and the crackdown, they did say, "Mr. Baldwin brought increased attention to the issue tourists and visitors face every day, and our agency partners are continuing to work together until this problem is a thing of the past."

SEE ALSO: Alec Baldwin was charged with assault after allegedly punching someone in a parking spot dispute

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