Yeah, they are a pox on the SC/GA border area. They are mainly con artists and thieves. My advice is stay the h*ll away from them. They are extremely superstitious. If an elder tells them they have evil spirits or a hex on their house, they will abandon it and live in a trashy trailer, even if the house is brand new. They are very hard for law enforcement to build cases against. They deliberately use the same name over and over for male Travelers so as to make it hard to determine who is the actual culprit in a crime. For example, A grandfather, father, child, and assorted uncles/cousins will all be using the same legal name. They identify within the community by using nicknames. (For those who think no big deal, think about going into a large neighborhood trying to arrest John Sherlock, when literally every male in the hood is named John Sherlock.
)
As previously mentioned, they run scams selling inferior products and construction. Another thing they pull on elderly people is to have a couple talk to the home owner at the front of the house while they send an accomplice around to the back and scoot inside the house to grab anything of value they see out. As previously mentioned, shop lifting is the crime of choice for their women. They have no morals and no scruples, other than whatever rules they follow within their sealed community.
The TV show makes them look "cool" and fun loving to a certain extent, but that is a scam in itself. They are a large criminal element just as secretive and evil (if not more so) as the Mafia. At least the Mob kept their women and children out of the business to a great extent. The Travellers expect their women and children to steal.
Also, I bet these TV reality shows will regret getting involved with these scum. I wonder how many expensive cameras, computers, etc. have been stolen from the show production companies already?