Scam City: Rome - Gritty Underworld that crawls under its thriving Tourist Scene | 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 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 but I'm discovering a whole new side to Rome a city I thought I knew a city where millions of tourist dollars are up for grabs in a country notorious for its battles with organized crime I'm finding that tourism is part of a huge underground economy run by shadowy figures lurking in the background and they're all fighting over your dollar tooth and Claw my mission began at one of the most iconic of Rome's tourist hot spots where once they threw Christians to the Lions the Colosseum [Music] there's loads of people arriving at the Coliseum this morning I can already see there's lots going on there are Gladiators posing for photos with tourists and there are also people Gathering tourists together and selling them tools to the Coliseum I've been watching them for a little while and they seem to be operating in quite a territorial way people are only really sticking to their own patch I think I'm going to go down there I'm going to get right into the middle of it and see if that's actually what's going on time to open up our box of tricks I'm going to wear this amazing little button camera then there's the director's cute little handbag cam and another director with a Stills camera that also shoots high quality video pictures finally the height of fashion sunglasses cam modeled here by Sandman mckaylee James Bond eat your heart out and it's just seconds before I get a taste of the way tourists can be milked for cash down take a picture that's right come here all right thanks oh yeah okay seems quite expensive 40 euros for a souvenir on my own camera is a ridiculous price there's more to this than meets the eye maybe it's no surprise then but with so many tourist dollars to be snapped up it's not just the local Italians who operate here eating tours yeah come over here yeah I can't talk to you if you're up there because we're a different company so you have to stand back here why is there a line uh there's an invisible line imaginary line yeah that we're not supposed to cross right okay first company works up front and they charge more we work behind and we charge a few Euros left so where's the invisible line and what happens if you cross the line it would just cause problems right so we've learned from experience it seems so territorial it seems a lot of these people are unlicensed by the authorities but clearly there are some sort of rules here I need someone to Spill the Beans yeah you have a camera there I do have a camera it's how much okay [Music] will this hurt I kill you hi which shop is William more silly pictures this time at a more reasonable price but it's information that I really need I'm making a little film about the Coliseum in Rome and uh I want to do maybe an interview with uh with some Gladiators so what he's about I don't want to have a problem with the other people you know so you'd rather meet somewhere private these guys are worried another sign that something not quite right is going on [Music] secret meetings with Gladiators at the back of the Coliseum it's not the kind of thing I expected when I came to Rome ciao Romans hey hey nice quiet spot right ciao how are you ciao good good thank you for coming why all the secrecy oh without one dress that uh that they're centurions look at us when we do those things right they cause you trouble some of them some of them uh it's been a trouble there's been a problem with us yeah what what kind of trouble have you had when you ask somebody to text the picture they are afraid because there is a people here asking a lot of money for the pictures right and also with tourists I mean I think they're going to get yeah yes you're right that's good in the beginning it was a little bit different because uh there was more respect between each other I started with uh with one family I was working for them and they were giving me the uniform and everything and after that there was this guy Franco who ran out uh they didn't want to work for this family anymore so we started to work by himself and all the other centurions started to work by themselves too right so that changed everything yeah it changed a little bit now is a problem because uh everybody do yeah everybody can do whatever they like but imagine if anybody turns up then the person who's already there they must get pretty angry that the new person yeah that's why people are fighting that's why people are fighting all the time are fighting each other yes because those things are happening so if you guys had fights with other Gladiators never never but you look like you take gladiating seriously you've got some serious tattoos there I'm very proud to be a woman I like my culture what does that one mean my signal I'm Lee shell do you say that every morning before you go to work yeah but without work there because I I got to play it's no job I fight [Music] thank you clearly have to be a bit nuts to be a gladiator on the surface obviously it looks quite fun posing with tourists for pictures but there's a much darker side to it as well you know imagine what it's like coming to work every day as Davide says being prepared to fight [Music] so it's true things are a little darker than they seem here in the Eternal City on the surface it looks so insignificant guides scrapping with each other to sell tours and people paying for souvenir photos few Euros here and there who cares but tourists are being fought over with shadowy characters apparently running things and a shady figure called Franco involved none of this is in any of the guidebooks I've read it's all starting to sound like a gangster movie I'm going to check out the Vatican Rome's other big tourist magnet they say if there's anywhere to get robbed in Rome it's here on the number 64 bus affectionately known as the pickpocket Express [Music] so I'm slightly anxious that by the time I get to the Vatican I'll be without my wallet very strange sensation also starting to make me slightly paranoid because everyone I look at is a potential Thief [Music] foreign tact [Music] so here we are the former capital of the Christian World a paradise of classical architecture and some of the most astounding art ever created no wonder up to 20 000 visitors a day flock here to drink in the beauty and wonder of it all but first there's a gauntlet to run watch this I'm going to the museum yeah am I interested in a tour I might be yeah Museum 16 Chapel Basilica the tide around two hours just right not too long not too short and you go straight inside and inside is a 1500 room distance Museum this is a Michelangelo raffle and this is a 6m chapel in fact uh yeah I think so you can just see the farm what we need is a ticket like this it's a popular audio stickers okay we leave straight away and can I see the Pope I heard the pope is here today yeah you can see you can see the pop inside there and how much is it is it including ticket and everything is a 45 Euro 35 Euros right 35 euros and the price is just 40 euros per person that includes the tickets guide and a headset thank you thank you well it caused quite a commotion there that about five or six different companies all trying to sell me tours and the longer that I stayed there for the more they kind of gathered around me and promised me the Earth the price dropped from 45 to 35 Euro and amazingly I have a ticket to meet the Pope now call me a cynic but I'm convinced that these guys would tell me anything to get me to buy a ticket even that I could sit down and have a cup of tea with the Pope and what about these agencies promising me that if I buy their tour it saves me queuing how long are the lines today actually it's maybe one hour or one and a half hours yeah oh the line's pretty big today yeah the lane is really big it's how long will I have to queue if I just go like if you will feel like one hour and a half we skip all the lines right well this is the Vatican Museum I'm going to test this idea that the lines are an hour and a half this morning [Music] there's a massive queue around this corner foreign [Music] no lines zero lines hour and a half don't think so so no cues and I don't think I'm going to be on first name terms with the Pope either deceiving tourists seems to be a recurring theme on my trip to Rome it's supposed to be one of the most romantic places on Earth but according to my Gladiator friend Davida that may not be quite what it seems either first time I've ever waited for a gladiator to get changed I've waited for a few women to get changed yeah never any Gladiators this better be a good day I tried I try to do it the best I'm excited about the car it's a pretty stylish car yes it is yeah you're like one of Rome's tourist attractions yes first there's the Vatican then the Colosseum then your car yeah so where are we going now now we are going to the Prairie Fountain the Trevi Fountain yes okay [Music] this place is uh as you can see it's such a beautiful place this beautiful Fountain the sound of the water no the Italian man you know very romantic [Music] I'm beginning to wonder why David is brought me here people in here they are very good well they come they come here just to pick up girls that professional pickup is the professional pickups how do you be a professional pickup in Rome we say baton but uh okay in Italian is a bird or the parrots why they call the parrot they just say the same things yes of course you have to say the same thing so you think well people come to the Fountain of Trevi looking for Romance and the batoni are here to give it to them are they yes between them there is a kind of competition you know one point is when you you go with one girl and you you do it you have sex yes so if you have sex with a girl you got one point yes I'll find you hold hands no no no no no no no that's fine it's still something serious is that fine too I don't know kissing more and more more than kissing more but not okay we don't I know what you mean okay yeah is that not I don't know it seems a bit seedy a bit kind of creepy it's a little bit sad about it it's a bit sad it is sad but there are people who are looking for sex just for one night you know it happened to me that I was falling in love for somebody and they said to me they just wanted you for sex yeah it's one night it was enough so I mean I don't know in Ireland you you pick up girls in parks in Allen we pick up girls off the floor in pubs we put them in taxis and send them home yeah ever since I've been in Rome I've been watching tourists getting scammed it's time to turn the tables this is Paris she's agreed to be bait to trap our very own Bitoni so we rigged Paris up with a microphone okay so you're here on your holidays are you here with your boyfriend yeah no you don't have a boyfriend no no you're here with some friends maybe they're not arriving until tomorrow okay we've got a clear cover story so that you're ripe for anyone to ask out on a date tonight okay nervous a little bit Yeah okay well don't worry we'll be watching the whole time watching and listening I'll be right there the crew are all going to be right there we're going to know exactly what's going on but we're all in this together okay okay let's go catch up for Tony okay that's good okay cool foreign [Music] definitely approached her the guy pretending to be on his phone but he's just sidled up to her in the least subtle way imaginable oh he's gone in he's gone in here Australia what do you think is a romantic uh oh my God he's used the Romantic word he's been there for all of a minute do you think it's romantic Paris oh it's called Manuel I'm just going for a bit of some drinks with my friends girlfriend [Music] and established she doesn't have a boyfriend very good [Music] oh my name is [Music] well she's got his phone number but I think it'd be really funny if when she calls to set up that date it's me that turns up and not her nice to meet you I'll see you later if you want to okay bye have a good time for you and your friends I will definitely thank you bye foreign [Music] it's time to catch our bird well I'm off to crash paris's date and see what Young Manuel has to say for himself [Music] I know I said also my friend okay friends yeah it's your friend called Paris yeah yeah who are you you're still here I know Paris I know Paris she can't she can't make it yeah but why are you still here I come instead yeah yeah all right I'm your I'm your date ah and one is Connor ah sorry so how about you I'm good this movie is maybe it's a bit strange for you she's not my girlfriend I'm not girlfriend she's not my girlfriend I um was watching you while you were talking with Paris earlier are you what they call a batoni yeah is um yeah you speak to lots of girls um yes yeah I think so CCC I know like you speak for Italian girls you don't like Italian girls no it's a stupid mentality what about British girls um [Music] American Girls American uh okay German girls Germany is good German is good yeah yeah I prefer Russian for elegant bathroom is yeah romantic is it good for Farm a good face for me it's a number one to the world right how many uh girlfriends have you had this year uh I don't know I don't remember you can't remember uh one more than five one zero zero zero milk oh ever yeah one thousand girls you think you maybe have commitment issues [Laughter] a typical Italian yeah salute them for the girl Cheers Cheers it's pretty harmless stuff but there's no escaping the feeling that there are people in this city who exploit tourists as a commodity next morning I'm heading back to the Vatican there's something not quite right going on here so far I feel I've only scratched the surface I'm not a tour guide I'm I'm gather I'm working for that tour company you're a I'm gatherer you know a gatherer gatherer I'm working for the tour company so you just bring people to the tour guide and then see okay right right that's interesting it seems to be lots of different companies here it's quite it seems to be quite competitive like already the other guy kind of tried to sell me a different tour and again these all the same tours but it's different companies okay we've got some other company they don't have the legal contract they don't have legal rights okay right they're trick you know they trigger the tour guide they would be official game but they are not right so there's lots lots of Tricks oh yeah yeah yeah unfortunately he won't tell me anymore but he does give me a lead and then I said I said well you know is there an agency that I could talk to and he said it was James Gypsy James I said okay and he said oh Steve and I said right okay what agency they have an agency that he said yeah they're called RTS necessary what are they called we said RTS agency [Music] well this is the RTS agency up here who I've been told might be prepared to talk to me and give me the Inside Story on what on Earth was going on with all of those tabs selling tours around the Vatican [Music] but I'm not sure how they're going to react to us turning up on their doorstep with cameras so I'm going to film with my button camera again hi this is uh RTS yes it is hi my name is Connor hi Steve hi are you the boss uh one of them good good um listen I'm making a film in Rome about scams and I've been hanging around down at the Vatican I've seen a lot of the stuff that's going on down there with guys handing out leaflets for tours and stuff yeah and someone said that you might be a good person for me to talk to to get a bit of an inside track into what's really going on down there whoever you spoke to I mean most likely they brought us up is because uh you know at this agency we've been really outspoken yeah all around town about the fact that we think that what goes on down here is really kind of gotten quite crazy because people that people don't really want to talk about it down there because you know people yeah you're going to encounter a lot of resistance because nobody's going to want to say well yeah you know I'm here scamming people so the thing is I need someone to take me down there and show me exactly what's going on would you be prepared to do that I'd be happy to speak about it probably would be very difficult for you to I'm darn near impossible to film it actually going on well I'd always be alarmed but if I told you I was filming you right now I would that would be pretty crazy how you doing that I'm carrying a camera I don't see a camera no that's the idea that's the idea I'm filming you secretly I'm actually I'm actually wearing a camera on my shirt here it's just behind this little button just like you see in the secret agent movies just like you see in the spot movies that's right but just stick that down through your shirt all right and then catch it at that end and stick that bit and you see a pocket Steve understands how business works here maybe he can get them to open up to me yeah let's take a look at how that's coming out okay looking good Connor yeah James there you go Steve and his business partner James set up a licensed travel agency three years ago unlike many of the agencies working the streets here their tours are officially accredited by the city of Rome who are probably not aware of the total extent of what's happening on the streets you know if I buy the ticket for the tour I might am I going to see my Hit List am I going to see the Basilica or am I going to see this is not unnecessarily if you're a gatherer uh selling here on the street you'll save pretty much anything oh yes you see the Basilica the Vatican Gardens and you get to have tea with the Pope at the end I mean they'll really go as far as uh as they can with that and I hear all kinds of things when I'm down here from people I challenge Steve to put his theory to the test with one of the many gatherers out here but with us I will know the right points to go when you go by yourself you can round and round walk seven kilometers maybe don't find the bright points maybe you don't know what you're seeing because it's very restorative things very pictures Arts stay tuned the Vatican Gardens the Vatican Gardens Madison Gardens we definitely see the Vatican Gardens what we see the Vatican Gardens the Vatican Gardens that's a completely separate visit you can't visit that by going to the museum do you have to book that uh that was just a lie yeah we definitely see the Vatican Gardens too with the paintings oh cool and it says Raphael rooms chances of you actually going there are probably about one in five most of the agencies don't go there but everything is included do they rely then on tourists actually asking I want to see the Raphael rooms I want to see the Vatican art room well they rely on 90 of people not knowing no no I mean they know knowing this right so if you know the Sistine Chapel then then you've come to see the yes you've come to see this you see that every time just show me where I can see this oh well yeah there it is it's on a picture and so that's really the well that isn't it he's lying isn't that kind of like you know aren't tourists asking for this if really they don't care about anything other than the yeah I mean that's that's one of the problems is that people spend the money and time to get all the way over here from all over the world why bother just coming to see the one painting that you know I mean it wouldn't be nice to learn something especially if you're taking a tour but because there's no demand for it or very little demand for it uh what you find is you know people just trying to sell quickly get you through skip the line and and uh and that's it so there's no shortage of people ready to take advantage of visitors lunchtime and in the middle of one of the world's biggest tour tourist spots there's a restaurant with a free table too good to be true perfect table with our name on it there are no menus on offer but we stick to the basics it shouldn't set us back more than 20 euros or so two small fresh orange juice you wanna one one lasagna and one cannelloni so lovely thank you fresh orange juice well that's nice that's just what I need more than expensive sandwiches I mean it's very cheap and Switzerland compared to this you know yeah okay well it's got a fresh slice of orange in the top of it what do you think I don't think that's special ways at all it's had some bits added to it yeah yeah to make it seem like it's fresh now your cannellonia most definitely Frozen the question will be is the middle warm or not mine's all kinds of different temperatures I'm not really enjoying my cannelloni yeah should we get the bill yeah yeah sorry can we have the uh the the developers in English so in total total 24. 40 48 okay okay 48 Euro that's a lot of money man where did that come from man we have been scammed more than double what we expected to pay next time I'll ask for a menu but as a tourist you know what what are you going to do at this point I think I guess as a tourist is you're never going to come here again you're only in Rome for a day or two and that's what they've count on they count that you're just gonna go and never come back they don't need to return business I mean they're like trapped to a spider they sit there wait for you and they come and they get you right when you come up close to the Rock okay let's get going I'm going to take my free sweets I'm gonna take all my fresh sweets after I paid 40 Euro for them goodbye and so clutching my 65 Candy it's back onto the streets where Steve catches up on the daily battle his gatherer's face for the chance to pitch to tourists yeah come on come here come on come on hey what's going on today anyway because we wanted to take position again you know someone came into our bus to fight them and then three fights yeah Steve's managed to get one of the gatherers he knows to open up about just why the fight for Turf is so intense in a day in the day when they are seasoned they're making like three thousand four thousand each agents yeah of course that's a lot of money so how much can a gatherer make in a day now you're making if you're good you're making like 200 Euros 200 Euros a day okay but you could make a thousand Euro in a week yeah and is it worth it for the money for now no honestly I don't like it anymore a lot of problems what does what does the mafia mean you know is uh he's a one person controlled every single zone right you can do whatever you want you got something at the Colosseum something at the Vatican maybe some other stuff come here right here so it's as I suspected it may look like a bunch of random chances fighting over a fistful of Euros but with 12 million visitors a year coming to Rome the sums involved could be enormous and with that kind of cash involved then maybe there are shady figures at work controlling the scamming of tourists we found ourselves kind of backed into a corner because you know we didn't have big guys we didn't have intimidation we didn't have claims to Mafia connections and so on as some of the people who came down here did the one that uh that obviously has I've had the most problems with uh is Franco and that's a name you'll hear a lot the the ex Gladiator crew from the Coliseum has kind of made their inroads here at the Vatican over the last two years or so he's Italian he is yes he's Italian it's become very uh you know aggressive in order to be able to kind of hold a good area there's that name Franco again the guy Davide said was involved at the Coliseum there's obviously more to learn here Steve says the most fought over territory at the Vatican is back at the taxi rank I've decided to go undercover to see if I can flush out whoever is pulling the strings are you interested in going around the Sistine Chapel today we've got a really good guide and the best thing is there's absolutely no cues hi are you interested in seeing the same chapel today thank you hi guys you interested in a guided tour to the Sistine Chapel today sorry if you don't have tickets back you don't have to work in front of us understand you don't have to jump in front of us try to stay in front of me I'll be trouble with you we don't have to go in front if you go in front they get angry they start fighting us you understand what I mean okay well someone so who's in front of us don't go in front of us because we are also working you don't have to stay in front of us we don't want to work you stay away we are in the same line but you don't have to go in front of us so just stand the line just in a line like this all right let's see hi guys can I can I um do you want to guide a tour of the Sistine Chapel today but come down there I'm very calm I'm very calm I respect to everyone here I'm just trying to get people to come on tours like you are yeah anyone they speak with people yeah they don't want to go but I went first to those people I went first to those people yeah I was talking to them first in front of me I don't want to have any trouble with you stay right where you are stay behind us and if the people coming to write your direction but you can't go in front of it so when those people they were coming in my direction you stood in front of me before you still got in front of me because I told you to stay in the line you refuse to do that didn't you come and stand in front of me of course because if you go in front of I'll cross you I'll never let so if we both stand in front of each other we don't get any business okay if you want to do that I can do that with you yeah you understand what I mean [Music] foreign it's pretty intense intimidation there's no sign of any big bosses here but it's clear that anyone who crosses the line is in for a hard time and no one knows that better than Steve's partner James so thanks for meeting me what kind of threats have people in the past made they've told me that they're going to follow me home they've told me that they're gonna you know they know where I live they they're going to come burn down the office a couple of months ago I had five Cubans here threatening me right in front of the doors here you know thank God I was with one of the guides who who was a little bigger and a little uh Stronger Than I am and he managed to resolve the situation but there's been so many it's all kind of merged into one big sense it sounds terrible yeah it makes me feel angry in a way because I was you know one of the one of the first two actually begin this work and and now it's it's hard to make a living you know it's hard to live it's hard to you know have a son and you know I have to I have to do what it takes to keep going you know this really is more than just hustling tourists out of their spending money there's a hardcore element to this that surely the police must know about are there certain individuals who control what is going on down there or are they just individuals working alone is and I'll be talking together about a lot of money all right another other individuals that you that you know about that you're investigating now um have you ever heard the name Franca in English they say all roads lead to Rome but all my roads seem to lead to Franco everything points to him being the main man it's time to go undercover again to get up close to him outside the Metro here that serves the Vatican and Saint Peters it's the place that Franco's boys often operate so things might get a little bit tense let's start recording us against the basket Sistine Chapel good morning guys you go to the uh it's not long before I'm noticed oh yeah no English I'll see foreign companies have different positions so all this part here is our position to the other company that's the reason I'm just just going where I'm told to go so they told me to come and and together here look yeah but you know I mean I'm in a difficult position you know yeah yeah okay if you don't want to have a problem he came here just to tell you how do you mean what you mean what's your main problems at this point they put a call through to James at the RTS agency the games then the guy leaves hopefully never to return but unknown to me across the road in the crew car we're about to get a warning there's a call from the RTS office hey James hey okay we'll pull Connor out we'll pull Connor out now okay okay okay we have to pull Conor out some big guys turned up at James's office and then my friend returns no no no no no give me back up here give me back my badge okay can I have my badge follow me no I don't want to go to the office thank you if you give it about my badge okay okay can you follow me to your office no I don't wanna fight follow people I don't know into places foreign I presume he was a heavy I mean he was the the big guy that then turned up and he was in my face and saying he took my battery to my badge off me and then he made a he made a call and it just it was all like you I need to get out of here well after that call that he made his his boss called me because you know he has my number he's been around here several times and and he doesn't he doesn't want anybody to interfere with his area you know and it's it's ridiculous do you know his boss yeah I know Franco very well yeah he's been around here several times usually to you know um you know threatened me or blame me for something that doesn't go right in his company this is this is the call here and that's the guy that owns the agency which is he's the man that owns the uh the agencies what you call the Gladiators that's Franco's business yeah yeah what do you think Franco is going to say to you if you hadn't missed the call I mean he would have he would have told me to to remove my you know my promoters from from his area that's what he would have said fine at last I'm just a phone call away from the almost mythical Franco foreign what do you think most what do you think tourists would make of this if they knew this kind of seedy underbelly that was kind of happening around the place they would be I'm disgusted I mean it really is secret you know it's it's not a something that's that people can see so as long as it looks lovely on the surface I mean just just like literally everything looks beautiful everybody's distracted by the beauty of the of the city they don't actually understand what what exactly is going on you know and what's going on is not beautiful exactly there's the you know there's the Dark heart of Italy let's see [Music] it looks like I might have Tracked Down Franco who I've been told runs a business using threats and intimidation to secure access to the best territory and the most tourists foreign he's agreed to meet me just for a chat hasn't decided yet whether he's happy to talk on camera because I've heard his name so many times he's become a bit of a bogeyman figure here in Rome so I'm a bit nervous and quite know what to expect just as we arrive Franco pulls up in his Porsche a powerful confident looking man he speaks eloquently about what it takes to survive on the streets of Rome but he refuses to let us use any interview unless control of the film is handed over to him and that's a price too high to pay [Music] but he did confirm that he did some time in prison before he became a gladiator since then he's denied that he has an agency at the Vatican but he did say some interesting things about territory and turf he said that he would fight tooth and nail to defend his territory and that until there was legislation regulations controlling the use of territory then that was the only way that you could do business here in Rome I'm not sure I can believe everything Franco's told me about working at the Vatican but his eloquence about fighting for territory Sans disturbingly genuine the trail I followed started with people hassling tourists into parting with a handful of cash and it's led me to an aggressive organized Enterprise worth millions of dollars for visitors the beauty of this city is irresistible but they might want to remember that they have an irresistible Allure all of their own in their wallets but hey perhaps it would be naive to think this much Beauty would come without a price tag [Music] [Music] foreign

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 276,986

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

Id: VJ08wP0VbJY

Length: 48min 17sec (2897 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 14 2023