How it works:
- Opening: several young women will engage you by asking for a light for a cigarette or asking for directions. They start chatting and ask if you want to join them for a drink at a nearby bar.
- Set-up: there, they will order expensive lady drinks (actually diluted) on your tab. If you refuse to pay, you will be accosted by burly men to the nearest ATM.
Places to beware:
- Budapest: Szechenyi Chain Bridge, Vorosmarty Square, fifth district, Vaci Street
What to do:
- Avoid: heading to a suggested bar together with a random stranger.
- If not, consider: does the bar seem legitimate? Are there customers? Is the stranger evasive about things? Is he/she only bringing you to a particular restaurant or bar?
- Test your new “friend”: pretend you have company by suggesting to go another place where you have friends at. Ask for prices before ordering. Take a photo together.
- If scammed: threaten to call the police, pay with a credit card but call immediately to dispute the charges. Keep a separate bank account with little cash to limit your losses if threatened.
- Alternative: GetYourGuide (best day tour platform in Europe) has several pub crawls.
