When we travel to another country or city it's also very important to do a little research
about the scams going on in that specific place. For that reason in today's video,
we're going to show you the most common scams going on in Istanbul.
That way, you will avoid them and you can enjoy your holidays much better.
Taxis. Try not to take any taxi from the street. There are many ways how the taxi drivers will try
to scam you and one of them and the most common one is that they will not use the taximeter.
Instead, they will fix a price for you and it will be much higher than it should be.
The other one is that they will try to take you through the longest way.
Paper bill switch trick. In this case, if you are in a taxi and once is the moment to pay,
make sure that the bill you are giving him is the correct one. Because, for example, if you give him
50 liras, very quick this taxi driver will try to switch the bill for another one.
Let's say five liras and then he will try to ask you for the rest of the money because he will tell you:
"No, you only give me five liras" when in reality, you gave him 50 liras. So just in case,
i mean pay attention and do it well what the bill you gave him because sometimes, we are distracted
and then we are not thinking or we forget very quick like: Did i
really give him five liras ? That's the way they are getting extra money from tourists.
You can have less risk of being scammed if you take taxis from apps especially from Uber and Bitaksi
and the other one will be, if you're staying in a hotel you can request at the front desk to get
you a taxi directly and i will suggest you to use even more uber, in my case, i use it more
because we know it's an international app and if you put a complaint there, more likely they will
return you the money that you have already paid in case they have charged you more.
The shoe shiners scam. Many travelers have experienced this particular scam.
While walking on the street you might see a shoe shiner passing by with all his stuff
but in case that he drops a brush please stop there and do not give it back to him.
As soon as you give it back to him, he will be so thankful for that and then he will invite you to
sit while he is shining your shoes but at the end he will ask you for a ridiculous amount of money.
Even some of our followers have told us that they have been asked even 100 liras or more. Here is a
small portion of this particular scam and if you want to go check it out as well, don't forget
that we will leave the link in our description box where you can find that after you finish watching this video.
So pretty much what happened was we were walking, shoe shiner saw us, dropped his brush
in front of us. I just pulled out my phone and just started filming literally watched him walk
a couple of meters then he turned around came and got his brush. Sort of apologized and no
joke a couple minutes later I was so shocked I got footage of it. Because it's lockdown in Turkey at
the moment, there's not many people around. We turned the corner and we got done again but this
time I saw the shoe shiner come across the road and he walked a couple meters in front of us,
dropped his brush and once again I just pulled out my phone stood there and filmed it also.
Another similar scam and we will put it here in this same section because it's very very similar.
This one actually we saw it on the tv news a couple of weeks ago and it is about some people,
especially guys carrying Simit and they were walking on İstiklal street because they know
there are many tourists as well and suddenly they were just walking with the simit on their head
and all of a sudden, they just fell like if they were ill. So they were just faking everything
just to make other people feel bad about them and try to get some money from them but in reality,
they're not ill or nothing wrong is happening to them. Afterwards the policemen just came to to the
area and they took them to the police department and probably that situation it's already fixed
but just in case, if you're around the area and if you see them, just leave them there. I mean do not
feel bad for them because they are just trying to trick people to get some money from them.
Restaurants. This is another point to really keep in mind because if you only focus
in eating in the most touristic areas during your whole holiday more likely you will end
up being scammed or even paying even more than you should really pay for a meal in Istanbul.
If you decide eating at a restaurant, let's say in Sultanahmet, just make sure to check the prices
beforehand. Usually they should have the menus at the entrance and if they have the menus make sure
that the prices are written there. Also if they don't have them and if you want to really go and
eat in that place, just ask for the menu and also make sure the prices are written there because
sometimes maybe you will think that they will give you all the prices but at the end they will
charge you whatever they want and usually for tourists it can be three to four times
more than it should really cost. Also it is well known that in these type of restaurants
they will start bringing you some appetizers to your table and for your surprise, you will say:
"Okay, probably these are included in my menu or the plate that i have ordered" but in reality,
they will charge you an extra fee for that but they won't tell you about it. So just to make sure
as soon as they start bringing you all of those things or extra little appetizers to your table
just ask the waiter if those are extra or if they are already included. That way you will avoid
a surprise and then see the bill and that it's a high amount of money that you have to pay for that
before visiting a restaurant. We also recommend you to check reviews
online. You can go to tripadvisor, you can go to many other platforms where you can check for that
as well. As we previously mentioned you, make sure to check the prices in advance and to
know for sure that everything that you are eating is already included in the price.
Friendly approach of strangers to make you buy something or invite you to a particular place.
Usually this type of scam we can find that in the most touristic areas like Sultanahmet or Taksim.
Random people will try to approach you in a very friendly way and they will either ask you
for a cigarette, for a lighter or even where are you from. Just to open up a conversation.
They will try to offer you an express tour and they will tell you like they can
offer themselves to show you the blue mosque, let's say for example
and after getting your trust, they will try to take you to the grand bazaar or to another shop.
Once you have accepted going with them they will treat you like a king or like a queen, they will
give you tea, they will give you Turkish coffee maybe Turkish delight, or any article they have.
Afterwards they will pressure you to buy something from that shop and actually, sometimes they
can become very rude and very insistent. Just ignore everyone who is trying to talk to you on
the streets. That way you won't put yourself into an uncomfortable situation and trust me
nobody will help you just because they want to, in reality, they are looking for something in return.
Nightclubs. This is quite similar to the last one but the only difference is that here solo
male travelers are the ones targeted. Usually, this scam is going on in Taksim square and in
İstiklal street. Because here we can find many bars and nightclubs as well. Some guys will try
to approach you as well in a very friendly way and they will try to ask you, where are you from and
questions like that. After they have gained your trust, they will invite you to have a
beer somewhere. After that, they will take you to a club and they will make you drink several things
and very expensive ones. After a while, even some girls might join the table and at some point,
they will try to tell you like they are going to the restroom or something like that and they will
disappear. At the end they will leave you alone with the whole bill. So basically, you're gonna
pay everything that each one of you consume and it can be a big amount of money, i mean we have heard
that even 600 dollars, 1000 dollars and that can be really uncomfortable for you and even if you're
trying not to pay for all the drinks. I mean if you're trying to pay only what you really consume,
they will force you in one way or another to pay for everything. Even some big guys will try to
to block you the way to leave the place and you can put yourself into a very dangerous
situation. Once again, avoid talking to random people on the street especially if you are alone
because no one will want to invite you a beer just because they want to have friends.
If you accept going with them that story will not have a happy ending for sure. If you want to see
how this scam works. Right now we're gonna show you just a few seconds of it so you can see how
this is developing but if you want to check out the full video we would love to invite you
to click in our description box where you will be finding the link to the full video. About
the most common local scam here in Istanbul so apparently the most common scam here in istanbul
is that local guys will come up to you and they'll act super super nice. I'm not going
with you to club because see the thing is I don't want to get scammed because see last
night you left me with the bill at the bar yeah I paid i paid you don't understand what i'm saying.
People showing off as police. There are a few versions of this particular scam
but the most common one is this one and for example while you're walking on the street
let's say İstiklal street which is the place where usually these things happen. One person
can approach you and ask you let's say for an address of a place or anything else. After that,
another person who might identify himself as a police and even he might show you one badge, which
we don't even know if it might be real or not, he will start asking you for some things. He will
request from both of you to show the passport and the wallet. If you give that, that might be
a big mistake, especially your wallet, I mean they shouldn't be asking you for your wallet.
If he or she is a real police maybe your passport, it's okay, but not your wallet. If you give that
i mean for sure that person will run away because we have read in several places and
also we have been told about this one. They will take your money and they will run away or even
while you are talking to the police, the other person will be trying to distract you by telling
you things and in the meantime, the police will be taking the money from your wallet. As we mentioned
before and many times avoid exchanging words with any stranger on the street and i know sometimes
things happen all of a sudden, in few seconds, in case that you're already in that situation
and another person comes to you and asks you to give your belongings like wallet and passport,
just do not do that also as a little tip, try to carry with you a photocopy of your passport
in case that if you have a doubt that he or she might be a police,
you can just show the photocopy of your passport but never give the original and your wallet.
All the time be skeptical. Especially if you know that you haven't broken the law
if you feel and feel suspicious that person is not a policeman, just threaten them by calling
the police. Grab your phone and just say i'm calling the police right now. That way you will
get out of that bad situation right away. Remember that a police will never ask you for the wallet.
Perfume and rose sellers. This is another scam going on mainly in the
most touristic areas and particularly for the rose sellers, you will find them in Üsküdar.
If a guy carrying a lot of perfumes is approaching you and he's trying to show you all his products,
just try not to exchange any word with him because as soon as you grab one perfume that will be the
biggest mistake that you will do. Because as soon as you do it he will do everything not to get it
back from you. Instead, he will ask you for money because that way, he will assume that you already
accepted to buy that perfume and they can become very pushy and it will turn a bit uncomfortable as
well. So just if you see these people try to avoid them and just tell them: no thank you,
no thank you. Just keep going on. The same situation happens with the especially women
selling roses in Üsküdar area. That's the area where I have mainly seen them and also they will
be so pushy. When you are walking they will just stretch their hands and basically put one rose on
your hand and that way also they will be pushing. They will ask you for money. Just try to have your
hands when you're walking there and do not take anything from any other person around those areas.
Do not buy tickets from people on the streets. Please avoid buying tickets from anyone you see
on the streets that includes any transportation tickets, museum tickets or even tours. For sure
they're overpriced and they will try to get as much money as they can from you. Only buy
tickets from the official stands or the museum ticket offices that way you will avoid any type
of scam or extra charges. The same applies for transportation. Only buy from the yellow machines,
you can buy the istanbul card or even you can buy single tickets from there as well.
If you have experienced any other type of scam that we didn't cover in this video,
please share them in the comments below. That way other people can also read them and be aware
of those other tricks. Hopefully, you have liked this video and don't forget to like subscribe and
share this video so more people can avoid these scams. See you in the next episode. Bye bye.
this is quite similar to the last one but the difference is that here male female male female
if you decide eating at a restaurant in the it