Scam City: Prague - Scammers Disguised as Beautiful Girls & Harmless Hawkers | 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 Trail 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 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 [Music] Europe's Golden City is full of history romance culture and trouble okay okay this is very misunderstanding [Music] I'm in a nightclub on the edge of town it's a bad situation and I don't know how to get out I don't want to cause a problem at all you know free understand how on Earth did I end up here I'm in the Czech Republic traveling to a city that since the collapse of Communism has become a favorite destination for Western tourists but where tourists go scam artists are quick to follow and the word is Prague has some of the most dangerous I'll be going undercover with a hidden camera recording everything I'm not sure what I'm going to find but whatever happens getting busted isn't an option with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment filming through a button on my shirt on a train in Eastern Europe you could be forgiven for thinking this was the opening scene in a Bond movie [Music] [Applause] [Music] nice one Connor I think that's gonna work yeah I think the little bit of tape there is actually quite useful it just keeps the camera straight the gang of villains inside this train Carriage are my scam City production crew who will be filming me secretly Wherever I Go I'm told the scamsters in Prague often work in groups which means it will be their team against mine as I arrive in the center of town I can see why Prague has been nicknamed The Paris of the East everywhere there are magnificent historical structures and the more seasoned Travelers flock here to soak up over a thousand years of culture but since the end of communist rule Prague has seen growing numbers of younger tourists and has quickly adapted its nightlife to cater for the more hedonistic visitor oh prague's appeal to both young and old means it has become one of Europe's most visited cities cheap prices make it a popular location for Christmas shoppers the currency here is crowned I only have Euros on me so I need to change them and there's a little Bureau to challenge here I can see the board and it says they buy euros at 24.40 so my 50 Euro note that I have should get me 1 220 crowns 50 Euro please is crowns thank you very much unbelievable I should have got 1220. I got 1 220. some people are just too honest okay so I've got the right currency now I want to go to the place where a lot of tourists spend their hard-earned cash this means a short taxi ride across the city to the Christmas Market at wences of the square once it's less Square please you busy today many tourists Christmas time it's it's far to Winchester Square I don't it's traffic some traffic maybe it's five minutes 10 15. 10 15 minutes One Way system okay does the does the tool cost extra sorry the tour your tour it costs extra no little English only little English okay okay is that it's how much are 754 crowns that's very expensive that's nearly forty forty dollars forty dollars for a journey I could have walked in 10 minutes that can't be right oh daylight it's priceless oh yeah you show the traffic you show that to me now oh double Square from Old Town Square wants us to square 550. no traffic no traffic yeah 750 that's that's loads only driver only driver whose company is it I'd like to speak to them and receipt is it yeah according to my receipt this driver works for a firm called Euro taxis I'm pretty certain that I've just been ripped off but to make sure I'm going to take the same Journey back with a different taxi firm and compare prices uh old Square please thank you this is a triple a taxi not not Euro Taxi what's the deal with those Euro taxis expensive 28 for one kilometer yes and when Sizzler square is what five or six kilometers so it should be 200 300 crowns when I got the Euro taxi he charged the the same distance he charged me 7.50 it's too late yeah what can I do call police when I complained to that guy I said no it's too much he said oh it's not me it's the company no no no no no he's a liar oh okay and what's the price 231 231. look at that that's a that's a more reasonable price it's about ten dollars [Music] so not all taxi cabs in Prague are playing by the same rules if you get the wrong one you could end up paying three times the going rate I found my first scam but my instincts tell me that this is just the tip of the iceberg they say in Prague the fun starts when the Sun goes down [Music] all you can drink open bar for two and a half hours to tour around the city this is our bar right here the Drunken Monkey it costs less than less than a Euro for a plane in our bar less than Europe for fine yeah and there will be lots of tourists there it's every tourist and locals see you later cheers I suppose going on a pub crawl in Prague is the young tourists alternative to boat tours on the volataba river and gazing up at the astronomical clock so I'm going to go along but first of all like a true professional I think I should line my stomach with some local Street Food got my button came on see how honest the hot dog sellers are hot dog please 60. thank you okay hang on a second two four five six seven 940 you owe me another thousand yeah yeah that's that's better yeah thank you really is unbelievable I mean I heard they could be a bit creative with their change around here but I gave him a 2 000 note and he gave me change for one thousand now if you think a hot dog only costs 60 that's the equivalent of him selling 30 hot dogs [Music] well I've had my hot dog I'm gonna wash it down with some hot wine and see if this guy's any better at counting his change I have a hot wine please thank you um I gave you two thousand oh thank you exactly the same thing I gave him 2 000 it was 50 for a wine he gave me change for a thousand so 9.50 uh where's my other thousand [Laughter] as a tourist you always take a risk when you're not familiar with the currency and some sellers here won't hesitate to take advantage of that time to go on that pub crawl the flyer is offering me all I can drink for 20 euros seems too good to be true [Applause] well everyone's getting their 20 euros worth in here but surely a bunch of severely drunken young tourists must be a powerful magnet for Hustlers I'm going to talk to the one person in here who should be sober Chuck the bar owner I provide a service and I give you two hours of free drinks here right you know I take you to some of the best bars in Prague you know the whole Party tour okay what happens with these kids after our crawl and after our service you must have seen it all seen it all kids drink too much too fast they go out and they get ripped off by drug dealers they get struck by street hookers they get bad taxi drivers you know they just the list goes on I've lived here for years and it still has uh Eastern European feel to the fullest it's Lawless you know in a to a degree you know you you drugs are decriminalized but there's a gray area and so kids you know people want to come out here and do drugs and why not if it's legal you know you can't do it in your country do it here [Applause] foreign [Music] it's getting messy now and I'm actually feeling a bit concerned for some of the people here maybe I'm just too old for this kind of thing I mean I remember when I could drink a lot in two hours the kids get blacked out a lot of time at the end of the day they might not know what happens to them they might have it but they charge an STD who knows but they had a damn good time with the Drunken Monkey yes I love it exactly the one you didn't know her I've seen her before but I know exactly that's what she's doing just trying to take Pokemon that baffles my mind not really because it happens so often right but just like that you seem very calm yeah because I know you know I know what you're doing yeah but think about a guy that's 18 20 years old doing this [ __ ] and walking down the street yeah you know and it's just a busy spot for that kind of thing you're checking your pockets now do you lose something yeah I got it foreign ly Chuck seems to lose all his confidence pockets are empty but he can't remember if he had a wad of money on him or not so he goes back to confront the girl check out your pockets yeah no dear buddy you probably have some money somewhere no yeah no no no no nobody know honey no no who can win no money no no money Chuck can't find any money on her he's not sure what to do perhaps he left the money back at the bar but I still can't believe how Brazen the woman was in trying to get in his pockets and it makes me think that if a resident like Chuck can get targeted by pickpockets then drunken tourists must be like Lambs to the slaughter I mean you would have had to have been inebriated you know yeah because she was Shameless she was she exactly no problem she's close she's on me I thought for a second I might have got robbed yeah you know I honestly doubted myself so basically you're telling me you've got no money on you no money I get free drinks but don't put I did not get robbed having regained his composure Chuck tells me his young clientele often aren't satisfied with merely binging on alcohol many of them want to take their intoxication to the next level it's illegal to buy or sell drugs in the Czech Republic but there are relaxed laws on possession of small quantities this means plenty of people come here expecting to find their stimulants of choice Chuck is prepared to show me the dangers involved in buying drugs on the streets they're all over this place it's saturated so I mean I it's just a matter of time I mean this is the area so I'm sure somebody's going to come around sooner or later I'm a magnet for it too it happens all the time so so hey what's going on man yeah man are you chatting me yeah you got some coke yeah yeah is that good yeah it's good stuff very good it's two grams is one thousand five hundred two grams for 15. yeah yeah all right yeah I think we'll take some then for sure yeah 1500 that's what you said yeah 1500 for the two grams yeah okay all right let's just go up here man it's good yeah it's good stuff that's all that's all I really want that's a good stuff all right cool thanks man let's see you just buy that cocaine I guess what do you think it is it's probably something I don't want to put up my nose initially I would not think that this is a quality Cocaine by any means you know it's just I mean it looks like sugar sugar or flour it could be anything no you sure you're not worried in case this is real cocaine well I don't think a little dab on my uh finger is gonna send me in an early grave so yeah but it's not drugs it's definitely not drugs and what happens is somebody else is going to buy this and stick it up their nose all day I mean if you don't feel comfortable with this then just say I quite like to go back and see those guys throwing our money back nothing like that I just would quite like to kind of hear it okay hear it from their side yeah no problem let's do it okay from the little I know about buying drugs on the streets it seems highly inadvisable to go back to the drug dealers with customer inquiries about their product the guy with the cap on yeah this enough no problem no problem no problem no problem no no problem no problem money or anything like that we'd like to talk to you I just wait one second bring in a translator um we're not police no no no problem or anything like that it's just literally just making a film you see cameras okay I just want to tell these guys we're making a film and we've given them some money we don't want that money back we don't want to cause any kind of problem I'd just like to ask them a couple of questions we're pretty sure that wasn't cocaine what did you sell him can I see not really yeah okay yeah and how much did this packet costs that cost 50 crowns yeah and how many uh grams of cocaine do you get 10 grams so that's 7 500 you can make for money spending 50. yeah but you're not worried it's a dangerous job yeah no I'll probably take you down this afternoon does anyone ever come back and and ask for their money back or cause trouble no yeah okay all right well look no problem keep keep the money thank you for thank you for talking to us all right bye from the seller's point of view it's a highly lucrative scam but for the punter it's potentially disastrous you could be ingesting any random substance that the scammers can get hold of at the next stop on the pub crawl I get into conversation with Roger he's lived in Prague for over 10 years and he's seen it firsthand how far the bogus drug sellers will go to make a buck yeah we were saying we were sitting here in this bar just in the corner here and uh we saw this guy come out well from from the courtyard he came through and there were these two girls walking towards him and started speaking to these two girls and the one went yeah no problem just hold on wait here and the other girl went just around the corner up to this church wall and she she uh did this little plastic bag and just scrape some plaster off the wall oh my God he was buying he thought he was buying trucks he thought he was buying drugs and this guy was like scraping plaster off the wall [Music] it's been an interesting day I've had a little taste of the lawlessness that Chuck mentioned overcharging taxis and dishonest Street vendors lady pickpockets followed by fake drugs I've got the feeling that things are going to get a lot darker foreign [Music] with a split personality there's one side that is pictured postcard perfect like something out of a fairy tale is the ideal destination for a cultural tour or a romantic getaway but there's another side to Prague of an altogether different nature this is the darker side of Prague where sex for sale entices punters who didn't come here to take tourist snaps on Charles bridge prague's thriving sex industry is a good place to go looking for trouble this could get dangerous I'm glad my trusty team are following my every move [Music] what's that you know what I mean how you doing mate all right man good titty bar yeah [Music] this doorman is extremely proactive in persuading passers-by to come into His Club my guess is he gets commission for everyone he brings in if you want some more anything more let me know anything more like what I don't know depends on you oh yeah some ladies to the hotel things like this you know all right yeah I heard that about Prague or something to make you you know because you know me so getting warm you know yeah something to keep you warm so yeah yeah then wow so we'll go inside right yeah sure yeah all right [Music] so here's the ticket it's 300 each yeah more alcohol after last night's pub crawl I'd happily settle for a nice cup of tea foreign [Music] this place does not disappoint no scams in here but all this is strictly for your eyes only I'm pretty sure your average punter would end up wanting a more hands-on experience the guy at the door seems to know exactly where to go next okay just just take people to the place here and then there you go for the happy ending you know [Music] the friendly doorman wastes no time ushering me to a taxi which will take me to the nightclub of my dreams VIP police you know right I agree Wicked yeah it's all very Cloak and Dagger I've got to admit I'm starting to get nervous just what is waiting for me at the end of this cab ride oh hi mate hey nightclub yeah wherever he said yeah yeah where are we going you know already the place yeah nightclub super super lady Club a good good place for tourists complete massage service complete massage yeah Prospect oh yeah you have a like a brochure yes a pamphlet let me see welcome to the greatest erotic Club in Prague with possibility of accommodation yes yeah saw new that's sauna yeah and I'm guessing masazi a Whirlpool means massage in a bubble bath now yes yes this is I guess just what happens to you we go into one strip bar and then the guy that works on the door he knows where the next one is and you kind of just get past along the chain so like completely at this guy's Mercy to take me to wherever the last guy told him to take me to given me it looks pretty nice so it's here you show me yes there's it I pay you it's how much how much one seven four yeah yeah 174 crowns that's about nine dollars at least this driver seems to be sticking to the price tariff he even takes me right to the door of the nightclub [Music] First Impressions this club looks nothing like the brochure no dancers no whirlpool and I hope this guy isn't the master the rest of the crew have followed me in with hidden cameras and take up positions around the bar suddenly two heavy set guys walk over to one of the crew they think they've seen him holding a small camera and they don't like it [Music] our man gets a shove from one of the Heavies and it looks like things might get ugly but after some tense words with our fixer they're convinced that it's just a tourist camera for Holiday snaps and I've been in a bar or two before something's not quite right about the way this beautiful young woman has just come over to me I'm usually not this lucky drink what's that whiskey and Coke James Jameson oh Irish Yeah by me cheers very many Irish you meet many Irish people before [Music] um only a little English I'm not hitting any home runs with these chat up lines and the language barrier doesn't help but somehow Michelle still seems to be interested you want to show me something can I bring my drink I wonder where she's taking me maybe I'm about to see the whirlpool no Whirlpool just a room in the back it's barely furnished and dimly lit my hidden camera struggles with the light sure cheers yes I like it it's nice very beautiful architecture yes nice people very friendly foreign [Music] you know free understand what oh I'm in a State of Shock I've just been attacked and I'm afraid this guy will hit me again unless I pay 500 euros for talking to his girl maybe I'm guessing out of my depth here this is gangsterism and extortion this is suddenly out of nowhere the police arrive in force I'm not sure what's going on they begin checking everyone's IDs including mine but the big guy who hit me is nowhere to be seen I'm tempted to ask the police to escort me to safety but my paranoia is at a peak maybe I'm in trouble just for being in here so I keep quiet the police leave as quickly as they arrived I still have no idea why they were here and I'm not hanging about to find out no problem no no problem can I get to the door the nightmare continues there's a bouncer at the door blocking my exit the big guy is back the only way I'm getting out of here is by paying him first Euro yeah okay I only had a drink you understand I only had a drink here that's all I did I don't have 500. the big guy tries to take me to the room in the back I certainly don't want to go there but the other guy's still blocking the door I'm between a rock and a hard place that's all I have for 350 that's all I have and I can go free to go my mouth is dry as a bone I'm shaking and my knees are actually trembling that was really really unpleasant it felt like such a dive as soon as I turned up oh God this isn't even somewhere where I'd even like to be and then you know someone friendly comes over and says hello and you know you buy them a drink and then the way that I was taken innocently I thought from one room into another room but then when you're in the other room you're out of sight of everyone in the bar and then the big guy comes in and he smacked me you know and immediately I felt really really intimidated and really threatened you know when I did decide to go that guy was not gonna let me go there's just no ways two of them big guys and they said 500 euro you're not leaving at that point I'd have given them I'd have given them a thousand Euro if I had it to get out the door but I only had 350 on me and thank God they took it obviously I'm putting myself in the shoes of people who don't mind Crossing that line but I wouldn't wish that on anybody I really need to get away from this place so I'm glad when a taxi pulls up within a few seconds but wouldn't you know it's the same driver who brought me just a spinner where you take me my friend melon Bob melon superclub yes yes 350 Euro to get out big man yeah they pay you money to take me there yeah I bet they pay you money this driver definitely knows something but his English is as bad as my check so I won't get any information from him without a translator meanwhile I've got another problem the speed with which his taxi meter is going up just here here is fine yeah yeah it's how much 174 988. six times what you charge me to get out there yeah yeah you you you've got to be joking you've got it's still going up stop it at least stop it look I give you 1 000 bucks but wait wait listen I want your phone number so and I want to call you when I have a translator okay okay hanza just check it to you okay I call you tomorrow you come tomorrow I have questions okay okay [Music] foreign last night's scam is one of the oldest in the book The Clip Joint scam the victim is sucked in by the promise of a good time but there is no good time and getting out costs more than getting in and the Really clever bit is he's too ashamed and scared to go to the police they say a fool in his money are easily parted but since I'm here to discover scams then I have to accept last night as a necessary expense which reminds me I need to change some more of my currency into Czech crayons uh can I change 50 euros into crayons please 50 please yeah thank you how much 903 903 yeah sorry what's the rate twenty one twenty four yeah I gave you 50 that's 1062. there is a commission it person the commission of 15 as well yeah that's in check I can't read that but also that's that that's that's not right I'd like my money back well that's a that's outrageous these money exchange booths share the same philosophy as the drug dealers from the other night once they've got your money they never give it back foreign I've been ripped off I've been intimidated and I've been pushed around I want some answers I'm getting the picture from last night's Clip Joint Adventure that taxis are at the heart of the action here in Prague it was a cab driver who took me there so I've arranged to meet the boss of a Prague taxi firm Chris hi Connor good to me last month about 63 percent of the taxis checked at the airport were doing something illegal like fixed the meters or the taxi drivers didn't actually the proper insurance or a variety of different other things right I mean I myself in the short time that I've been here I've experienced in getting in one taxi to do a trip and then getting in another taxi to do the same trip and it costs three or four times as much well that's what I like to call a beautiful piece of technology where the they have What's called the turbo meter and it's a little button they have somewhere when you're not looking they'll push it and it makes the meter go forward very quickly what do the taxi drivers like typically in Prague I've always believed that you know most people are just trying to get along but there certainly is a group of people who take advantage of the situation this bad group if I can say that that hangs out around Old Town Square unfortunately some of them are very disagreeable I know that some of them do carry weapons and I know for a fact that several of them have some of them do have guns I'm not suggesting they're going to shoot you or something like that but I have had friends who have been roughed up and I'm roughed up is a good word I guess and uh it's sword for doing what for refusing to pay you're really getting me close to some stuff I don't want to talk about because I don't want to get beaten up taxi drivers beating people up and carrying guns that's heavy duty who are these cabbies that Chris is too scared to mention a quick search throws up a name that I've heard before Euro taxis that's the same firm whose driver over charged me when I first hit town to my surprise the boss of this notorious cab firm Pavel yellowneck agrees to meet me at his headquarters my fixer warns me that he's a powerful and much feared man it just so happens that he's also the boss of prague's Taxi Trade union why do you think people tell these stories about your company in particular you know the stories that your taxi drivers attack tourists they can read all over the world they are divorced in the world on the other side I think all is the problem of the price Prague is the only city where the prices the maximum price is are given so I mean that if you take taxi usually or 99 percent of Fort taxi drivers has a rate 28 crowns for one kilometer the rules say 28 per kilometer but your taxis are charging nearly 100 per kilometers we don't charge more I've said I've been in your taxis I've seen you I've experienced it myself in in your accounts yeah yeah true is that you know uh foreign taxi drivers go for more Dennis than his law because you go for more than is 28 okay all the second chances that you work every day 14 hours another reputation that your company has your drivers are very aggressive very threatening if people say that they don't want to pay the higher rates then they can be they can be threatened by drivers look if we have a hundred people in the company it's not like in a restaurant where you can control it every day quantity driver works here the second over there and how can I control if they follow the rules why do they carry guns look I don't know if anybody has a any gun or or something like this but I never listened that anybody use it according to do according to tourists possible that we have a we have an hour company for example one guy who also make like uh bodyguard he has his gun but I cannot tell him don't go with the gun you don't think you could tell one of your own taxi drivers not to bring his gun to work I have no chance to set him no and in effect I have no reason why to set him really because then on the other side making the last look plus this year was free taxi drivers built free you know how would the three taxi drivers killed one was shot by by gun and two was killed by a knife right do you think you have to be pretty tough to be a taxi driver in Prague certainly yeah yeah I think yes yes it's not easy what hit home about my conversation with Pavel was his willingness to overlook the lawlessness amongst his staff [Music] apparently many taxi drivers in Prague prefer to ignore the price cap on fares so if you're a tourist you're at the mercy of whatever price the driver thinks he can get away with and if you object you could be negotiating with a man who's carrying a gun to work that's a sobering thought especially as I've arranged to go on another taxi ride with hunza he's agreed to take me back to the Clip Joint and fill me in on his role in the scams didn't think I'll see you again explain to me how does it work between the taxi drivers and the clubs in Prague okay but do you pay the guys on the on the door outside the club let's say they put a tourist into a taxi how do they get their [Music] Kickbacks so you can take a tourist to any club and if they stay there you'll get your Kickback Adam just here today um [Music] the way you describe it to me you make it sound as though taxi drivers are pimps in this town [Music] um so the sex club scams are all just business as usual for hanza once again he drops me off at the Clip Joint and disappears I can't believe I'm going back in here I'm not overly Keen to reacquaint myself with the gangsters who threatened me last night I must need my head examined my fix has gone in ahead and says they're willing to speak to me am I walking into another ambush I'm relieved to see that the big guy who attacked me last night isn't in the room this may sound like a silly question but why do tourists usually come here foreign but when I came here I wasn't looking to have sex with anyone I just came here for a drink but you guys rinsed me for 350 Euro by the time I walked out the door do you get a lot of tourists like me walking in um uh is there a set price that you pay the taxi driver for a tourist or what you see two thousand crowns is a hundred dollars that's a big tip for any Taxi Driver no wonder guys like hanza work hand in hand with the sex clubs have you ever had people refuse to pay or they have no money but what happens if they just say no I'm not paying them so either they give it to you or you take it from them anyway I don't know yes when the police came in here they uh were checking people's IDs but they didn't seem to have a problem with what was happening here I'm not going to but what do you think they would do if I went to them and told them what happened to me oh [Music] my new friend in the Clip Joint is a man of few words but then again he doesn't get paid for his conversation skills all in all the experiences I've had make me feel like I've been fed through an intricate machine a kind of underground Network its sole purpose to separate me from my money Prague is a fascinating City and I'm sure most visitors have a good time even if they do get occasionally overcharged but if you come here looking for wild adventures and don't keep your wits about you then you might find yourself somewhere you'd rather not be one thing the Clip Joint guy said is playing on my mind is casual reference to the police being okay with his scam is this true or simply bravado it adds up to a disturbing thought if you do run into real trouble here you may be on your own thank you [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 263,649

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

Id: i-Kpu4aXjXU

Length: 48min 14sec (2894 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 09 2023