Scam City: London - The Dark Side of England's Capital | Free Documentary

[Music] London a City built by the Romans later flourishing on the plunder of an Empire that Spann the world today the streets are paved with the tourist gold brought in by 15 million visitors a year here to soak up the tradition and the history London's Beauty May glisten and shine but it's always had a dark side and I'm here to find it Well it feels a little bit odd being in my hometown looking for tourist scams but that's exactly what I'm going to be doing for the next week looking at London through tourist eyes and if anyone asks me my cover story is that I've come down on holiday from my old Hometown Birmingham I head towards London's Oxford Street one of the world's most famous shopping streets and a hot bed for scammers this is free this is free this is a shop I've walked past many times before than you very it's always rammed full of [Music] tourists you know this man don't you it's called Christian you know it where you from lady is it but it's free we're giving it away free anybody else want Christian the old who wants free perfume who wants free aftershave please raise your hands in the air it's free who wants free perfume who wants I've been watching that perfume seller down on Oxford Street for a little while now now I've seen him before even though he always claims he's having a closing down sale which makes me just a bit suspicious so I'm gonna go down with my hidden camera on posing as a tourist and see if his deals aren't just a little too good to be [Music] true if you go onto the website to buy this it's not cheap it cost £40 a buy expensive in OAS Street you only pay half price you pay only £20 for this one but because we're closing the store down guys today you get everything else to go with it in the bag over £185 everything is completely free of charge is okay no wonder there's a crowd this guy is giving away a bag full of perfume for just 30 bucks the crowd are lapping it up but let's see what you get for free was yours a man man's a man looking after yourself I like that we like to see okay here we go this is free we're closing the store down guys free and free and that thanks for your patience appreciate that thank tell your cheers Che well as I suspected not everything there is quite as it seems first of all he's offering free perfume but then when it comes to it you have to buy one to get the others free and then when you do buy them they're not even the perfumes that he was advertising but what makes me really suspicious are all those other people that were buying perfumes at the same time they can't all be genuine customers can they I'll be back tomorrow to check this out for now I dumped my bag of cheap perfume and set a line to catch another type of [Music] scammer [Music] I'm on the oldest Subway in the world looking for one of its oldest problems Pick Pockets but can I capture one on [Music] camera no luck not even a nibble after several hours of train hopping I give up and head to London's trendiest new tourist Hotpot hawkton I've heard phone snatching gangs have been working the area targeting tourists in restaurants and cafes like everyone sitting around me I leave a phone on the table in plain sight let's see if someone takes the bait it's just not my day I've been sitting here for an hour and nothing things happened you all right man all right mate yeah how are you fine fine how are you you're good man what's this guy up to I see you somewhere man you see me somewhere yeah like in any club but PBS I'm pretty sure I've never seen him before that's why I think I see you somewhere and bingo there goes the phone you with him no man let's go and call your friend shall we let's go call let's go and call your friend I tell you I don't know who that guy man who take you a phone who Nick you a phone who snatch your a phone I only what's your name my friend my name is Ashish man Ashish yeah Ashish I'm Connor let's say you you meet that guy call that if you meet your mate again call that number I don't I tell you I don't know this guy you say you don't know him I think maybe something tells tells me you might bump into him again that's no good man why you give me a trouble man I'm not get I'm not getting you in trouble she I'm not man what you doing that number just call me man I don't call him that number I'm sitting down having a Coke and Along Comes the most blatant distraction technique but while I was looking that way the other guy's L over and he's stolen my iPhone I know it's a long shot but I'm going to look for the guy who stole my [Music] phone in a city of 8 million people this is going to be like looking for a needle in one Almighty hay stack if I were a thief I'd operate around London's busiest tourist [Music] landmarks walking around trafala Square it's clear to see what the London tourists come here for they're distracted by the sights the culture and the buzz perfect conditions for a thief I need some help and from someone closer to the street thank you very much thank you thank you to you the exit is this way you may come forwards thank you thank you my God it's hot thank you very much nice to meet you thank you can I have a bit of a chat with you yeah of course you got break between shows yeah I got an hour and a half off I explained to the street performer that my phone's just been stolen the money but he's not comfortable talking in the Square the new money is it's quite quiet around that way and out the [Music] way so why didn't you want to talk around there uh well there's there's an Eastern European gang that operate around there I've had problems with in the past and been assaulted and I've had friends who've been had trouble with them as well when you say a gang yeah they're quite a large lot they're doing they're thinging quite a lot of Pies they do the ones you'll see straight away as they do the live statues and stuff like that they tend to be the really poor quality very grabby ones but they're kind of a front and a draw for people cuz they operate the pick pocket behind them I've walk past these human statues many times it never occurred to me that some of them may have a more Sinister purpose I got assaulted last year you got assaulted yeah how um I was beaten kicked and punched and spat on by one of the gang cuz I pointed out what she was doing was illegal quite loudly I watched her in the middle of ripping somebody off and being the kind of man I am I got involved and then kind of regretted it and it was it multiple characters uh there was two people involved one of Tom carried out the assault and I continue with them on the phone to the police and they've got a lovely 10-minute recording while they got there but then we went into an underpass the second guy the minder turned around and pulled out a knife so these guys are pretty nasty then they they do yeah I mean there's there's one of the artists say artists got banned from a pitch by the London I because he threatened to cut somebody's throat CU they got involved so we've seen them they turn up in a Transit van and ship out the 20 guys to do the day's work and they're very obvious [Music] from what Lee said these are organized pickpocket gangs targeting tourists was my phone stolen by a gang and if I keep looking for it am I getting myself into something heavy [Music] Lee the street performer told me that many of the pickpockets working London streets are linked to bigger gang organizations there are 300 phones stolen every day in a racket worth millions of dollars a year but is it all controlled by an organized Network I've loar Ed up the tracking software to see what happened to my phone after it was stolen and it shows quite clearly where I was in the center of town all the way up East and stops at the exact sp there in hawkton after that it goes up the road and it stops in dolon that's where I'm going to go [Music] next all right black cab drivers see and hear everything in London if anyone's going to be a source of information they are how's London at the moment busy not today a bit quiet to be honest uh I had my phone nicked really yeah what in London or yeah in London yeah really I've had two women in my cab in the past that have had their phone stol and just snatched and very close to where my wife works as well so grazing Road okay not a million miles from where I had mine really where was yours pin hawton Square could there be a link what was his technique you know you stick it on a table and you don't think twice about it do you you know if you wouldn't stick your wallet on the table would you how much does a phone cost I don't know how much of the iPhones 400 quid something I don't know I'm guessing I mean I imagine they can sell them on for even if it's half of that yeah they're making themselves a killing the two instances that I heard about it was the same op operation both times kids on push bikes so one of them's barged the the lady and then while she's distracted the other one's just ripped the phone out of around and then they've had it away on the on the bikes you hear of it all the time you know cuz you just got to be careful AR you I mean there is a criminal element about isn't there yeah unfortunately I'm in dolon on the hunt for my phone it's a regenerating District but elements of its edgy past remain everywhere I turn a place is selling secondhand mobile phones okay we're going to go undercover in some of the phone shops here in dolon I'm pretty sure my phone at some point was here maybe someone was trying to sell it if they were I want to ask some of the shop owners first of all do you buy phones and secondly if you do have you got my phone hello can I have a look at the iPhone 3 please how much is that 110 110 no it's not mine I had my iPhone 3 stolen the other day oh I tracked it I put a tracker on it I attract it to somewhere around here you thinking this one it's not that one no you buy all from one company no we don't do that you don't buy them on the street people do though right I buy phone with the ID if it's not the same ID we don't buy right okay plus 18 if it's younger than 18 we don't accept it you put uh what they calling there's a special software in your mobile you can find your area where they yeah that's what I used and attracted it to this this part of Kingson Road here there is about 20 sh I know all right mate thanks a lot see [Music] you hey right mate um looking for a cheap iPhone 3 you got any yeah got any thre four yeah all right fair enough thanks mate I check out more shops but they all claim their stock is legit no one admits to fencing hot phones I'm checking the tracking software on the iPhone again now the shoping Dawson say they have no recollection of seeing my phone but that's the last point on the map so they must somehow have disable the tracker and for me the Trail's gone cold [Music] I give up the hunt for the phone gang and head back to Oxford Street for another sniff around the perfume shop you want one we things away for free we're promoting three hands up you want one three here we are guys three some of these customers have a familiar look about them you're back again here again you work for this guy I don't want somebody to get to get two or three you want to talk to me about it talk to me about it want everybody to get you get like commission or does he pay you a wage or what come in guys move it to the ler come in guys not taking your uh not taking you're not taking your perfume with you no bro I work here bro so you just pretend you just pretend to buy it yeah just to get other people you're a free worker here okay so you pretend to buy it to get other people to to think that it's a real deal yeah I'm just I'm just interested in in kind of how this how this works obviously I'm watching people pretending to buy stuff from you yeah and uh turn the back the front front fragrance from otion on the back yeah we're not hiding nothing from nobody yeah it's not it's not completely honest though is it what's dishonest about it then people are pretending to buy stuff they're not they they're what you call uh crowd encouragers we're not breaking any laws mate we're not selling hero in the people we're selling perfume at the same time they're still pretending to to buy perfume aren't they to encourage other people to buy perfume business it go to a wedding and there's a buff no wants to be the first one in no one wants to be the first one in the que do they as soon as one person goes in next everyone's in behind them in mate we're all sheep all of us you me everybody we're all sheep simple as that it's a clever pitch give them something for nothing play to their greed and count the money I'm not try to see people there clap when they have to clap it gets PR exciting that's the show them every day you know what I mean I'm also giving everybody a very nice free bag to carry it home in well a good oldfashioned bit of British Showmanship is how they see it we're just putting it on for the tourist mate it's an old business and it works and my God they must sell a good bit of perfume to be paying the rent on that [Applause] place I cut through a few back streets and I'm in SoHo London's famous red light district a must SE in every visitors guide book Soho sex clubs and bars have a history of fleecing tourists which goes back hundreds of years but do they still deserve that [Music] reputation just a little bit there no obligation it's new and live shows 5 in and um when a drink 4 minimum four for St drink five for beers good four naked live shows I see that okay why not oh we're not in London very often are we you got you know if you're in see a strip show come on all right yeah you know have the real experience at least thank you thanks over there there's no one on here this place is [Music] dead time to get out of here the more I look around the more I wonder whether I've got it all wrong maybe Soho sex clubs aren't the hot spots for tourists they used to [Music] be so what's happened has Soho cleaned up I'm on my way to meet a guy who's wired into the area I'm going to get the lowdown from Sid an ex undercover officer in the metropolitan police who still has links to known criminal networks here in London you used to be a policeman right yeah that's right around here Southeast East End Vice that kind of thing well we used to do a bit of that drugs all that sort of thing murders rapes whatever you want to know I mean it seems to me a little bit as though the old kind of Vice Center which used to be in SoHo you know going back to the 60s and70s has sort of moved a bit there don't seem to be as many of the the old sex bars the street joints and the the Clip Joints as well as they used to be nowadays it's it's gone down a level it's just become really Sleazy and people try to avoid it now it's not it doesn't draw people like it used to I mean so's changing anyway can you tell me where I might find some of those places that you're talking about the more dangerous edgy places well I can certainly take you to at least one you know maybe two depends on what you want but but I'm going to warn you they are I mean it's murky it's and it's dangerous and it's not it's not nice so you think it could actually it get heavy it could get violent oh yeah without a doubt there a bading sense of violence uh in these places especially when you get a bill presented to you and you go oh my God you ain't going anywhere they will they will get their money off you one way or another even if they hav marched you a cash to a cash point or anything like that you'd be happy to show me a place like that go in a place like that with me yeah yes it's not a problem [Music] I take Sid up on his offer we make our way towards Covent Garden this is the London of fashionable bars and [Music] cafes is this A Clip Joint like Sid says if it is my plan is to try and turn one of the girls maybe she'll tell me some Clip Joint Secrets first warning signs Dorman built like tanks two of us yeah hi how you doing how much to come in this place is rammed it's in a completely different League to the club I was in this afternoon mate 5 beer reason Che mate there's a real Buzz about the place getting off somewhere but something tells me not everyone is happy there's a lot of tourists in here yeah me look at those guys over there this is not the kind of place to get busted I need to be [Music] careful okay this go that's good yeah let go we're offered a dance by two of the girls this could be my chance to find out what's going on in here hey who who she can't keep her hands off me busted they found my hidden camera are you filming right now no are you filming now I really let this let here then we see yeah sit there and then it's fine really freak out one of the girls seems willing to talk but the other girl is about to blow my cover time to go before I get thrown out or Worse which one guys can you come back inside listen listen listen can I with you I feel a massive hand grab hold of me m m m let go me Let Go me who that was suddenly suddenly really really heavy they're taking our pictures they ass that guy grabbed hold of me and shouted guys never ever come here again [Music] ah the events of last night remind me of how dark London can be I'm back in SoHo famous for its bars Chic cafes and sex clubs in recent years chinatown's operations have expanded it's Advanced guard Chinese medicine shops but can everyone really be coming here for Jin sang and tiger Bal my cover story I've got a dodgy shoulder this looks as good a place as any to start your pH okay massage relax get rid of this stress okay massing that's the solution you the tension from your body from sounds convincing got me all right two women that's unusual but you know what they say many hands make light work okay I'm so relaxed I could almost nod off sorry how do you mean halfway through my treatment they've stopped massaging my shoulder and for an extra $120 they're offering me something a little more personal this place promises traditional Chinese cures but the girls are delivering a more Hands-On service okay no I didn't I'm sure it is really nice but you're going to have to take no for an answer sorry okay thank you very much okay byee see you bye bye byebye thank [Music] you wandering around Soho suddenly I start to see these Chinese herbal shops in a new light are there others operating in the same way there's only one way to find out it's a dirty job but someone has to do it extra extra money how much extra money £ 30 each £3 each yeah no no no I'm okay thank you okay that's two out of two that have offered me a happy ending time to try a [Music] third [Music] right I think I know where this conversation is going next it's time to own up I'm making television program no no TV TV yeah yeah TV look there's a camera yeah one camera not happy why why yeah because to see what happens no no no word of my secret filming has not gone down well with the management it's not not allowed to take photo in the room what's not what shouldn't be allowed is tourists come here and all they want is a nice massage not you should ask inance it break the English law filming it's not allowed in the UK it's not very polite you should ask the permission first if I asked permission maybe you wouldn't behave the way that you behave why do you offer massage for people who've got therapy problems people have stress they come for treatment but it's it's all about sex isn't it sorry it's about sex no no because you come in you come you can leave it's okay you come in with a with a genuine problem and then you get offered hand jobs is that the real the real business is no it's not do you want please be here I can ask please to come here [Music] you know they might have cleaned up a lot of the sex clubs in this part of town but the Gap in the market hasn't lasted long now you pop into one of those Chinese medical centers looking for a bit of stress relief and the scammers are primed and ready to take you for a ride the search for the phone Gang has gone quiet I'm back in hawton where the phone was stolen it's become a club's Paradise for a new generation of tourists the kind of place where people let their hair down get distracted perfect for scammers I hit a few of the bars and clubs maybe the two guys who stole my phone are working the same area tonight but as far as thievery goes it's a quiet night the club is closing time to find a cab W what's happening big man right bro right man to man just wondering what's going on here what's your name anyway bro Conor Conor Jason mad ones like get me so what where you up to man oh listen man come com out this club man out this club what could this guy want to talk to me about you want to have a little you get me a little party thing you get me I hook you up man you get me I'm the connection like you feel me why not man for real for real like you get me I don't know you though do I don't know you you can't just trust just see you get me but me's a man like when I approach people when I look at their eyes I know if like get me if you're real or you fake you get me so that's what I'm saying there's a nice club down there still like you get me Jason's using me for something but he's tapped into the local area so maybe I can use [Music] him d man I had my phone nicked so your phone had it stolen so I stolen yeah how can you get your phone stolen bro come on bro you can't let no one touch you out here man bro till my Last Breath you get me for someone take take something from me you have to gone you get me and you must balls to squee because look in your eyes and snat that and I'm only [Music] joking he's got a strange sense of humor but I'm going to ride with it all right so what what you want to do like here because I'm saying we're going to hook up with these girls yeah let's do it let's do it I'm going to no yeah one saying like yeah we're going to get a card from this what we do like because these girls they like having a session just draw like some door like like two bus or something you get me to go have a party with them go chill out you get me come to my yard you get me straight up yeah yeah come come AC cross over [Music] hangang there is something fundamentally Shifty about this guy and ordinarily I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him but he does seem to know everyone on the streets here he might be the perfect person to help me find the kind of people I'm looking for so I'm going to tag along and see what happens get some get some do and like I'm going to like line up line up this thing you get me you need me to have cash on me yeah yeah there's cash machine there man this the cab offic as well I don't think Jason's going to lead me to any phone gang but he is up to something I've got a feeling this could get interesting I'm I don't take it to my to my Nest you know yeah yeah yeah you feel me if I take it to my Nest where I lay my head I must feel your your Vibe your spirit my spirit you understand because my where I my head that's where my life is bro So for anybody I'm bringing to my C I appreciate it I appreciate it I'm having a nice time get me that's what I'm saying bro you get me nice yeah this in in in Jes s no no just bu any yeah right here we're right here come you take care mate exuse me see you later this doesn't look like the kind of place to buy out of ours booze and something else is starting to bug me I realize I've lost the crew I'm on my own Jason's getting agitated cuz I haven't handed over the cash yet what you want you want to leave now if you if you don't listen hold on more yeah if you don't want to continue this journey yeah yeah it's entirely up to you if you get let me put my so you can see my eyes I'm here aren't I this is why I don't even want for you to do in the public what's that 8 quit 8 quit that's what you want is that what is that where you go the a yeah you see even I even pay C money for you to know I'm a good [Music] guy moment of truth I hand Jason all of my money and he promises to be back with the booze for a [Music] party stand stand here man there's too much police around here man okay how far is it 1 second [Music] Jus that's nearly half an hour done there I was hoping to turn him but he's not coming back I've just stumbled on the London version of the false friend scam uh are you lot there I mean can you give me some sort of sign that this is still happening or is this Gare shaped Carl Mike guys I think what's happened here is that um Jason has gone and I think he's coming back and uh I've got no money I've got no phone I'm in I know not where somewhere in East London and somehow I'm going to have to get myself back from here and I have no idea how I'm going to do that I've traveled around the world and Fallen victim to so many taxi scams how ironic that stranded in my own City it's a taxi that comes to my rescue it literally been cleaned out got like loads of money at home [Music] home thanks it's a long [Music] story [Music] last night London's Dark Side sucked me in luckily it only cost me $120 it could have been a lot worse I'm still no closer to finding the phone snatch gang then I get a tip from Sid the ex cop the guys who snatch my phone are fencing their loot in ilford in East London I head down there to check it out so far I've come up empty everywhere I've turned so I'm not exactly holding my breath we're only a few miles out of the center of town and the Grande and elegance of London has petered out this is the main strip through what I'm I'm pretty sure is ilford I mean I'm way out of my comfort zone here this is not my patch not a part of London that I ever come to accessories repair we unlock iPhones I mean if you take in a stolen iPhone that's locked you take it to one of these shops presumably and unlock it there and then for you and then you can sell it to anybody we troll the area for a few hours there one here there a Dody little looking mobile phone shop hole in the wall kind of thing hang on hang on hang on that's the is that the keys of there that's the guy there there's both of them together oh pull over here pull over pull over on the left pull over on the left let me go and see let me going and see if that's them excuse me mate remember me no aish yeah yeah yeah we met we met in haon yeah mate we met in hawton square definitely you no man I don't know where you are yeah yeah yeah and you mate I thought you two didn't know each other no man I'm not M see listen I'm not going to cause a problem here for you I just want to talk to you okay but you I mean you two you you would this was the guy that was with you when you came when you took my phone oh man D no Guy this is no other guy it's not that long ago that you can't can't remember I'm not I'm not the police or anything don't I'm not the police I'm not here to cause trouble if you want to talk come there and I'll talk with you this time I don't have your phone so where's my phone I already sell it you already sold my phone yeah and I all spend my all money man I don't have any phone no money left I'm prepared to trade my phone for a bit of information after some convincing he accepts the deal you want to show I have to take it to my place and I show you why I do that things okay all right I'll follow you yeah sure let's go here we go again for the second time in 24 hours I'm following strangers down unfamiliar streets in East London at least this time the crew have my back we are jumping inside oh yeah no door no front door no front door no back door window oh I see whatever they're doing they're not investing their money on Home Improvements be careful and judging by the smell they're not spending it on the plumbing either I live man this is where you live yeah there in the home in the window you see and you both sleep in this room yeah this is a long way from the sophisticated International gang of phone thieves I'd been EXP expecting so what's that you're smoking now yeah what heroin hero crack heroin and crack so you were chasing the heroin and now you're smoking the crack in the pipe and is that where all the money goes from the first all money is going there so all that money just goes up in smoke I come in in the 2004 after that I working in one place in building side construction company and there they give the small one cabin to the whole company for lunchtime the cabin is like only this mattress not too big and two three guy they smoke every day and I am in inside the cabin nobody allowed to go out to the cabin after they smoke smoke smoke after 2 weeks I feel pain in my legs I say why my body is not working 2 3 days I say some happen and I say any happen he say you smoke this one and ioke two three line and I feel good after I stuck in there so you got addicted just by being near people that were smoking yeah and do you always Target the tourists yeah the tourist like if you have the if you see anybody in the new in their country you know he has look like this they look up yeah see the buildings and you know this is a tourist you had mostly target the tourist right okay when you're uh out you always go into the center of London to to the stud yeah short centrer London where is the too many pubs more than stealing the these things Pub clubs you know too much people in the drunk easily you have to snitch snatch the phone and how much drugs can you buy with one phone is the one phone is the if it's 150 then 10 bags if the phone going only 100 11 then six seven bags like this six seven bags of heroin heroin and crack both 3 three three and three and how long does that last if I smoke one time after two hour three bags you finish and then again go and find some money 2 or 3 hours and it's all gone yeah so you still every day we have to smoke 10 to 10 12 or 15 bags a day they a Twan crime wave three or four phones a day every day and do you have any boss that you have to give money to is there a gang no no no just you two on your own okay guys I'm going to go okay yeah you guys you can stay you stay and I can see myself out sorry for that man which travel I give you my problem man yeah I can see thank you you understand me man no no no appreciate the time well I came here expecting to find quite a sophisticated criminal gang behind this scam and actually in this case at least it seems more like just a couple of junkies stealing phones to buy heroin and crack this is a million miles from the London that I [Music] know londoners once sailed down this River to plunder the world these days the plunder comes to [Music] them millions of tourists distracted by the city's charms and watching them the scammers armed with an expertise honed over centuries of experience [Music] [Music] to

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 1,133,240

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

Id: IL7fBZrIJac

Length: 46min 19sec (2779 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 14 2023