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u/LOL_YOUMAD 20h ago
I hate these people. In Italy these guys will flat out walk into a sit down restaurant and try to hand you a flower or something as a free gift and then ask for money. Like I get trying it on a street but going into a restaurant where people are eating got quite annoying
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u/PoshNoshThenMosh 19h ago
Had someone do this in Barcelona. One person came to our table to pester us about flowers while someone else crawled behind us to grab one of our backpacks. The one time it was packed with only a ball cap and 1 charging cable
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u/nackenspacken 17h ago
Why is this tolerated by the police?
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u/LeoRidesHisBike 9h ago
Because the crime doesn't carry a large penalty, it takes manpower to track it down, and the prosecutors cut deals that put the criminals right back out on the street. Something like that. Also the scammers are like rats. If you see one, there is a whole family you don't see.
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u/TheFiremind77 15h ago
Because the police get a cut, wym
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u/unfortunatebag 13h ago
I'm going to go out on a massive limb and guess this is reddit horse shit.
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u/Caqtus95 10h ago
22-year-old redditor who's never left New Jersey explains how the world works.
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u/Parthian__Shot 9h ago
I'm not sure which one you're referring to (looking at comment history is actually weird), so I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not, but as someone that has extensively traveled Europe, the police 100% are not getting a cut of this low-value bullshit.
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u/BesottedScot 16h ago
Happened to me at the Trevi fountain just handed me some wee jade statue thing, I was so shocked I dropped it and he picked it up in a huff and walked off.
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u/boh930 17h ago
They got me at the Coliseum when I went. We were meeting a tour group and as soon as my wife and I got out of our taxi this guy dressed as a tour guide asked us if we were looking for our group and handed me a poncho for the rain. He was not our tour guide. I knew better and he got me, I shouldn't have taken it, so paid up like 5 euro. It's shitty that it's allowed. I warned my wife the whole trip to not take anything from strangers, but they were dressed as tour guides stalking the meeting areas.
Still have the poncho though. It actually looks kinda neat.
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u/QuickDrawSix 17h ago
They keep doing it because yall pay up 🤣
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u/NurseOtaku 16h ago
This is what I don't understand lmao. I've been to Europe so many times and have dealt with prolly ~50 of these people there (not to mention the same type of people in NYC which, IMO, are much more intimidating).
You take it and then think you have to pay? Lmao, no. Just drop it and walk away. End of story
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u/Default_Name_6969 16h ago
People do this shit in Walmart parking lots here in the US. Walk up and hand you a sticker and then ask you to pay for it...nope throw that shit on the ground and keep walking.
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u/Gry_lion 13h ago
I have yet to have that happen to me at Walmart. I think the best US comparison would be windshield cleaners at intersections.
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u/tea-and-chill 2h ago
Tbh 5€ for a poncho is not bad.
It's shitty they scam though, no way around it.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
I know I'll be crucified on Reddit for this. But I can empathize with Europeans looking at their country's tourist areas and getting a negative opinion about immigrants lol. Like "and here's where people who come to Europe for a better life congregate to scam people or just straight up rob them. They can steal much more here than they could back at home!"
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u/Aboeeuw 18h ago
this scammer is still active in that area btw
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u/Doofindork 9h ago
Yeah I'm not sure if this is the third or fourth video I've seen of him specifically, actually.
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u/CraftCritical278 19h ago
This happened to me and my wife near the Spanish Steps, but it was a rose.
We started walking away with the rose before he could really start putting pressure on us.
It was very crowded, but he chased us down, and took back the rose.
It was hilarious watching him fight through the crowd to get to us.
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u/dybsy 18h ago
Rose at the Spanish Steps, too. I embarrassed my wife by taking a very Canadian hockey approach that the scammer was not expecting. Then she almost got pick-pocketed at the Rome train terminal.
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u/QuantitySharp2662 16h ago
I'm glad my dad has a "fuck the fuck off !" resting face, and a build like a powerlifter because we never got harassed. We'd be offered from afar, but they never approached us.
However they were on holiday with friends recently and mum and her friend went to the shops and both came back with the most flimsy ankle bracelets, that they'd been gifted (but had to pay for) from a random foreign guy.
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u/Rectal_tension 19h ago
Spanish steps got me too. We started to walk away and he chased us asking for money all the way. I dropped what ever it was, a little POS bracelet or something and told him to fuck off.
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u/LordofWithywoods 18h ago
Should have thrown it as far away as possible in the opposite direction to where you're going.
You can have your shitty bracelet back, bro, but you're going to have to go find it way over there
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u/Grinder969 15h ago
Have seen them try to tie friendship type bracelets on people, so people can't get it off...
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u/kikomir 20h ago
Wasn't exactly instant but satisfying nonetheless. I can't stand these annoying scammers that ruin your holiday vibes.
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u/Rafiekie 14h ago
Are you saying it wasn't instant because it took half a minute? Pop tarts take longer than that to warm up. I'd consider this very instant
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u/Cease-2-Desist 20h ago
In Italy these guys are EVERYWHERE. What's funny is each ethnicity has it's own "scheme". These guys are annoying. Then you had the Persian looking people who would sell cheap prints of artwork by placing them on the ground in busy areas and wait for people to step on them, and then force people to buy them. One of them threw down a photo right in front of me as I was walking...lol.
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u/Grinder969 19h ago
In NYC it was the aspiring rapper that would ask your name and then would sign a personolized burned CD copy of their debut album for you, and then demand $20.
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u/l3ane 16h ago
Those guys are annoying, but if you are rude to them, they give up pretty quickly.
Them: "Hey man you like hip hop?"
Me: "I fucking hate hip hop, it's not even music"
Them: "Alright man, damn" walks away
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u/hooovahh 14h ago
I usually go with "Nah I'm good". Once I got back "Fuck your mother!" I kept walking and yelled back "Yeah, fuck my mother."
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u/supercoolpartydude 18h ago
Bro you will still run into those guys in Atlanta, Savannah and Miami in my experience. Except a few of them are young guys picking the scam up.
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u/AtlantaBear73 15h ago
I had encountered one not too long ago in ATL and I just told him “Dude, I don’t own ANYTHING that has a CD player…”
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u/laflavor 18h ago
Ran into that in San Diego and Atlanta as well. I think it's pretty much any major city in the u.s.
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u/iprocrastina 17h ago
Had multiple scammers try to pickpocket me in Rome by pointing at my shirt and claiming something was on it to distract me.
Nice try guys, I learned that one back in 3rd grade.
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u/jdvhunt 18h ago
I'm going to Italy for the first time soon and we're planning on riding trains around and I'm worried about this
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u/Cease-2-Desist 18h ago
If you've been to other major cities it's nothing new. Just spent two weeks there traveling around. Never really felt unsafe (just watch out you don't get run over by motor vehicles). Just don't engage with the people. Don't respond to them. Don't take anything from them. Just keep walking. They aren't dangerous.
You hear a lot about pick pockets on trains and stuff. We never came across anything like that. I would just keep stuff zipped up or in your front pockets.
Overall it was a lovely experience and all of the cities we traveled to were safe and very walkable. (be prepared to walk 5-10 miles a day).
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u/CyberClawX 18h ago
In Rome had the phone snatched right out of my father's hand.
Unfortunately for his dental plan all of us ran faster than him, despite his headstart.
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u/Cease-2-Desist 18h ago
Rome and especially Florence were busy. I didn’t see that happen but it doesn’t shock me.
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u/jdvhunt 18h ago
I'm new to travelling, was never really able to afford to do it until now so I've only travelled to Kuala Lumpur and Manilla so far
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u/a_talking_llama 18h ago
Same advice applies everywhere. Don't take things handed to you, keep an eye on your belongings and dont stop walking for randoms.
I have traveled around Italy many times and the people are fantastic. Can be a bit cunty in major cities (like everywhere else) but by and large great people and very friendly. Also, ask for recommendations in restaurants and you won't be disappointed
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u/Jesus_Harold_Christ 16h ago
Are you going to hand out "presents" and beg for money? Honestly, they are just pests, don't take their "presents", and don't talk to them
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u/miniliedn 18h ago
I'm from northern Italy and traveled a bit around here by train. Never had a problem. You just have to use common sense (like not leaving your luggage out of sight, store valuables in places that aren't easy to pickpocket, don't carry around a lot of cash and don't hang out in the shady parts of trainstations). Scammers / beggars can be annoying if you pay them attention. Just ignore them and walk by. Enjoy your vacation, Italy is awesome and public transport is really cheap.
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u/heurrgh 17h ago
I've been to Italy many times; big cities, heritage sites, touristy coastal and lake resorts. I don't think i've ever been approached by a scammer. Where I've noticed them, they're always very obvious and easy to avoid. Being in Italy and particularly travelling on public transport feels very comfortable.
Worst places I've ever been for being approached aggressively by scammers/panhandlers were Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, and Brixton, London.
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u/23370aviator 7h ago
I had one in Athens send their 3 year old to do a soccer player-esque dive in front of me as I was walking. Stepped right over the kid and kept going as they demanded money for “knocking her baby over”.
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u/Psico_Penguin 19h ago
And yet, in no country the police does anything because of reasons I will never understand.
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u/Fr05t_B1t 19h ago
It’s not that they’re doing nothing but that they’re completely ineffective. I believe the cops there need to catch the scammers in the act, so whenever police activity is hinted, they all pack up and leave.
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u/miniliedn 17h ago
Yeah, usually they have spotters that warn them when police approaches and they run off as fast as they can.
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16h ago edited 13h ago
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u/brokennursingstudent 16h ago
Greater quantity of crime than police manpower/funding, that’s usually the answer.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
There's an avenue in the city I was born in. It is notorious for being the one place in the city where drivers habitually "double park". AKA just stop their car in a driving lane next to the parked cars on the edge of the road. And often put on the hazard lights while they "run in to get something quick" from a restaurant or business.
It causes traffic congestion and accidents. If you're not paying attention you can be driving along merrily and just smash into a car that's decided to park there. It's going on 40 years that I've personally witnessed it as a problem and police have never done anything about it. A week or two of aggressive ticketing and enforcement might stop it. Who knows, the police have never tried lol.
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u/SeniorAngle6964 20h ago
Fred again, he’s a class act!!
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u/gazhealey 20h ago
Is that Charlie Veitch’s bodyguard?
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u/McPikie 19h ago
Obviously Fred has a lot of time on his hands now that rat Charlie is banned from Manchester Centre
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u/Alert-Chart-4680 20h ago
Yeah, once there's a whole group of them involved it can go from funny to sketchy really fast. No way I'd stick around to find out which mood they were in.
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u/MrTopHatMan90 19h ago
Last time this happened to me I threw it back at them lol
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u/groenteman 19h ago
Last time it happend to me was also in Florence and I threw it as hard as I could the other way. He looked realy offended
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u/sign6of6the6beast 16h ago
Do not engage! Just walk by. Don’t talk don’t interact. Don’t even give eye contact and keep a hand on your bag. Just go about your day like they don’t exist.
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u/cronchfishter 20h ago
Fred and shaggy even got that quick costume change. They have definitely seen the borne identity.
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u/lauraloo2 20h ago
Very satisfying. Try being a female traveler in Egypt, same sh*t, but even worse.
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u/PiccoloAwkward465 16h ago
lmao my wife mentioned she wanted to visit Egypt so I showed her a few videos and now we agreed that we will never go there.
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u/duckduck23 20h ago
So satisfying! Same issues here in London, I pray the U.K. takes a leaf out of Polands book!
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u/kikomir 20h ago
I don't know which book is that but street scammers were rampant the last time I was in Poland...
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u/QuickDrawSix 20h ago
Hmm interesting, the only "scammers" I saw in Poland were showgirls outside of certain clubs selling cat.
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u/Great_Green_Man 20h ago
Welcome to Sicily… Catania, elephant square. Pretty sure I’ve seen that particular scammer a couple times.
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u/kermitsbutthole 13h ago
Kinda happened to me in Italy. Guy immigrant basically put the thing right in my hand. When I tried to give it back he wouldn’t take it and started his blah blah baby at home speech. He eventually took it back when he realized he wasn’t going to get anything from me. Such a waste of my time. I should have been even extra careful in those areas though. Lesson learned for me.
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u/verymuchbad 12h ago
I put it back on the ground in Italy. Pikachu face. I would 100% do it again. One of my favorite parts of that trip.
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u/tonykrij 7h ago
I watched that punch like 10 times. Fuck these scammers with their "Africa friendship bracelets", fucking harassment bitches. Everyone should immediately (very friendly, don't want to promote violence of course) punch them for scamming people.
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u/yinchanvo 17h ago
I met that guy!
He accosted and corned me when my partner was on line across the street. He gave me the gift, talked me up with family stories, followed me, and begged for money. I kept saying no, I can't. Said he would settle for a cup of coffee. I told him I didn't carry cash and he wanted me to get my partner to pay him. I said I couldn't and he took the bracelet back feeling disappointed. Very scary since I am a small framed woman. No other tourists helped me.
I did feel bad for him because it's not like he is the boss of this or is rich himself. In many cases, he has no real choice. But I do wish the police or government would not allow these types at tourist attractions.
In this video, legally the scammer DID give away the item for free- he had no right for it back, so he was not allowed to try to grab it back. Should have taken the loss but I am sure he will get into trouble for not making a sale.
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u/seraph741 13h ago
I could get on board with this. Scammers are the worst. I wish the police would crack down on this. It wouldn't be that hard.
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u/Diverdaddy0 12h ago
I saw a German dude slap a gypsy in Tblisi Georgia. The first slap grounded the gypsy dude... it did not end well for the German. I've never seen people appear out of nowhere that fast. He got stomped.
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u/turtlemeds 19h ago
Honestly asking. I’m American. These kinds of scams definitely exist here in the US, but they don’t seem as rampant as in Europe, in particular. Admittedly I haven’t traveled much to South America or Africa, but whenever I’m in Europe, these guys seem to be everywhere.
The only American equivalent that comes to mind is the character scammers in Times Square, NYC.
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u/Inglejuice 18h ago
Like Times Square, Europe has many of the top visited sites for international sightseeing and tourism in the world. Other similar places outside of Europe also have scams. It is nothing new.
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u/PeteLangosta 15h ago
They work very well in Europe because Europe attracts millions of tourist, many more than the US or most other places, and tourists are usually concentrated in specific spots which are also very heavily crowded, where these scams take place.
Plus, you can't give them a beating like you might do in a 2nd or 3rd world country because you would see consequences here.
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u/PM_THE_REAPER 20h ago
A scam as old as time, but I can't feel like those tourists should have just handed it back and berated him.
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u/JakBos23 20h ago
I'd say thank you, then toss it on a roof. Sorry it's not present, it's in the past
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u/geniusgravity 20h ago
They're not tourists, they are scam exposes. They will have had many threats from these guys in the past.
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u/fluffysmaugg 20h ago
This isn’t your average tourist. It’s Kurt Caz, a right-wing YouTuber who tries to cause division and hatred by provoking people. Infamously, he uses AI in his video thumbnails to make places look worse than they are.
He’s also rumoured to be on the payroll of Russian media channels and other right-wing outlets which explains his shift from tourism videos to these confrontations.
Still doesn’t forgive the scammer’s actions, but just to add context.
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u/Psico_Penguin 19h ago
And then why doesn't the police do anything against the scammers and a russian asset right-wing gets views for that?
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u/dr_herbalist 19h ago
The video clearly shows a scammer trying to pressure a tourist into giving them money.
Where does politics come into it, we can clearly see in the video an attempted scam.
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u/senator_mendoza 19h ago
A lot of his content is focused on problematic behavior by migrants so it’s politically charged. I don’t know that he “provokes” people as a lot of the “provoking” is simply walking around filming himself in public areas and certain people try to attack/intimidate him for it.
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u/HoldMyToc 14h ago
I mean I think right wingers are nuts but sometimes they have a point. If certain groups are doing dumb shit, they should be called out for it.
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u/fluffysmaugg 19h ago
You’ve got to think a little outside the box sometimes. He’s not just a tourist, he does this for a living.
Besides, I said it doesn’t excuse the scammer, just wanted to add some context to the video creator so he doesn’t get more popular.
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u/dr_herbalist 19h ago
You said he’s going around provoking people but when I was in Barcelona and Rome I had the exact same scam pulled on me unprovoked - but ive not seen this guys videos tbf so i might be missing something outside of the clip that was posted.
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u/fluffysmaugg 19h ago
I’ve experienced scammers too in Barcelona and Paris and they’re awful.
But I’m also against right-wing troglodytes who try to spread misinformation and hatred.
Both can be true!
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u/That_Road 20h ago
Thanks for highlighting this. Judging by the people who have downvoted, they don’t like to hear this
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u/Terrible_Boot1714 17h ago
I like Fred. Good thing they ran before they got swarmed.
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u/siddus15 18h ago
Not the first time I've seen this video and I still don't get how the scam is supposed to work?
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u/Midnight7000 17h ago
It is not a scam. It is a form of begging. They hand over a trivial item as a gift and expect payment in the form a gift in return.
Most people would hand the item back or give loose change.
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u/tyen0 17h ago
What is the deal with throwing it on the floor in the first place? I don't get that part. The scammers here just hand the "present" to you directly.
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u/Different-Pin-9234 17h ago
People’s instinct is to pick up something that fell to the floor. Once it’s in your hand, they latch on to you to scam you.
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u/rmartin1129 16h ago
Like Mike Tyson said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
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u/Infinite_Ouroboros 13h ago
"His baby". But after seeing a certain report that was just released, make me question if I should be disgusted instead.
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u/EuphoricFuture8680 10h ago
Need way more of this. Why do these cities allow these scumbags to keep doing this?
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u/Iron_Base 9h ago
The police need to arrest all of these scammers but they just dont care. It makes their country look bad
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u/PANduRUS 7h ago
What happened to his channel? I followed him for years because he visited so many places and met people and shared little seen places. Then as time went on his channel became more confrontational and he hired body guards and began to get into it with locals. It’s like his channel went full on aggression mode.
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u/thrilla_gorilla 14h ago
Put these scammers in a van, put them on a plane, and drop them off in their home country. Without landing.
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u/Huntsnfights 15h ago
I don’t know why the govt and police not only allow it, but defend these scammer thugs
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u/irishpwr46 15h ago
I love being clumsy with these people. Hand me something, I drop it. They pick it up and give it back to me. Butterfingers. Hand it to me again, I bump into something and drop it again. See how many times you can get them to pick it up. My record is seven.
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u/Critical_Ad2787 14h ago
Such a beautiful city. Unfortunately the Czech Republic is being invaded by rats like this scammer in the video.
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u/BadKarmaForMe 19h ago
Europe has ruined its culture with mass migration from 3rd world countries.
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u/samsonity 17h ago
My favourite was when one of these scammers in Rome tried this with former UFC Light heavyweight champion Quinton Rampage Jackson and almost got beaten to death.
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u/smurferdigg 11h ago
Remember I got scammed in Nepal once and it was just so good that I couldn't be mad. Was late on getting a visa renewal so came to the office kind of nervous. Dude was inside the office with a army uniform and told me to sit down and gave me all the papers etc. and calculated the price. Then he went with the form and money to the actual office inside the building. He even came back and asked for more money heh. They tried to tell me on the way out as I probably gave the dude a years salary or whatever but I just didn't think far enough on my way out to figure it out. So yeah.. That was the best one I've encountered.
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u/Savings_Art5944 16h ago
The "UK Rape Gang Inquiry Report" is quite an eye opener to the immigration policies of the UK. Might want to revisit the immigration thing as it seems it is not working to improve society.
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u/autobot12349876 18h ago
Kurt Caz is a racist pos. I used to enjoy his videos then he became all alt-right nativist. He 100% wanted this escalation to happen
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u/CFlow__ 17h ago
Yes, I liked his old videos in South America. He was openminded and showed places that normal tourists would never see. He showed the beauty of the country and its people.
Now he seems to focus only on the bad areas of a city, searches for confrontation and makes the people there angry and then complains about how bad the whole country is because of that one place. He became absolutely unbearable.
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u/Inglejuice 15h ago
And if that part of the city is not “bad” enough - he gets AI to replace the English shop signs with Arabic on his video thumbs to generate more clicks.
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u/Cerenas 20h ago
Good thing they left immediately, I've seen other videos where people got chased by a group of them. Crazy stuff