Cpatterson: How awful! But you are so right about being aware of your surroundings at all times.

We felt perfectly safe in Budapest, the Czech Republic and Slovakia last year. A big reason for this was the four months I spent reading this board
before our trip where I read about all the scams and got many valuable tips on how to stay safe.

IMHO, the best thing a traveler can do is to stay informed by reading travel sites/magazines and keeping up on the news in the places they plan to visit.

In Provence, you won't need to worry much. Just don't leave anything valuable in your car around prime sightseeing attractions, and be careful around ATMs in large cities such as Nice, where gypsy gangs congregate. It's safest to go inside to find an ATM wherever possible, and of course stow your money safely away before leaving the building.

I would mention that the same scam is used in Paris, in the Pigalle area. I don't know if they actually send attractive "recruiters" in the streets to lure the unsuspecting and horny victims (the attractive "baits" will be inside, anyway). But I know they sometimes rely on unscrupulous taxi drivers "recommanding" the place (and getting a nice commission).


Foreign tourists are good targets since they're much less likely to report to the police.


By the way forcefully bringing you to an ATM (especially at gun point!) is certainly a crime, but charging you a ludicrously high price for beverages shared with attractive women probably isn't. You're supposed to check out the prices before ordering.

Interesting reading. My brother had this same scam pulled on him in Sicily about 20 years ago, only the people in the bar used some kind of drug in the alcohol to make him groggy before hitting him with the bill and then taking him to the ATM machine. I had no idea, until reading this, that this was a common crime.

People everywhere should be aware of their surroundings, and gather local knowledge of areas that are safe or unsafe, especially at night. Those of us in the US should be more than aware of this and not throw caution to the wind, just because we are in Europe.

Thanks everyone for all your input. Now that our daughter is in Europe, I thought you all might like an update. She is now in Poland (Krakow and Zakopane) after a delightful 4 days in Berlin and 5 days in Budapest. She was traveling with a college friend and, in Budapest, stayed at this friend's family's home. The family took them all over the city and countryside and advised them on where to go when they couldn't accompany them. She loved Budapest so much that (even though her friend has returned to the states) she is returning on Tuesday to attend the annual Sziget music festival. She's obtained tickets and a tent and will spend 5-6 days sleeping on the island, listening to the music from all over the world, seeing more of the wonderful city, and mingling with 100,00 people from all over Europe. Ah, the young! She keeps in touch regularly though email and has even bought a Humgarian SIM card for a cell phone that we lent her. As you all suggested, she is quite competent and travel smart, though from some of your comments, it has been important for her to understand the culture and the environs she is traveling in. Cpatterson, I'm so sorry that your son and son-in-law were injured. It's the kind of thing we all are fearful of- that call that our children are hurt -I'm so glad that they will be well and healed. Again, thanks to you all for your help.

Thank-you for all of the positive thoughts and replys to my message posted 7/30. My son and step-son are doing as well as to be expected. Im so thank-full everyday that they are alive. I wish I had some way of thanking " That Angel" that probably saved those two boys. No not probably , she straight up is the reason those two made it home. Shes a hero in my eyes. Anyhow be safe in all your travels and God speed.

I am surprised to hear so many negative things about Budapest. I do think though that your males aremore targets than women. After a few pints most fellas on holiday wouldgo off to a club with 2 gals they met. I myself and friends met a bunch of guys on holidays in Greece etc and went for drinks or a club and beca,e pals with them. Saying this if we feel uncomfortable we leave. I think this types of scam is easy to target male tourists.

I think your daughter is at no more a risk than in NYC.

Just thought I'd put my own two cents' in. I'm a guy in his 20's, living in Budapest, and the only place I ever see these "Konzumlány" (Consumption girls) is on those rare occasions when I'm walking across Vorosmarty ter, deep in the touristy heart of Budapest. Two outrageously well-dressed and good-looking women walk up to you and ask if you'd like to go for a drink. First time I encountered this, my spidey-sense began tingling: why on earth would these two women want to go for a drink with me, a lone stranger? Aha! Must be a scam! So, I always say "nem koszonom" and I keep on trucking.

It gets a bit tedious after 20 or 30 treks across that square late at night, though.

Regarding the prices of these drinks, the guns being pulled, etc. etc: yes, it's probaby the Ukrainian mafia behind it, and there are apparently only four or five places in town that do this sort of thing. At least two of them are strip joints. The others are restaurants and bars, and they're in defiance of the law when they don't post their drink and food prices. However, the mafia being what it is, I don't think the cops are in much of a position to shut them down.

99% of the restaurants and bars in Budapest, meanwhile, are completely on the level. You can see the list of offending establishments, along with some other sound advice, at:

http://budapest.usembassy.gov/consen....html#advisory


JVM

exactly, i fully agree with one of the comments here: you really need to be naive. any guide tells you to be carefull in budapest. or better, the city is totally safe (I have been there 6 times already), you just need to say no to nice girls that approach you to go to bars. they have had cases like that, the police knows about it and is trying to stop it so if something of the kind happens, just go to the police. but frankly it is something relatively easy to prevent from happening...

I lived in Budapest for a year when I was 30 and yes there were several clubs like this. They overcharged for drinks and you weren't allowed to leave until your hand had been stamped that the bill was paid. You also had to buy wine and champagne by the bottle and not the glass. Now we all knew the door policy of this place and I NEVER saw anyone with a gun. However their burly doormen would discourage anyone doing a runner.

That said Budapest is an amazing city. Prague is as well. I also lived in Warsaw for a year and can assure you that if your daughter has common sense and listens to her inner warning bell she will be fine.

Some places she might enjoy - Budapest - Iguana for an offbeat Mexican meal in a quiet area with streetside tables. Also loved Remi's in the Buda Hills for a lovely dinner.

Prague - Kampa Park restaurant. The Bar at the Hotel U Prince upstairs is very cool.

Warsaw - I can never remember the name of any bar or club I went to but the all serv

oops hit the wrong key but they all served Russian vodka by the bottle and it was way stronger than in America.

Believe me I was no saint - many evening stumbled home alone two sheets to the wind - if she ever feels nervous tell her to ask the bar staff to call for a cab and they will get her one to get her home if she feels uncomfortable. Also if a place doesn't have an inspection certificate or license near the bar it's probably operating under the radar and they should ask prices before they start ordering so they don't have some big surprise with the bill.

Thanks, all, for the interesting posts, and I'm sure they will be of interest to others as well. But note the date on the original post: our daughter has been back from Budapest for weeks (and she was perfectly safe, and had a great time). She spent the last week at the Sziget music festival, living in a tent.

Other readers may like to know that If people have trouble they tell the consul. So consuls give good advice. You can read it
from Australia on http://www.dfat.gov.au/consular/advice
from Britain on http://193.114.50.10/travel and on http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel/countryadvice.asp
from Canada on http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/menu-e.asp, under "Research your trip"
from France on http://www.dfae.diplomatie.fr/voyage...s/alphabet.asp
from the USA on http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html under consular information sheets
Some experienced American travellers find the American site over-cautious. It is therefor useful to check all five sites.

[email protected]

Hello:
My name is Dave, an American man living in Maryland. I recently visited various countries in Europe including Hungary (Budapest). I am a single man and prior to my arrival to Europe I had placed a personal advertisement in various countries and I received several responses.

One girl from Budapest answered calling herself "Susan" and she sent a picture of herself and she seemed attractive, blonde. We corresponded via Internet briefly for a period of 4 or 5 months. So in October I visited Bulgaria, Romania and finally arrived Budapest on Oct. 17. Upon my arrival (Budapest) I called "Susan" on the phone and we agreed to meet in front at Gerbourds chocloate/ pastry cafe adjacent to the Vaci Ut. When I met her "Susan" I was surprised to find her accompanied by a woman who claimed to be a friend from further East (Brasov, Romania). The Romanian woman seemed to be a little gruff/ tough, etc. and I immediately was suspicious of her and also Susan (an extremely attrractive blonde).

I immediately suggested we go inside Gerboud's but the Romanian girl indicated she wasn't dressed properly for this place and suggested we look for another place. We proceeded down the Vaci Ut and then we veered about one block off Vaci Ut. to a small bar. We went inside and then upstairs and sat down. Somehow I felt something wasn't exactly right with this place and I suggested to both "Susan" and the Romanian girl that we should find another more appropriate restaurant / cafe. The Romanian girl refused and so basically I was so suspicious at that point...and indicated I wasn't feeling well and I left them.

I suspect that I was about to be "taken" and the girls were probably working for the mafia and probably would have been charged me $500 for a few drinks. All the guide books have warnings about girls who approach single men in Budapest. These 2 girls "fit the profile" just about perfect being from farther east (Romania and I suspect Susan was from the Ukraine), working together in pairs, extraordinarily atractive.
Mind you I don't mind being approached on the street as a "stupid tourist" but I don't like the fact that these mafia bar girls (also known as consumption girls) are now using the internet to lure American men to Budapest travelling 4,0000 miles to spent $500 on drinks. Fortunately in my case I am smarter than all the mafia criminals in Budapest and Russia put together and didn't loose any money .. just a couple of wasted hours on my vacation.

Sooner or later somebody else with a hot temper with a lot less brains is going to be lured via the internet by one of the bar girls and the result could be disastrous.

FODORS: PLEASE ADVISE ALL SINGLE MEN DESTINED TO BUDASPEST TO AVOID ANY ONE WHO APPROACHES YOU AND ASKS YOU TO BUY A DRINK!!! In addition advise all single men to avoid corresponding with attractive women in Budapest before they arrive there. Its a scam BIG TIME.

Dave

I'm preparing to leave Budapest tonight after a hectic weekend business trip, that’s had more than its fare share of drama due to some naive stupidity on my part Fri night.

After finishing work on Fri I headed back to my luxury 5star hotel (the best one in Budapest) got dressed up for a few drinks in the hotel bar with a view to heading out for a couple drinks later in an English pub I’d spotted nearby. Not my usual Fri night excesses but after all I was on a foreign business trip, alone and had to be up early the next day.

The hotel bar was stuffy. The English pub was dead. So after downing a couple of pints in each, I decided to take a stroll and see if there were any lively places to have a nightcap before calling it a night. I should have just gone to bed. My nightmare was just around the corner. Literally.

As I left the English pub I headed across the road to the banks of the Danube for a leisurely walk along Belgrad rakpart. Turning left I proceeded across a main square and then came across Vaci Utca. It seemed fairly lively, so I kept on walking passed the cafes and familiar sites of McDonalds and Burger King down this pedestrian street. A fairly attractive blonde girl sitting on a bench with her dog smiled as I walked past, older people stared. Why? Well I’m black, fairly attractive looking, dressed head to toe in bespoke designer gear looking like some premiership footballer or movie star and on my own. I stuck out.

”Hi, do you know how to get to Erzabet tér?” An attractive but far from amazing female asked. She was about a 6 out of 10 her mate was an 8.
“No, idea” I conjectured, “I’m not familiar with round here”
”Wow, your English, are you from London?” the 8 proclaimed picking up my cockney accent.
I confirmed and the 8 started chatting on about how she’s going to be in London next week, had been there loads of times before and started banging on about various clubs I myself frequent.
They then proceeded to tell me they were from Vienna and on holiday taking a break from studies to chill out for a week.

After some more small talk, they said they were on there way to a party and if I’d like to come along, I declined and said I was on my way back to my hotel to get an early night and was going to head into a bar for a swift drink. They said they’d join be for a quick one too before heading off. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. The 6 had a glint in her eye and the 8 was very engaging with the conversation. Alarm bells should have started ringing when they headed we headed off the street and into an elevator to a restaurant/club upstairs. They seemed too sure of where they were going having been lost a few minutes ago. I guess with hindsight the tell tell indications of a scam were there even with out having read about Konsumlanyok (consume girls) or warnings of unscrupulous mafia owned restaurants. I get around a bit and know all about dodgy rip-off strip joint scams. But this approach was new to me. We sat down at a table and the girls said they knew of these Hungarian shots that I should try so they ordered a round of these with Red Bull and sparkling white wine. I thought cool if you want to buy me a few drinks. One of them wanted to order some food and asked if I was hungry. I said no thanks (I’d already eaten) she asked her mate who said no too; we were deep in conversation at that point. So she ordered herself a salad.

I cast my eyes around the joint, it wasn’t a lap dance/strip club, just a crap restaurant/bar decorated with tacky vines, a makeshift dance floor and a dodgy live singer belting out crap karaoke tunes. I later found out that this place is the notorious Varoskozpont (or “city center”) named on the US Embassy’s warning list.

There was a mixed group of about ten to the right of us and a guy sat at another table with a couple of girls, who both looked bored, something didn’t seem right about this place, I spotted an ATM in the entrance lobby and a couple of meatheads eye balling the guy at the other table. I continued to chat with the girls who were acting tipsy and flirting outrageously at this point, both competing for attention, when the 8 got out her mobile phone and showed me some interesting photos of her intimate piercings, the other started arguing with her in their own language about something. She ordered another round of drinks, which we downed and then the 8 said lets get out of here. The bill was presented 145,000 Forint (about GBP522). I was shocked, I only had 10,000 Forint in cash on me and the 6 who did the ordering suddenly told me she didn’t have her credit card. I was being scammed. But there was no way I was going to cover this, I had to use my head and play it cool.

Luckily I hadn’t brought out my wallet with credit cards but had my corporate AMEX card, this would cover the charge, but as the alcohol wore off rapidly and I did a quick conversion of the Forint to Pounds I knew this was a rip off and I needed an itemized receipt for expenses which of course was not forthcoming. I handed over the card and the bouncer dually handed it back with an invitation to come out to the entrance lobby and use the ATM. Now I don’t have a PIN for the Amex and knew the ball was then going to be in there court to suggest a solution, hopefully one that would involve leaving the premises so that I could escape. Now I realized why this place was only accessible by a single elevator. Its so they can stop you leaving. The bouncer had a solution; apparently they had this situation the other night and the local Casino would charge the card and issue cash. I remarked that I was cool with this and would probably hit a few tables in there too, I said I’d see if he girls I was with were up for it and he turned to a pretty waitress and said show them were it is. Once inside I would make my excuses find a back entrance exit out of the Casino.

I turned to find the 8 next to me (the one who showed me the photos) and the other at the table, I explained what was happening and she said, “I’ll come back to your hotel with you, my friends going to stay here.” Scam confirmed. So they worked for the restaurant. We got to the Casino and the waitress was sticking too me like glue whilst the other girl was linking arms with me. The waitress was whispering in my ear to buy some chips first then ask for the cash advance. No way. I strode right up and said can you give me 150,000 cash using this card. The teller looked at me called the manager who said, “there’s an ATM outside, why don’t you use that?” I slurred “ain’t got a PIN, mate” and sure enough he showed me the exit.

The waitress looked unimpressed and said, “Why don’t we go to your hotel and get them to advance you?” Now I know they’d do this, so I made the excuse that I tried the other day and they only have a bureau de change facility. The waitress pulled out a mobile phone to call for the mafia heavies from the club. I knew I didn’t have much time. She suggested trying the Kempinsky hotel but I said as I’m not a guest there I doubt they will do the transaction. Then I quickly said it was worth a try, knowing they would probably hold back from going in as this was a legit establishment who probably knew all about scams of this sort. So I walked in, through the lobby, round the corner, straight into the elevator with a crowd of people, the timing was impeccable. Up to the 9th floor. Out through the Staff Only door and down the back stairs. The first exit I tried was at the front and on street level. I nearly blew it. I carried on further down and exited to the underground car park, strolled up the ramp to the rear of the hotel and off into the night back to my hotel.

I remember having mentioned the hotel I was staying at to one of the girls, so was apprehensive about going back but I had to. I peered round the corner when I reached the street, no one around. So I headed into the hotel, straight up to my room and locked the door. I was buzzing. But had a dilemma, should I check out or stay. I had 3 days to go and lots of work to do. I decided to play it cool, watch my back and only return from my office to the hotel in the small hours of each morning. On foot.

I’ve just bottled it, it’s the last night, but I checked out of the hotel and spending it hanging out at the office through until tomorrow afternoon when I have my flight. I have no idea whether the mafia or corrupt police are looking for me but I not taking chances, when I leave the office tomorrow its straight in a taxi to the airport and home to England. Wish me luck.

Wow, scarface. That's quite a frightening experience.

Be sure to re-post when you return safely home!

This reads like some amateur story in a sleazeball men's magazine. I don't feel a bit sorry for anybody who walks around rivers in the dark picking up women and going to bars with them. Nor to men who describe themselves in such glowing terms and rate women on numbers scales, apparently routinely.

Scarface

Well, you should have known better than to have gone out on the town with whole numbers. Especially numbers prefixed with 'the' as in "the 8" and "the 6". Why, anyone who truly "gets around a bit" knows to stick to the refined stuff, like fractions or integers. But whole numbers? Right up there with pinky rings, old man.

History note: WW2 USA scam was 'badger game'. Female is allowed to be picked up, visit hotel room, husband breaks in..pay or else! Another phenomenon; the club car effect', all the ladies looked more attractive after a few rounds of drinks! Nothing new under the sun.

To put this into perspective for all you nervous Americans, let's look at some US cities. In 2004, there were
445 murders in Chicago
565 in New York
193 in Washington
114 in St Louis
384 in Detroit
278 in Baltimore

Data from USA Today news report.