Scam City: Rio de Janeiro - Party Time for Scammers at the World's Biggest Party | 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] I'm undercover at carnival in Rio and it's Madness I've been swamped by party goers and it feels like everyone has their eye on my wallets I didn't even realize [Music] Rio is the most visited city in the southern hemisphere four days every February or March 5 million people descend on the city for what has become one of the biggest parties in the world Carnival [Applause] [Music] despite the Authority's efforts to police the festivities it remains a real magnet for Street criminals [Music] I may look like I'm here to party but in fact I'm here to get behind the scenes and reveal just how Rio's Street hustling economy really operates first off is Copacabana one of Rio's most visited beaches and a real hotbed for petty thieves the crew have been staking out Copacabana beach and we found a couple of guys operating as pickpockets so I'm going to pose as a tourist and set up in the middle of their patch I'm going to be using this bag as bait it contains a secret camera I'm also going to be filming them from a pair of sunglasses that contains another secret camera let's go Catch a Thief to pull off this elaborate sting operation we have multiple cameras covering all angles [Music] as well as my sunglasses and the camera disguised in the bum bag we also have members of the crew posing with what looked like tourist cameras Bernardo the camera assistant has a shot from behind translator Leticia has struck up a conversation with the girls in front of me in order to get a clear view and it's not long before we're in business sorry hello all right look for me sorry look for me swing you're going for swim yeah oh you want me to look after your stuff yeah okay just leave it leave it here it's fine yeah yeah yeah no problem how long will it be two minutes two minutes yeah very hot okay okay two minutes okay fine no problem yeah my bag's gone it's convenient I was caught completely unaware but luckily the five cameras missed nothing here's what happened pocket number one comes up and gains my trust whilst he distracts me pickpocket number two approaches from behind and is caught red-handed on hidden cameras stealing my bag fish are you standing by in case I need some translation here hey hey hey hey just a second just a second One Moment One Moment before before you take these where's my my bag my bag is gone no stand my bag my bag under the chair oh my gosh gone [Music] same time same time as you're talking to me same time you're talking to me no no no no no no no come in she's with me too it's okay it's no problem there's no problem I know what happened come on come on come on there's no problem I don't want to make any trouble no no problem with the police or anything like that just want to talk to you a little bit what's your name junior junior Connor pleased to yeah pleased to meet you Junior okay Junior realizes that honesty is his best policy and he calls his sidekick back to return my bag the accomplice [Music] it was really good it was really good even though I was he doesn't want to be in the film luckily Junior does agree to speak on camera it's quite a neat trick that you just played you know just distract me by talking to me and I completely was focused on you and didn't realize that your friend was stealing my bag there really that's really good [Music] yeah are you always on you're always on the lookout for opportunities and is is now during the carnival is that is it particularly good time for doing this kind of thing [Music] so how much money can you make during Carnival how much is a scene that's pretty good that's like it was nearly a couple of thousand dollars a day [Music] as a skilled operator Junior has various tricks up his sleeve using me as an accomplice he agrees to show me another of his well-homed techniques yeah spots in a bag yeah okay to demo the scam we're using two crew members to sit in as unsuspecting tourists you've seen it you've seen her back behind you right once the bag has been spotted the operation begins look for me I'm looking I'm looking okay as the lookout my responsibility is to pick the opportune moment to take the bag it's essential to move fast within seconds we have the loot and are away from the scene of the crime how many bags do you think are buried under Copacabana beach is I've barely had time to put on my sunscreen and already I'm on first name terms with one of Rio's Hustlers that's it [Music] it can't always be this easy can it hola hola first time Carnival first time first time Carnival [Music] it's crazy huh yeah no crazy yeah most cities I've been to have some form of Taxi trick my guess is Rio will be no exception oh the Sugarloaf Mountain yeah yeah very beautiful very beautiful what else in Rio woman women it's beautiful woman's beautiful women the best woman in the world best you think so I'm taking a short ride along the beach and it shouldn't cost more than 20 reals or ten dollars how much is that yeah there you go okay but as soon as I hand the money over it's clear that something is wrong sir father's house I'm sorry no no no I gave you 50. okay I gave you 50. some of those single Five Five Guys my friend I gave you 50. the driver refuses to back down and I'm getting nowhere it's time to reveal my sting the camera okay we're filming we feel me wait One Moment One Moment old taxi trip it's fine I understand what he's doing you can keep the money if he comes to talk to us a little bit about uh some some of that trick and some of his other tricks [Music] switch the note trick I said mentioned how do you do it foreign okay yeah my driver Laro is clearly proud of his skills he tells me he is what Brazilians call amalandro a lovable Rogue who uses dexterity and Charisma to get his way foreign can convince a tourist of anything you know you just have to love Rio even they're scammers operate with this kind of charm and a smile they even have their own word for it melendraging you know it's scamming but it's it's scamming plus they take it to a whole new level [Music] it's clear that for many people scamming is a way of life it's ingrained in their psyche night falls it's time to leave the beach and head to the birthplace of the milandro lapa yeah right in the center of Rio lappa is famous for its nightlife a heady mix of partygoers prostitutes transvestites and drug users it's the old Bohemian heart of Rio and a real playground for Sinners where it said anything can happen hi beer foreign you get one for me too and one for me too much why not two it's not long before I make a new friend this girl seems pretty insistent but I'm not keen to share a drink with a total stranger she's certainly forthcoming Junior the beach Hustler told me about prostitutes spiking drinks with a drug they call goodnight Cinderella I wonder if that's why she wanted to share a drink with me there's only one way to find out how does it work if I make face well he imagines to do me a fart right if you put it in my drink now how long does it take before I start to feel you know woozy and fall asleep okay so you have to rob me here in the streets I can't believe what I'm hearing this is an extraordinary confession [Music] well it was really nice meeting you and I'm glad I bought you a drink and you didn't buy me a drink bye bye [Laughter] okay 24 hours in Rio a bag stolen scammed in a cab almost drugged and robbed of everything I own I think I'm in the right place [Music] most people come to Carnival to watch the big Samba parade which takes place over Carnival weekend for the parties start days before Junior has invited me to a street party in Santa Teresa one of Rio's oldest neighborhoods on a hill above lapper so tell me a bit about this party that we're going to I don't know foreign Carnival the street parties like the beaches attract hordes of tourists and offer great work opportunities for pickpockets I'm gonna put a secret camera on you here okay we put put this around here To Catch a Thief we're going to use a thief you need to keep an eye on all right my wallet I'm going to put my secret camera here around the back as well so if someone comes in from behind we can see it getting stolen okay oh yeah yeah we're gonna be covered we're going to be covered if there's anyone out there okay we'll see them we'll see them yeah yeah okay sure for sure for sure okay all right yeah let's do it come on let's do it let's do it [Music] as well as Juniors and my hidden cameras we're also accompanied by my translator Leticia who's carrying a camera disguised in her bag but turning snitch in Brazil isn't a laughing matter and we've been told to be very careful [Music] if you were pickpocketing here what kind of things would you be looking out for is that Dimension wallets in back pockets come on with the party in full swing we get further into the crowds there's a surge and we find ourselves in the middle of a mob of people [Applause] some of my fellow party goers are making me feel on edge [Applause] call me paranoid but everyone looks suspicious it's a really horrible feeling but there isn't a way out I'm trapped [Applause] [Music] I didn't realize whole search of people came through I didn't even notice oh yeah I was warned and I was expecting it but the thief was so skilled I didn't feel my wallet being stolen [Applause] I can't be sure who took it but looking back at the hidden footage the man in the blue and white shirt disguised with big sunglasses and an afro wig is hanging suspiciously behind us my bad cam captures him getting closer to me and sees him raising his hand in what looks like a move to get into my back pocket but what's incredible is despite multiple cameras and Junior watching my back I still can't be 100 sure of the culprit's identity even if it was the man in blue and white he was without doubt a slick operator [Music] so what is it that motivates guys like Junior to become pickpockets he lives in one of Rio's many notorious slums Favela Taveras basto growing up in a favela well foreign [Music] I don't know it has since my 12 years [Music] here foreign [Music] foreign has much to do with poverty but not everyone in the shanty town is a thief for junior it's as much about the thrill [Music] all of Rio is getting ready for Carnival's Main Attraction the samba parade a fierce competition between the city's top Samba schools who parade their skills in a highly orchestrated show the schools represent different neighborhoods in Rio like football clubs they're embedded in the communities and attract fanatical supporters it's a huge industry victory in the parade is worth over two and a half million dollars fans will go to any length to help their School win [Music] Junior has asked me to support his team portella in traditional style with some good old-fashioned Magic this offers me the perfect opportunity to investigate what I suspect to be another con macumba is an afro-brazilian religion and ceremonies are advertised all over town and putting my money behind my team but tourists looking for a supposedly authentic experience sign up for all sorts of rituals for health love and good luck [Music] okay I've set my meeting up with a macumber but first I have to fill out shopping lists strange shopping list that includes a mirror a doll some white clothes a headdress some cloths even some animals right let's go shopping [Music] Aruda apparently these items are all necessary to perform my ritual [Music] I believe you I trust you I'm not sure what all these things are for but I've been given the address of a macumber market which conveniently sells all the items on my list I'm many stores do you know that sell popcorn coffins swords headdress White kind of spooky though do you have to have some kind of commercial arrangement with the macumbas that send customers here it is you've got you've got three wishes for Life how about it who are you hoping is going to win the the sambadrome competition we're on different sides then because I'm taking all this to go and do my ritual for portella is it it's all quite convenient that you make an appointment with the macumba and the McCumber cell gives you a shopping list and you come to one shop and pretty much knock everything off the shopping list and the only thing that the shop stocks is the stuff on the shopping list it's a nice little Arrangement isn't it okay ciao but I'm still not done foreign [Music] later I'm kitted out for my ritual [Music] right well I'm off to meet the priest to do my macumber feels a little bit odd I've got a bag full of bricabrack an outfit that makes me look like one of the Village People and two birds in a box but I don't want anyone accusing me of doing anything less than everything in my power or indeed anyone else's power to make sure that portella win the competition foreign as well as the seventy dollars I've spent on my macumba kit an upfront payment of three hundred dollars has secured me an appointment with a macumba priest a waterfall in one of Rio's national parks is our rendezvous this is starting to feel less funny and it's a bit creepy [Music] I come bearing gifts my priest is a man of few words so I'm not really sure what to expect you're not not a face not a face um [Music] just a bit Where We Sing YMCA I have no idea what's going on but I guess I'll just have to go with the flow I've been beaten with a bunch of leaves dunked in freezing water and now I'm having a pigeon rubbed in my face and all for just short of four hundred dollars I can't help but feel I've been taken for a bit of a ride I've never seen anything like this before so I'm a little bit suspicious and you get many tourists come and do this today really and what kind of things do they ask for is orange are there sort of two sides to this is they are kind of a more serious side that you believing get up and walking let's go species you don't look very serious right now you've got a cheeky smile on your face I ain't gonna be this early this year you think it's gonna work and I've got to say I have my doubts but the proof as they say is in the pudding so when the results are announced and we see whether portal have won or not we'll know whether all this was worthwhile portella are parading tonight and tickets to the sambadrome where the event takes place are the hottest in town so Sector 9 is 540 what's the price of your boxes really seven thousand five hundred rails well I've been doing a bit of research into the cost of a ticket to go and see the samba parade and to say it varies would be an understatement the cheapest price I've been quoted is 240 US Dollars the most expensive seats in the house uh can go for five thousand dollars for the main tourist section uh Sector 9 which is where most tourists go the prices go from about 380 US Dollars up to 800 US dollars depending on who you speak to they're the same tickets just one agency charges more than twice the price of another agency it's straightforward scalping but if I want to experience the greatest show on Earth I have to accept being charged over the odds [Music] oh here we go this is it months of planning and preparation and God knows how much money have gone into tonight the biggest party in the world [Music] they're off good luck Godzilla [Music] this is it the center of all the action this is the middle of the carnival you see all the way down the Sunbird the foretella floats as they're coming up you get a real sense of how enormous it is what a vast work of choreographies it looks absolutely brilliant [Music] he's seen the size of it and how enormous it is one thing occurs to me how and who pays for all this foreign with the carnival centerpiece now over I've come to The madurera District in Northwest Rio home to the portela samba School I'm here for the repairs the peace District this is like the ashes the World Cup the champions league and the Super Bowl all rolled into one and they're going to announce the results in about two minutes with a huge prize up for grabs there's a lot riding on these results [Applause] it's a two-horse race now and unfortunately for teller aren't one of them in the previous nine years the same school has won six times [Music] [Applause] [Music] where does the money come from president is [Music] get the money from please [Music] well it looks as though my macumba magic didn't do the trick for portella today it's not going to be their year people here are pretty crossed they feel as though they've been robbed and they're saying that the schools who did well today get a lot of money from these guys called buscheros and they get their money from a game called ajugo davicho that people play on the streets of Rio [Music] it's not just portella supporters that seem unhappy that certain Samba schools are being bankrolled by buscheros the newspapers are also making the link with the Carnival's main tourist event the Shadows they put money into the samba parade you know Carnival wouldn't be what it is with in their support what I don't understand is that if you look inside the newspaper three of The busheros Who fund the most successful Samba praise last night have recently been thrown in jail there's no doubt there's a connection between the busheros the illicit jogo de bisho game and some samba schools but why are the busheros so Keen to invest huge sums of money into the samba schools and the parade what's in it for them and why are three being arrested is it due to their involvement in the illegal Jugo Derby show or is there more to it playing the game for myself would be a good place to start but to do that I'm going to need some local knowledge can you take me to play the Jugo to Bishop prohibited okay thank you it's funny that Laro which they find a Hugo to be show player he was a bit nervous about it so I'm going to go and try and find a game on the street and I'm gonna have to film undercover so I'll be wearing my glasses Cam and I'll also be filming for my little bag and Leticia who's going to be my translator will be filming from a secret camera as well all has to be completely Undercover [Music] the bishop [Music] it's private yeah but where is there somewhere no they might can't play anymore well tell her I can play a job at a B shop around here of course you know they don't want to get involved because it's illegal because we can be police looking for it yeah [Applause] around here [Applause] at last some helpful people and with something to go on it doesn't take long to spot what the Brazilians call an upon the door or bookie Laro told me that jogo de B show is a lottery type draw where players bet on a series of numbers associated with animals okay yeah one on the eagle there's a portella yeah is there a horse yeah oh yeah dog and what time is the is the draw at three o'clock and where where is the where is the draw I don't understand right you don't even know where the draw happens little sideways ciao what I found in a punta Dora and I have played you go to B show unfortunately he wasn't happy to talk to me on camera although he would take my bet it's funny Once I knew where to find him it's obvious that all the people that I asked earlier must have known where he was he's right across the street from their stores which just shows you how people feel about this game everyone knows where it is and that it goes on but nobody wants to talk about it with the exception that is of my friend Laro who are these Machado characters ukara why did the Shadows put money into the summer schools okay so what you're saying is it's like a money laundering operation they put they put their illegal money into the samba school and then they get legitimate money back through ticket sales and sponsorship and presumably prize money as well foreign it's finally making sense if Laro is right it seems some of the samba schools and ultimately Carnival's number one tourist attraction could provide a perfect front for money laundering on a massive scale and you only have to flick on any news channel in Brazil to see the true magnitude of the racketeering operation Finger of God has arrested 49 people with links to the jogo de Bishop and seized millions of dollars despite the arrests allegations of money laundering remain unproven and confronting a bushiro is nearly impossible at the moment but through one of our informants who's asked to remain anonymous we've managed to track down someone prepared to talk to us explain to me what your role is in the in the yoga to be sure [Music] how big uh the shadow is your boss so how much can it become one of the the top the Shadows make in a day then it strikes me that they put an awful lot of money back into the carnival as well um I think everybody knows here that a good chunk of the money is coming from these individual patrons who are the head of various booster or networks it's in all the papers it's it's what everybody says on the streets to an outsider it would look like quite a good way of laundering illegal money to put it into a Samba School and then take out the money legitimately as sponsorship and prize money and that kind of thing foreign sounds like a good plan though doesn't it [Laughter] I think I've uncovered as much of this yoga to be show story as I can you know there are layers and layers to this and it's amazing that Danny has said as much as she has and actually I think she probably reveals more by what she won't say as what she will I came here looking for tourist scams what I didn't expect to discover was that the main show everyone comes to Rio for could well be a front for money laundering [Music] before leaving the city I've been invited for dinner with Junior and his family [Music] Junior excellent very nice [Music] foreign [Music] I was going to say bring a wallet full of cash but actually bring two wallets full of cash because you'll probably lose the first one Carnival is the land of opportunity for Rios melandros at one end of the scale you have the street Hustlers looking to trick the tourists [Music] and at the other allegations of gangsters using Carnival to launder their dirty money [Music] landro Spirit symbolizes everything that's good and bad about the city so despite all the scams I'd come back to Rio in a heartbeat even during Carnival [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 1,060,253

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

Id: PfZH9rxyZcc

Length: 48min 8sec (2888 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 03 2023