0 reactions
Watch out for this scam in Berlin
I visited Berlin for a few days and overall loved it but I got scammed and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
My wife and I were checking out the Berlin Wall remnants in Bernauer Straße. A very nice open air exhibition with original parts of the wall still intact. As we were taking photos two young girls that looked to be in their late teens approached us with a clipboard that said something about disabled children that were deaf and blind or something. They asked for my signature and I glanced it over and assumed it was a petition. I've signed many such petitions before in my life and didn't find it suspicious. I even asked them, "all I have to do is sign right?" And they said yes in addition to filling out some other info that included where I was from and something like that. There was also a column on the very right that included a donation amount and it seemed everyone who had signed before me had donated at least 20 euros.
I signed and my wife signed as well. The girls started pointing at the donation amount and asked for money. Although this raised a red flag I thought whatever and took out my wallet and was going to give 5 euros but only had 10s. They suddenly became aggressive and pointing inside my wallet like they were going to reach into it which alsrmed me so I quickly gave a 10. They started shouting at me that the donation amount was at least 20 euros and my signature stated I needed to do at least 20. Now, I instantly knew this was bullshit but getting yelled at suddenly like that flustered me and I couldn't think clearly in the moment so I quickly handed another 10 euros in the hopes they'd stop yelling.
Instead they continued to yell that my wife needed to pay because she had signed as well. I blocked them from her and said we had no more money and they followed and shouted at us that they had seen money in my wallet. I said that was all I had and needed it for the ride home.
People in the park were staring at us and the girls followed and continued to harass us for at least 100 meters. It was extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable and stressed us out. I was also pissed I had lost 20 euros to these parasites.
Please watch out for this scam. Berlin was otherwise great and I had an awesome time and learned so much. A beautiful city full of lovely people with a few rotten apples.
#travel
source
I visited Berlin for a few days and overall loved it but I got scammed and it left a bad taste in my mouth.
My wife and I were checking out the Berlin Wall remnants in Bernauer Straße. A very nice open air exhibition with original parts of the wall still intact. As we were taking photos two young girls that looked to be in their late teens approached us with a clipboard that said something about disabled children that were deaf and blind or something. They asked for my signature and I glanced it over and assumed it was a petition. I've signed many such petitions before in my life and didn't find it suspicious. I even asked them, "all I have to do is sign right?" And they said yes in addition to filling out some other info that included where I was from and something like that. There was also a column on the very right that included a donation amount and it seemed everyone who had signed before me had donated at least 20 euros.
I signed and my wife signed as well. The girls started pointing at the donation amount and asked for money. Although this raised a red flag I thought whatever and took out my wallet and was going to give 5 euros but only had 10s. They suddenly became aggressive and pointing inside my wallet like they were going to reach into it which alsrmed me so I quickly gave a 10. They started shouting at me that the donation amount was at least 20 euros and my signature stated I needed to do at least 20. Now, I instantly knew this was bullshit but getting yelled at suddenly like that flustered me and I couldn't think clearly in the moment so I quickly handed another 10 euros in the hopes they'd stop yelling.
Instead they continued to yell that my wife needed to pay because she had signed as well. I blocked them from her and said we had no more money and they followed and shouted at us that they had seen money in my wallet. I said that was all I had and needed it for the ride home.
People in the park were staring at us and the girls followed and continued to harass us for at least 100 meters. It was extremely embarrassing and uncomfortable and stressed us out. I was also pissed I had lost 20 euros to these parasites.
Please watch out for this scam. Berlin was otherwise great and I had an awesome time and learned so much. A beautiful city full of lovely people with a few rotten apples.
#travel
source
| 0 mlx | |
| 33 | |
| 0 |