Scam City: Amsterdam - Fake Drugs, ATM Scams, Red Light District, Pick Pocketing | Free Documentary

foreign cities famous for their culture and Beauty but there's something else waiting in the shadows the scammers the hustlers the thieves and they're all looking for tourists to con stay against the wall Russian Roulette are you joking me I'm Connor Woodman and in scam City I set myself up as baits it's like being kidnapped a willing victim to be fleeced I'll catch the scammers in the ACT do you know where my wallet is and reveal the tricks of the trade because wise too dangerous and I'll expose them face to face we are filming you scamming me scam City I get scammed so you don't have to [Music] please please I'm in Amsterdam and things have taken an unexpected turn what have I done [Music] 400 years ago Amsterdam was the richest city in the world money poured in from World Trade leaving a legacy of neatly ordered townhouses stretched along picturesque canals and a vibrant red light district [Music] nowadays more than 5 million tourists flood into the city each year many of them drawn to the red light area like moths to a flame and waiting for them are the scammers well this is a city I used to know pretty well because I used to come here a lot when I was younger and I can honestly say in all my travels it's one of the darkest places I've visited so it's nice to be back [Music] While most major cities have their pickpockets I've heard in Amsterdam it's been elevated to a fine art form and I want to catch one in the act down Square one of the city's famous tourist hot spots [Music] in ground for pickpockets I put my fake wallet in my back pocket ready for action [Music] except for the street performer it seems like no one else is working the crowds damn Square didn't deliver time to check out another tourist magnet Bloom and marked the flower market I take tram 5 a popular tourist route [Music] and success my wallet's just been lifted crew tipped me off that it's the woman behind me so where are we going sorry where are we going don't know where are you going well I need my money so I'm going wherever you're going which money which is fine huh which money my money where's your money in my wallet where's your wallet do you know where my wallet is I don't know I know where my wallet is we could go on like this forever we might as well do it somewhere comfortable how about we go for coffee I'm I'm buying well I haven't exactly lost it because I kind of still know where it is yeah I'm Connor by the way bye again I know Agatha has my wallet but she's playing hard to get but what is your profession I do Administration and I work with the homeless okay it's interesting how long have you been doing that it's been a long time I used to be honest I help those people to the benefit of my misery all right how long were you homeless for I was sitting here seven years how did you make a little extra money then some some jobs somebody asked me to do some things for them I mean I'm good at writing letters I'm good with your hands I can't type I don't know what what you mean you start to be a really sleazy tour or what that wasn't what I was getting at I'm good at talking to get out of here yeah [Music] so anyway I buy my wallet are we gonna give me my wallet back oh come on okay how about you keep the wallet but we just go for a coffee and finish our chat okay if you want to buy a script okay that's cool let's go for a coffee though she can keep my wallet in exchange for information about the city's red light districts for everything it started to become more aggressive so now for 10 euros you have to be careful you don't get a knife on your throat I mean in the last couple of years a lot of girls are killed who work on the streets yeah yeah I mean it's it's getting worse and worse and and you have to remember there always will be people who are using drugs and are addicted and I mean if they don't have any any possibility just like like a cat in the dark start to do crazy things you do what you have to do to survive as a woman I mean if you don't want to go into prostitution you have to find out it's like pink focusing we know so you have to go to Central Station yeah anyway we have to go so it was nice meeting you it was nice meeting you have a nice day bye and there they go with my wallet so it seems there can be a Sinister Edge to this City's anything goes culture foreign [Music] I'm on my way to meet a former Hustler who worked these streets for 17 years [Music] the dark side here he'll know all about it [Applause] oh man watch where you're going man I'm sorry you dropped your bottle mate oh and you banged into me I'm sorry that happened give me my money put my grunt I'm sorry that happened give me my money what money what money what money give me money this is clearly a con feel like I'm getting stung here what was it it's a crude but clever trick give me money probably wasn't even real whiskey is it full bottle yeah give me the money how much money do you want there's some change I only have a 50. yeah I'm not okay I'm not okay that's 50. go go I pay over the odds knowing it's a rip-off but I'm in a hurry foreign with the one-time Street Hustler [Music] good evening no hey hi Connor how are you I'm fine how are you I'm good man nice to meet you I believe you uh you know the streets of Amsterdam pretty well uh I do yes I know them very well because there was a time I was addicted to cocaine and heroin and at that time I spent 17 years here in this area to hustling making money and to use the drugs what kind of hustles do you do I was specially focused on foreigners I knew they were coming fresh tourists to the city so I knew I can make good money to provide my needs for drugs so every weekend you get fresh blood yeah every weekend especially on the holidays and in the weekends they are vulnerable because they don't know what's going on all in the city and especially when they are under influence they can be easy targets what sort of cheats and hustles did you do on tourists I was focused on selling them nabdo we call it here you know fake drugs but how does the fake don't work it's uh something what the dentists use when you put it on your tongue it makes your mouth immediately numb and a lot of people think it is real cocaine but this rubbish fake drugs and buyers with no idea what they're taking that could be interesting but if I want to go out and get myself in a bit of trouble where's the good areas for me to go if you want trouble you should go outside the area where the cameras are hanging and you pretend you are a little bit drunk and looking everywhere so they know oh this guy doesn't know where it's not from here isn't out either for sure they will approach you in one way or the other to get money out of you [Music] this city has a fairy tale prettiness to it foreign but we all know in fairy tales you're never far from something hiding in the shadows [Music] [Music] last night I was told that scammers in Amsterdam are as prevalent as ever targeting tourist party goers in the city's red light district [Music] tonight I'm going to play the vulnerable tourists with the hope of finding some trouble but for now the crew and I head towards Amsterdam's famous floating flower market the bloom and marked foreign some countries are famous for their food others whine Holland tulips over 3 billion are grown each year what better souvenir to take home [Music] here 55 tulips 7 euros 50. it's got 55 there only 100 here 155 chips you're right beautiful Amsterdam tulips that sounds like a good deal almost too good to be true that's enough souvenir shopping I think it's safe to say my garden next year will look blooming marvelous [Music] Agatha the woman who stole my wallet yesterday told me Central Station is a pickpockets playground so that's where I'm heading next 250 000 people pass through here every day it's the gateway to Amsterdam I'm trying a different strategy I've planted a note in my new wallet with my phone number and the offer of a reward if someone steals it hopefully this will bait them to call excuse me you don't know where the uh the Rembrandt plane is Rembrandt plane police are crawling all over this station surely pickpockets wouldn't take the chance sorry you don't know whether Rembrandt plane is there Remnant Square yes it's uh if you want that way all the way go all the way all the way all the way all the way all the way okay you see the signs remembered Square thank you very much I'm starting to dive Agatha's tip off uh Rembrandt's plane Square um just a moment um because well I need my glasses so I don't have a glass at the moment but Direct by the dumb Street are you lost your girlfriend square but I don't have my glasses so I'm trying because Central Station like yeah you just have to follow you can also collect one of those trucks sometimes go into the okay Square that's great thank you it's gone well it's gone it's gone while it's gone well it's gone it's taking my wallet it's taking the wallet that was good I didn't feel a thing but where's he gone he's vanished he even managed to shake the crew and she approached and he came around the back of me and took the wallet and then he just he was gone ah thank you [Music] oh we filmed it happening but we lost the pickpocket so we did half of it right now I guess we just have to hope he calls the number on the piece of paper I'm back at the hotel where I left my tulips [Music] and I think I've Unearthed another scan there's something about this bag of tulips that I bought that felt light to me so I counted and there's only 70 in here when there should be a hundred I did the same again with this bag it should be 55 there's only 39 which is 25 to 30 percent less than there should be so I'm going to go back and investigate further [Music] sported tulips are worth around 300 million euros to the Dutch economy every year this is big business foreign Ty 75 in oh the 55 bags have got 39 in you really don't know price to you not because because I buy the thing for the company yeah and I put in the salad and you never count your own box never you just you see you don't have time to count every bag but you never counted one bag no sir I don't have time to count one bag I don't do it count that bag I ain't doing it but I don't do it to do he's in no hurry to count them to see if what I'm saying is even true and he doesn't seem surprised by my accusations I know you know you know I know you know what you think otherwise why didn't you count them now just to check I could use a lot of your stock look that's one two three four shelves all of those ones over there you never did one check ever why because you're being ripped off 30 percent if what you say is true you're buying 70 when you you're when you think you're buying a hundred exactly I have to call the company what happened with this thing and will you change your sign to 39 bulbs exactly for 750. you really didn't know no I don't know I think you must know I can't believe you don't know whether you're new and your name Phillip Phillip Bond there's a man with nothing to hide nothing to hide not even his name no [Music] laughs well he didn't exactly admit there's a scam going on there but it was quite revealing that he didn't feel the need to check how many bulbs were in the bag and he's in no rush to call his supplier until he does every tourist buying bulbs there is going to do exactly what I did and get ripped off [Music] I've been pickpocketed twice since I arrived here have I just been unlucky or is Street crime here more organized [Music] I'm going to meet an ex undercover cop who might be able to shed some light on the city's criminals do you think the problems got worse or do you think it's improved a bit well absolutely it got worse there were always pickpockets but that was a much smaller group what we see now is that those groups are from other countries specific from Eastern Europe and are they operating as gangs they operate as a kind of gang very often they know each other they also have contacts with those people on the taxi bikes and these are also Romanians they receive very often the goods and so there is a kind of contact we talk about big Pockets at the tourist who is in the trim for example and going to to a certain place or people who are in a restaurant and with the iPhone on the table and these are real first victims so my hunch was right I wasn't just unlucky there are gangs operating in the red light district the gangs in the red lights District do get their money from a big business software can also hard drugs and that's also related very often to high uh Moroccan dealers I mean now that they're operating as gangs do they kind of behave in a different way is it become more aggressive nowadays we do have a more violence a lot of people nowadays get killed Moroccan guys get a get killed because of direct deals we had in one day two guys killed Amsterdam best wow heavy stuff that is heavy stuff as a tourist you're not you're not that far removed from this absolutely absolutely [Music] Agatha talked about knives cases talking about AK-47s [Music] this is Hardcore stuff either way there seems to be some organization at work which means tourists could be one step away from a criminal Network [Music] foreign [Music] 's red light district is one of the few places in the world where the sale of sex and soft drugs is openly tolerated [Music] it's not hard to see why tourists get distracted Mo my ex-hustler friend I met earlier used to sell fake drugs here I wonder if the dealers are still playing that game it's illegal to deal drugs on the street here but where there's demand there's Supply and real or fake tourists are willing to take the risk the place is packed and it doesn't take long before I'm approached but I don't want drugs I want information let me see I don't trust this man he's with me yeah [Music] this isn't going to be easy want to talk they just want to make money how you doing yeah it takes some persuasion but eventually I get one of the dealers to open up you won't buy phone yeah okay so you have very regular customers yeah and what do they buy mostly Coke you have it all I can get can get on all right okay he's a mobile pharmacist but you don't need a prescription so you think if I if I went up to just some random guy who offers me Coke if I pretend to be drunk you think you'll give me a fake one if I'm straight it'll give me a real one because all we're going to try you to give you good a guy who is wrong you don't know the difference what is fake or but how much money are these guys making some guys make or even to 1500 one night with it 1500 one night that's a lot of cash drugs and money can be a dangerous mix do you carry a weapon oh what protection yeah and do you have someone looking out for you of course you have guys who know each other you know look I know guys here if I get in a fight I know if they see me they're gonna come and jump a group of guys looking out for each other that sounds like a gang to me and I'm now in a deadline during a deadline you've got to sell some stuff to make some money [Music] okay okay okay okay I've taken up too much of your time already thank you when the bars close trade hits its peak I'm going to the main strip to see if I can find other dealers [Music] what are you doing what am I doing what are you doing what are you doing I'm getting frisked for drugs but he's not going to find anything I was only talking to the drug dealer what are you doing to me what have I done what have I haven't done anything wrong there's something not quite right about this there you go stay down I haven't done anything wrong he explains explain to me what I've done okay now it's starting to get heavy stay there have I really just been hitting the face by the police tell me what I've done tell me what I've done now where are you going foreign that's a new one a fake cop robbery with a clever twist anyone who had just bought drugs from that dealer would be a soft target he's gone I said he was the he was a policeman he showed me some ideas quite physical with me and when I went after him he's disappeared into that alley and now I have no idea where he's gone and he's nicked my wallet short counted tulips fake drugs a fake cop and three lost wallets [Music] Amsterdam is proving to be an interesting place thank you last night I met some of the Wolves who had bite to this fairy tale City there's Beauty everywhere you look but some of the characters are straight from the brother's grim [Music] but I'm on a roll I've just received a call from the guy who says he stole my wallet at Central Station foreign we arranged to meet on the edge of the red light district [Music] he's late very late my pickpocket was supposed to be here half an hour ago and now he's turned his phone off so it doesn't look like he's going to turn up I'm not completely surprised meeting me must feel like a risky move maybe he got cold feet [Music] I'm going back into the Heart of the City let's see how organized these dealers really are oh this time I'm taking my producer as my wingman we order a couple of beers blend in with the crowds and wait for the dealers to approach us but the night takes an unexpected turn those I just tried to take some money out of an ATM machine something went wrong I put my card in but no cash came out even though I could hear the machine whirling round so we're staking out the bank waiting to see if anything happens [Music] a couple of minutes later two guys approached the same ATM [Music] they did not put a card in that machine they did not put a card in that machine they were there for about two seconds they didn't know come on let's go after them [Music] hey how you doing hey all right you went straight after me and you uh tell me what'd you do how does that work oh come back come back show me it I put my card in no money came out the thing was sealed over the top wow and then you guys went over and then you you didn't seem to put a card in you walked away with a little bit of money I'm just wondering whether that was my money can I see your cup come back he's with me yeah he's with me come back show me please show me how you do this on the basis that we won't reveal their identity they agree to tell me about the bank job they've just pulled off I thought my card in the ATM no money comes out this was this was the barrier it's that simple you just glue that over the front of the ATM and the money sticks to it and then you just what you just go and pull it off yeah easy money and where did you learn this from a friend or from a family when did you first start doing this they may not be the Jesse James gang but it must be a lucrative scam to be worth the risk if you're doing this I mean even every night and you're making I know three four five hundred euros a night it's a lot of money I can see this is this could be a really good scam for making a lot of cash but what about in the tourist areas [Music] 20 euros most tourists I know take out a lot more than that do you worry about the banks good luck man see ya I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them and I definitely don't believe that they only do it every now and again and they get 20 or 40 euros from it that is one of the simplest scams I've ever seen and potentially one of the most lucrative [Music] foreign [Music] it seems like there's a new scam on every corner around here [Music] but it's still the fake drugs that intrigue me the most thank you maybe the locals can help Oh you mean pain for me oh wow okay but the girls are only interested in one thing business and it's not the business I'm looking for [Music] oh what's up guys yo we're gonna help okay what do you need if you want some ecstasy I got some ecstasy if you want this I got some that I can fix you everything look at my face I don't play you know now this guy's business is the business I'm interested in and better still he's happy to talk if you want we take a walk and show you some things around then you can understand their life what's happening yeah man that's hard problems take away you know what the thing is everybody who comes here is looking for money you can make more money from pay stuff because it's easy money yeah you give them people nothing and you get the money you get the money you can put a lot of things inside I've got the stuff you know and then when you go taste the stuff just like a poop is going on but they don't give me not one of the flesh at last the real deal or better the fake deal how much is the hospital and how much do you buy that for two Euro on Graham normal my friend okay that's normal and what other fake drugs you have ecstasy Halloween yeah fake heroine fake ecstasy you have fake cocaine fake grass grass that is you smoke it don't do nothing okay fake drugs but not at fake prices and it's a seller's market you sell all of those to tourists it's on the street you know yeah if tourists want it you give it because why you need the money yeah I don't need nothing else yeah and it's only the money I don't need friends nothing I need money if they're really drunk do they even notice they think there's nothing that's the whole thing let's take a walk because my tongue is dry you have to give me a drink now okay let's go for it let me talk too much let's go for a drink [Music] let's go man what I'm gonna tell you if you walk here in Amsterdam you know like a tourist you're a target for everybody swimmer who walk like this see you like a Target why because you're new in town smell it right you're the tourist I'm the Hustler yeah you know I look for money you look for fun you get the fun I get the money a simple trade between willing partners it's the money but I'm not sure how much fun it is for the victim foreign [Applause] [Music] [Music] 24-hour Party Town where anything goes especially your money as I head back to the hotel I get an unexpected surprise when I spot a familiar face the fake cop who stole my wallet is you thought I recognized you what Mr police officer from the alley I won the [ __ ] one down huh what's wrong with you nothing wrong with the problem no problem thank you for after a few polite denials he's another one happy to open up that's the ID that you were carrying with you the other night isn't it so can I see that again I didn't get a close look at it the other night because it was dark it's not a police ID though is it I don't know for the police man you're not a policeman yeah you're one of this uh also gone so yeah don't worry I don't want the wallet it's fine how long have you been doing that yeah 15 years ago and how often can you pull off the fake policeman scan pretty far down a week what's the most you got in one hit the one hit uh nearly 10 000. one thing's for sure everyone is making money out of tourists here and not from selling clogs what other kind of things are you involved in rubber is gambling also drugs favorite as long as it is there's money that's my work you know you got to make money you got to survive you ever been caught be in jail friends six years six years yeah for smuggling hash 175 pills from Morocco to Holland that was my work before now I'm a little bit retired so robbing people like me is just his pension plan So within that red light district to you all you guys you all know each other you're kind of looking yeah I love each other yeah it's like a girl you can call it one day you'll have me another day I'll help you yeah it happens sometime but you lose it's my [ __ ] City it's my area you cannot come in my house and think you can hit me and me I can't stand up for myself but there are always people behind me if something happens they jump in you won't see where they come from tell your friends so watch out for Tony and my friend here Ahmed tell him to watch out fine where's it see ya take care watch yourself thank you Amsterdam's divided right down the middle with tourists on one side and on the other guys like Tony and Ahmed and the rest of his gang just waiting to rip them off [Music] foreign [Music] they may look like Rogue operators who act independently but they're actually part of a loose Network it's like I'm being passed from Thief to Thief and everyone takes a bite out of me [Music] but I still don't know how organized they are and then I get a phone call but [Music] I finally managed to track down the guy that pickpocketed me outside of Central Station and I've got what I hope is his address I've got a lot of questions I want to ask him about pickpocketing here in Amsterdam and how it fits in with everything else that's going on here [Music] hey he's invited me over for a cup of tea thank you when did you start pickpocketing oh well did you start in Sao Paulo to learn from people who's leaving the street what kind of things do you do to distract the tourists when you're pickpocketing them I see if he here are looking for something if he's looking them like you example on the map yes with the map and they asked him if he is lost or if he likes that I show the direction or if he needs some kind of accommodation how do you know which people have got money on them I used to look at where he is how he pay his bill and which baggie he choose to put the wallet here how many languages do you speak Portuguese English French Germany Holland a little bit of Arabs and Japanese so you can distract yeah you can get people from all of those countries yes if he don't like to talk in English I talk his language I ask him where are you from then he gonna say where he's from and they start to talk his language because this way he's gonna be more comfortable to hear somebody who's talking the same language this guy's a seasoned Pro tourists don't stand a chance so what's what's the most money you made pickpocketing someone in Amsterdam oh the weekends if I go out I can come home every evening with 500 000 Euro working just two nights a week Domingo has the potential to earn 50 000 Euros a year that's a lot of money and a lot of ruined holidays have you ever seen a tourist be stabbed with matter with life years of course many times in there in the red light street because of one bottle of cocaine the guy killed one Englishman was terrible you killed him he killed him yeah and is there a boss of the light district he is a big chief and who who are the Chiefs I mean I cannot tell you I cannot show you because they are privately I cannot do this they give you something if we don't have nothing there we didn't have any job they say to us are coming over and take a hundred or take 50 Euro yeah go enjoy yourself to tomorrow during the times come again we are professional to do something bigger to him you know Bingo makes this place sound like a benevolent Society for local scammers a loose Confederacy of Thieves and Hustlers preying on wide-eyed visitors foreign but if you keep your wits about you in Amsterdam you might just avoid Domingo and his friends [Music] Amsterdam is beautiful it has a deserved reputation as a liberal and tolerant City tourists flood in looking for the kind of Thrills they can't get back home it may feel like a fairy tale City but remember some of its risks are very real [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 888,671

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), scam city, scams, amsterdam, amsterdam scams

Id: O8auCxOLiLc

Length: 48min 8sec (2888 seconds)

Published: Fri May 19 2023