Scam City: Istanbul - Scammed at Night, the Police Don't Care | Free Documentary

foreign the world's greatest cities attract Visitors by the millions soft targets for the waiting scammers I'm Connor Woodman I've traveled the globe writing about all kinds of trade and now I'm investigating the tourist trade the guidebooks will tell you exactly what to see but there's one thing they don't tell you it's a chapter the thieves don't want written using hidden cameras I'll uncover the scams that are every tourist's nightmare I want to see what she does and I want to see how she does it how the guy's blocking the door I'll meet the scammers befriend them and learn the tricks of the trade six times what you charged me to get out there I get scammed so you don't have to [Music] foreign a nightclub in Istanbul and I've just been slapped with a one thousand dollar bar tab I've no cash on me and the banters are threatening to beat me up if I don't pay you're taking me to the ATM I don't really want to pay this huge bill if you're not paying they kick you to be in trouble exactly you have to pay this guy's taking me to the ATM he says I have to pay him all this money I don't have enough they said it's okay okay you don't have a problem even if you go to police you cannot say anything yeah this guy's marching me out to the ATM it looks like I've no choice but to pay in cash and there's nothing the cops will do to help foreign [Music] Istanbul is one of the world's oldest cities and for 16 centuries under the rule of the Roman and ottoman Empires it was also one of the most dominant age a tourist destination and where there are tourists there are always scam artists experience the scamming usually begins with taxi drivers but Istanbul is splitting two by the boss for a straight and boat rides here are almost as common as cab rides this 10-minute boat ride links the two halves of this city one in Asia one in Europe one in the East one in the west this is Istanbul it's mysterious it's exotic and it's full of the unknown which is exactly the conditions you need if you're in the scamming business over 8 million Travelers visit this Mega City every single year and the boss for a straight is one of the world's busiest waterways boat tours here are a big draw and local tour vendors fight for the visitors dollars this seems like a good place to start when searching out tourist scams so I'm putting on my secret camera and going out to check for myself one hour 25 I barely walk a few feet before another vendor comes and offers me a boat ride I give you a beer at five liters 25 per person have you interested I'm interested I'll come back and find you we have a two-hour trip yes this is the big boat what we are going maximum 20 meter on the side okay I give this discount for you normal prices this year Turkish leader okay that's good price the prices are all pretty similar so I decided to go with the guy who's offering the biggest boats and the longest tour for the money 30. I get 30. thank you for you I thought I was going on a boat not a bus is that it and I hope the boat ride is longer than the bus ride it's a prison we could have walked is that it that was it that was a short trip just came from there and so everyone's surprise the boat isn't exactly big this is the boat it's a big board small one yes yes no I'm not going on that 45 I don't care I asked you call me big boat so I'm not doing a small boat we need a bigger boat yeah that's the thing is if you keep quiet the tour operators suggests another boat but it's still a bit small to be called a big boat is that one big enough I don't think people are still pretty dissatisfied so he offers us yet another boat let's keep the boats keep getting bigger bigger and bigger like Jaws that's the best pretty big this isn't really a major scam it's a little bitty scam but it's interesting everybody on that bus paid a different price I pay 30 Lira if I come down here it would have just been 10 and it was only what 50 yards away what's hilarious is that we were told we were going on a big boat and when they showed us the little boat everybody stood up for themselves past the people we've got a much much bigger boat laughs [Music] but I'm pretty sure Istanbul's got bigger scams going on than this one downtown there's plenty of action on taxim square and is to Cloud Avenue so that's where I'm going tonight the production crew's been here for a few days already scanning the area and they've spotted a few questionable characters every single time we've gone out on Easter Club Avenue and the general area of Daxton Square somebody has come up to us and offered to take us to Bar obviously we suspect that what they're doing is taking tourists into Clip Joints what I want to try and do is put myself in the shoes of a tourist who would come here go out for a walk on the Square be approached by one of these people then and then see what happened obviously we need to be prepared because we know what is likely to happen is that this will turn into a potentially threatening situation yes tourists are always Prime targets for scam artists here in Istanbul they especially prey on Travelers trying to break away from tourist traps and find authentic Turkish experiences Joe Kelly is an American Tourist willing to share his experience so Joe I'm from what I understand you had a bit of an adventure I did yeah um I I was there a couple years ago I met a guy on the street and I asked for driving to a club so he took me to a local club and we had several drinks probably six or seven and then the bill came uh the bill was uh uh 3 700 Lira and I was that was kind of shocked nearly two thousand dollars yeah two thousand US Dollars and then then we had to figure out how to pay him and and how how are you feeling at the time were they was it was it all quite friendly there uh it was totally friendly until the bill came ended up by I paid it by uh uh it was typing on my credit card and putting down my uh ID having that photocopied and signing my name I will pay this debt that sounds like it was probably quite a an intimidating situation there Joe were you scared I was very scared you know I was I was scared for my life that I would have tried to run away but I thought that I would have been beaten up when I talked to the uh US Consulate later they mentioned that several people have been beaten up uh for this uh type of scam when they didn't have the money foreign Falls it's time to gear up again to capture every moment the scam City crew and I use the latest in undercover mini cameras cleverly camouflaged behind buttons and inside other everyday items umbrella cam I think we're going to be giving that to uh whoever's going inside the bar with it's pretty clever what it's done Istanbul is famous for its nightlife much of it happens here on Easter Cloud Avenue the main tourist drag there are hundreds of bars and restaurants scattered all along this Lively pedestrian street [Music] but after my Skype chat with Joe I know this party town has a dark side there's an active nightclub scam going on that targets unsuspecting tourists is this where they operate we'll see [Music] I look Turkish friend here sorry do I have a friend yeah here no no I'm on my own wow that was pretty quick I'm not sure exactly where this is going but I'm going to play along sure why not he's taking me to a bar that's down one of the side streets I was expecting to be taken to some kind of dive but actually this place looks like a pretty happening nightclub if this is a scam it doesn't feel like it drinks are served almost immediately before I get to my second beer my friend disappears to the men's room and never returns this is getting suspicious and then an attractive woman invites herself to my table if I'm gonna get ripped off I might as well enjoy the moment [Music] my new friend and I hit the Dance Floor enjoy a couple more drinks and some light conversation but the real fun starts when the waiter shows up with my bill that's almost 30 dollars for a single beer that's a lot of money man 650 for her drinks what are you trying to do to me you're killing me 1700 Turkish lira for five drinks and a bowl of peanuts that's about a thousand American dollars and I don't want to pay this money you know I mean it's a lot of money I don't have the cash on me and after talking to Joe Kelly I know what could happen if I refuse to pay if you want a lady suddenly something weird happens the Music Stops what's that what police yes a few playing close policemen come into the club the manager tries to keep me away from them but I take the opportunity anyway to tell the police that I'm being ripped off please you don't have a problem I might have a bit of a problem yes no this place we're getting problems in here you know this guy says I have to pay him all this money you don't want to know one cop totally ignores me this guy's taking me to the ATM he says I have to pay him all this money I don't have enough they said it's okay okay my cameraman pretending to be a drunk tourist winds up the bouncer I still don't believe the cops won't help who's police and who's not police sir you're really you're police this guy's marching me out to the ATM yeah but Istanbul's finest can't be bothered yeah we don't want any trouble here man I don't really want to pay this huge bill the manager himself marches me out to the ATM OS he pretends to be sympathetic but I know how quickly that can change if I don't come up with a cash let's hope I have enough money in my account give me a hundred for change of change yeah excuse me excuse me okay look look at me we're done now okay we're done we're done there's no trouble there's no trouble come with me well that's a cool 1 000 US Dollars blown and it's pretty simple the guy who befriends me on the street invites me to a local Club that's in on the scam and I end up paying exorbitant prices tonight's experience is stunning crazy these Clip Joints can rip people off in plain view of the police who don't seem to care but what infuriates me most aside from losing a thousand bucks of my hard-earned cash is how subtly they operate the manager never threatened me outright but he made it clear I had to pay up I was lucky didn't end badly I've got a lot of questions I need to find answers to how is this organized how much money is involved but first I need to meet someone who's willing to talk Istanbul is a tourist Paradise with countless museums and breathtaking monuments around every corner and nowhere is it more evident than here in the old city it's a tourist Trail must see mosque is one of Istanbul's number one tourist attractions there's a number of guys here outside the front approaching tourists which is a little bit strange because it's free to get into the Blue Mosque have you been mosque so what I'm going to do is put on my secret camera and get in there with them and see exactly what they're up to as soon as I'm within range of the mosque I'm approached how do you sir I'm all right thank you are you going boss we were just talking about going to the mosque yeah you should go from this way there is a entrance for tourists you can find you know okay if you like I can show you the way I'm also working like a Hospitality but when we finish this experience maybe we can have drink some Turkish coffee I'm sure you like Turkish coffee huh I do like that okay coffee after last night's experience I'm suspicious of anyone offering to take me for a drinking this is the one of the Munich most with six minutes you know watch your head my tour guide seems to know every detail about the mosque come on I'm going to test you on this okay test me what year was the mosque 16 online it start it was finished 1616. okay all right I'm gonna test you another one test me please because this is a tough one yes what's the height of the Dome 72 meters well you're just showing off now no one likes to show off how many windows 260 Windows yeah that's what it says did you write this yes my new friend did a great job as a tour guide but apparently there's still more to see no no one says it used to be that place four stables for sultan if you see that pictures oh yeah and there is a horse that was for sultan for that reason look at that sign and see the Sultan's old horse stables I look at that sign and I see that's close here bizarre brother come why do I think I'm going on a shopping trip I have a hunch hospitality is not my host's primary motivation second shops on the left where I work okay don't try and sell me a carpet no no solo we're gonna fall out I am your carpet I am not selling carpet yes this is our shops entrance magic carpets flying carpets yeah Persian Turkish as you can see this is a well rehearsed pitch it's now clear that the real goal was to get me inside his shop the famous Blue Mosque was simply a prop in a more elaborate scheme immediately already know it's red I would just this would just look ridiculous in my house no matter how hard he tries this salesman isn't earning a commission from me I asked to speak to the shop owner who offers me a nice cup of tea I like the Apple tea as well though it reminds me of London you know London I heard about all the guys I meet on the street out here the guys that come and approach you in the street they all know London they all have a friend who this special they have cousin in there they have good friend in there yeah I'm not sure whether to believe them actually to be honest 80 of them it's a this guy seems pretty open wonder if he knows about bar scams nightclubs and the bars they killed everything about Islam especially they kill our culture yeah I mean I actually went down the street yeah and um last night an experience for myself what it's like to go with one of these friendly guides yeah and took took me to a very nice bar full of lovely Turkish girls and very large Turkish men [Laughter] pretty um intimidating environment then what can you do nothing you have to pay it yeah this is what we don't like because the like four days ago I was ever One customer he was from the states and that guys comes and says to me I pay just for one beer one thousand five hundred dollars wow exactly if you're not paying they kick you 'll be in trouble exactly big trouble with the big turkey I don't wanna talk anymore about this kind of people because otherwise I was going to be in the Trap you think so yes yeah I'm going to be true they seem to make their money from instilling fear into people like us and that way they can keep doing what they do even if you go to police you cannot say anything they say he's eating and his drinking you know if you buy Carpet you can change it you can exchange your money back if you buy jewelry or leather you can too but only on the bar clubs you cannot exchange the money was a perfect scam exactly when the sun sets on Istanbul the tourists leave the museums behind and head to the bars and restaurants for the rip-off merchants it's the start of the night shift one thing's for sure if you're going to fleece a tourist in this city Easter Club Avenue is the place to do it the sheer volume of people on this street is staggering and now that I've experienced it for myself I want to find out more about this let's have a drink scam the best way to do it is to try to find the man that ripped me off and then confront him about it the production crew decked out with hidden cameras struggled to stay as close to me as possible too quickly no it worked really fast as I search for the man who scammed me I get approached by another guy believe me trust me believe me you are not my father you are not my brother some people they are following you and English people real English people they're from London people following me yeah follow me inspire me you're really aware man they are aren't they are going to go They're gonna catch up no we don't want to blow our cover so the camera crew is hanging back but I'm playing along with this stranger who for some reason feels compelled to warn me following me just sounds like a slightly crazy story seating yeah you don't see this from your right side they have another table they're also English people he must have spotted me last night in the club with the camera crew close behind when he saw them again tonight following me he concluded I was in trouble is that a young boy I know everything I'm very professional from the streets Okay you're from England yeah your business economic yeah because when you're going to see the nightclub so you're following me too no I'm not of all my friends who's your friend my friend you bring to Club here's my friend we do this business you know we take the touristical club so he knows the man who brought me to the Clip Joint last night looks like I may have stumbled upon a much more organized Network than I first thought not one person to know 100 person they're working here 100 percent of this same business I think there's a hundred people on this street doing the same thing taking people more than 100 people maybe 150 people say me did this business wow of course you won't betray his friends but he seems willing to talk I'm going to stick with him and see where that leads me okay what's your name my name is Nuri Nuri hi I'm Nori is anxious to get back to work but I managed to squeeze a cell phone number out of him okay I'm going to call you tomorrow Nori I'll call you during the day lunch time I'll give you a call I definitely want to meet Nuri again he could be the key to unlocking the inner workings of this scam back at the hotel the production crew and I review the footage he said he was inside the bar I didn't see him inside the bar and the first thing he said was I need to tell you you're being followed the other thing he revealed is that he knew the other guy who approached me and I think what we need to be mindful of is that these guys are a lot more sophisticated in the way they operate than we gave them credit for you know the challenge in tracking this guy down there and filming with him is that he's immediately going to be looking for people following me it's just it's just gonna be you guys because all I know is his nickname which is Nuri who knows you know body can do okay I'm going to put in a call to Nuri I need to reassure him that I made it back to the hotel in one piece last night despite being followed and see if he's around to meet me [Music] yes voicemail Nuri hasn't picked up his phone all day so I'm going back to Easter Club Avenue to try and track him down foreign the weather isn't helping it's rainy and cold and there are fewer people out than usual the whole team is looking for Nuri but so far no luck hey yeah I've uh okay I've been up and down obviously I haven't seen him and uh I've tried calling his calling his phone but it's still off so he pulled back down to where we were last night and for a hurry hurry yeah I'm looking for a friend of mine called Nuri Nuri yeah Nuri you know him he's not here you have some problem no no no no no so I talked to him last night yeah and I've been calling him he said to call and meet him tonight every 10 minutes 20 minutes yeah he said he said he's always always here yeah always here I know I'll have a look for him around here hi okay I can't see it I can't see him around here but he might he might well be in the club what do we think we go back okay all right after a couple of hours we call it quits for the night we still haven't found Nuri but we can't risk blowing our cover by walking up and down the same street all night thank you let me just started ringing hello hello Nori I'm okay my friend how are you I finally managed to track down Nori I've got him on the phone and I've explained to him I want to see him again so we're meeting tonight at seven o'clock in taxim square and I think it's time to reveal to him exactly who's been following me and what it is we're doing here and hopefully he's not just going to run a mile he's going to let me get a little bit closer to him and explain to me exactly how this have a drink scam works this needs to be set up right okay you only get one chance to capture the moment I'll lead Nuri to a cafe we spotted yesterday the team will already be in place and ready to record when we go in yeah yeah yeah should we grab a coffee yeah that's it how are you doing okay what about you yeah good good everything fine yeah okay we can start talking about I was going before yesterday night okay but trust me foreign English person okay a new new see everything right yes you're good you're good I have to I have to admit you're very good okay look I'll I'll tell you what you're right they are following me really yeah this is it I don't know how Nuri will react hopefully he won't get too annoyed right the reason is okay that we are we're in Istanbul making a film what I want to do is I want to get close I want to see how you operate Nuri is a little unsettled by my Revelation but what's telling is he's staying put have I just hooked my man we made a number of these films around the world and in Istanbul what I'm I'm very interested in thank you is that these guys on the street yeah you bring the tourists into the into the club okay this is what I will do exactly exactly but what I didn't want at first was any of the hanuchu to realize that I was observing to see what what they do how they work but you you you saw us very good and what I would really like to try and do is to film you doing what you do but obviously it's very secretive so the way that we operate is we work completely with secret cameras okay hidden cameras I want to do this okay look let me tell you a secret I'm filming you right now yeah okay no problem okay okay no he's on the team nobody's on the team good stuff Cheers Cheers so um you know I'm with other people yeah you know they're around yeah have you seen anyone filming outside [Laughter] our gamble paid off Nuri will be wearing our undercover surveillance equipment tomorrow night on the streets of Istanbul and hopefully we'll get an Insider's view of the infamous Clip Joint scam [Music] foreign [Music] to get to the bottom of this business I've planned a little Expedition into local culture I hope it'll help learn Nuri into trading confidences [Music] it's always just men yes which is from men only men working only men yes yes does it hurt yeah oh it hurts so much come on [Music] I'm not just here to get a Turkish rub down I'm hoping that by being on familiar ground Nori will feel safe enough to open up on the darker side of his life [Music] [Music] in the morning [Music] so early days so this is what you do to relax yes just say liking yeah and if you always always you've enjoyed doing this yes how old were you when you came to Istanbul damn 10 years old yes how did you come to Istanbul when you attend I get the bus you just got on the bus yes I paid money I get coming soon I want to left my city because they're very poor City I'm just trying to imagine the situation where a 10 year old boy steps off a bus in a one of the biggest cities in the world and what do you do Andrew boys in the streets she's shiny yes she just worked on the street she spoke to tourists on the street yes absolutely English and learn about the street yes man you must know that street better than anybody this is life you never know foreign [Applause] [Music] [Applause] everybody has their own very different people in the streets I mean different kind of people work in the street all kinds of like the you want to change the dollar with you for example but he didn't give it to your real money giving the ammutation money but it's not my own business I don't know this business never and your Niche is the befriending tourists I get to my commission that's in my business why did you choose to do that particular job on the street because they have a good man in the streets do you think you make more money than you would from any of the other Street business that you could do is it the best it has the best business right and the street is the best business you have a good money so it's the number one it's the top yes the top top of an Istanbul because it's very easy money you should do this business always in the streets it's interesting that Nori has no moral issues with his work because he sees himself as a Salesman working on commission actually he's quite proud because he's on the top tier in the hierarchy of scam artists on the streets of Istanbul [Music] foreign gets fitted out with one of our hidden cameras okay now we can track his every move as he executes the let's have a drink scam [Music] [Music] the crew and I follow Nuri back to istacle Avenue the full moon is out and everyone seems to fall under its spell there's trouble on the street but Nuri steers clear of it eager to show off his skills but tonight there won't be any losers the production crew will reimburse any victims foreign [Music] just I want to go enjoy it and hear some bar in here no sleeping now but this time is a little bit too early man you should early his first few attempts are fruitless until he spots a young man looking over a map what's your name is Mustafa nice to meet you nice to meet you oh she want to go into there have some drinking beer okay actually I was looking for a place I was told by some friends that there was a just this place near taksim but uh for a drink so I don't mind yeah don't mind if you don't matter I bet you one beer it's my pleasure okay yeah we'll go yeah we can never go to there is nice streets over there powerful in English you are also Catalan yeah okay I like the Catalan people what your business I do different different kind of stuff I mean I I started physics but I've been doing different jobs working in hospital I work in a bar sometimes and sometimes it's hard but I can have you know usually one job then maybe another staff then back to that job yeah yeah yeah Nuri just found out essential information about his Mark the more he knows the easier it will be to manipulate his unsuspecting victim s we're listening in on Nori talking to the tourists upstairs he's talking to him about football it's been absolutely Charming totally it's potty in his hands Nori's treated his friend to a couple of beers and now it's time to go to a local Club nice yeah that's where things become interesting the local [Music] Nori's entering the second phase of his scam and it happens to be at the same bar where I was ripped off on the first night [Applause] [Music] of course Nuri encourages his victim to welcome ladies to the table that's where he makes the big bucks unlike a well-rehearsed play Enter stage right my lady friend from the other evening [Music] of course when the bill comes our victim reacts to the outlandish total [Music] this time Nuri pretends to pay his share but the only real money is coming out of the victim's wallet the club know not to charge nuri's credit card [Music] [Applause] [Music] there's something [Music] [Music] five euro for one beer yes that's amazing I mean how was it normal you know is it normal that kind of place well I pay I pay I don't know what it is normal for you I mean for me normally it's a four Euro five euro but yeah in Euro yeah 20 euros this is an Istanbul did you know about this ah come on Paul let's go I mean come on what they can do now no no of course nothing yeah we can't do nothing this is normal man see you guys okay the production crew caught up with power and reimbursed him every cent he lost [Laughter] oh man oh man to Nuri it's just another score you don't survive on the streets of Istanbul by showing sympathy or Mercy a cafe where we started yes [Music] sure well done my man oh man how are you you played a Blinder yeah and I can't believe we were right there watching every step of the way you see that he did he had no idea yes and he didn't no idea no she don't know he's a shock okay how I speak with him how I bring to that how I'm offered the beer here's him how I build the club how he paid 253 Etc we've talked to him for a long time yes I like him because my business I want to talk to somebody I want to be know what he's doing from his life he had money he didn't have money what his salary you know all that about him now yeah I know and that's why I understand he didn't have too much money that ways we say okay we ordered with the school tonight well I do well but it's not too much money there's nothing to foreign what I'm doing here this is my business but even maybe this guy he he stays at five o'clock in the morning maybe he pays five thousand dollars you never know people to pay that's my business we cannot if I find I bring I get my money after I say hasta la vista baby there you have it scamming Turkish style Istanbul has a lot to offer but visitors need to know enough tricks of the trade to avoid having their vacations ruined foreign [Music] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 345,392

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, documentary - topic, documentary (tv genre), scam city, scams, Istanbul scams, Istanbul, Tourist Trap, Tourist Scams, Istanbul Documentary, Crime Documentary

Id: Rv0lAPENe1o

Length: 48min 11sec (2891 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 31 2023