Hey, this is just a friendly public service announcement for you travelers to stay cognizant of some of the older scams that are still alive and well all over Europe.
A friend of mine was just burned by the old menu switcheroo scam in Budapest last week, an art honed to perfection in my own love-to-hate Bucharest, and ended up being intimated by several goons into coughing up the equivalent of plane-fare for dinner and a few drinks. This was a very experienced traveler, but exhaustion and a little too much drinking stripped away his defenses (as well as a few very attractive accomplices employed by the restaurant). Alone and drunk should be avoided no matter where you are and what you’re doing, but even mostly sober groups can fall prey to this particular plot.
Essentially, you’re shown one menu when you sit down to dinner and are given another menu, with grossly inflated prices when the bill is delivered and you make a stink about the total. In some cases, no menu switch is made, but the menu fails to indicate that you are charged per 100 grams of whatever meat you’re ordering and you belatedly learn that 400 grams is the unspoken minimum.
Another wrinkle is when you order a bottle of wine and they uncork and pour the wine before apologetically telling you that the $8, 2002 bottle you ordered was out of stock, so they brought the same wine, but a different year, maybe 1989, which ‘lo and behold costs $120. They didn’t think you’d mind.
The bar version is the simplest. With the drink menu posted somewhere inconspicuous (say a drawer in the back office), the carefree traveler(s) orders a few rounds, usually buying for the new lady friends that they “spontaneously” met on the street and then it’s revealed that each Screwdriver costs something ludicrous like 200 euro.
Overly helpful taxi drivers and agreeably amorous women are usually the bait that brings guy(s) to these places, since crooked restaurants and clubs typically don’t buy ad space in the local weekly or get reviewed in tourist brochures. Be wary of this kind of “assistance” no matter the source. Persistent street hawkers are also to be avoided. I’ve heard accounts of this type of thing happening in Bucharest, Budapest, Paris, Madrid, Warsaw and Athens, though it’s probably safe to assume that this element exists in just about any medium-sized city or better. Sadly, it appears as if the local police are in on the scam and are no help.
Read the comments below for additional nuances in the set-up and execution of these scams, particularly the “Hungarian tourists with a map” and the telltale elevator-only entry/exit to the bar/restaurant.
The US Embassy in Budapest has posted a tourist advisory about this ongoing problem on their site.
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October 2nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I’m all for the revenge campaign, seriously… I’m still kicking myself for falling for this trick as I’m typically suspicious, and really not very trusting of anybody until… these very average looking girls started talking to me… well you know how the rest of the story goes. Anyway, I’ll say this much… I will never be returning to Budapest nor recommending it as a travel destination for anyone. Is this a biased opionion? Yes it is… but I still say stay away. Maybe if the officials would actually do something about this obviously known situation my feelings would be different, but the fact that authorities are well aware of these problems yet do nothing about (paid off maybe???). Why should I recommend anyone to support their economy.
November 29th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
well, guys, I have to say that the government WILL NOT do anything to any of those scammers. Why? They’re involved themselves!
I can tell you for sure, that this business is sanctioned at the highest levels; after myself was robbed earlier this summer I fleed budapest first but then returned to (silly me) as I thought retaliate, but I found out astounding facts.
One example. I wrote a name of the place where I was ripped off along with its address on a piece of paper (as I couldn’t properly pronounce it – hungarian, damn it!) and came to the tourist office in the train station. I asked the officer there – what do you know about this place? He told me, “oh, it’s a really good place. there’s nothing suspicious about it. you should definitely go there”. Then, I checked with another tourist office – the picture was basically the same. I tried to talk to local people – everyone pretended they didn’t know I was talking about. After a few hours of trying to get someone say something, I came across with a nice young Ukrainian girl, who told me that everyone, police, government etc. etc. know about it, but they wouldn’t do anything. Neither people would tell anyone. At some point, she stopped and asked me if I was from the FBI or FSB (also known as KGB) and refused to speak to me any further…
Try to think, guys, how much money this scam involves! For 2 hours, I witnessed at least 7 men entered such a bar and went out ripped off. Say they work for 4 hours each day; that means 7×2= 14 ppl a day. If we assume on average they pay at $1000 that means $14000 of almost pure profit. Would anyone be willing to just abandon this kinda business?
July 29th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
This happened to me tonight and I am so peeved, more so at myself for falling for it than at the perps. The signs were all there for us to see but I’m sure we all believe what we want to be true at the time. Anyway I was going to go to the US embassy tomorrow. Does anyone think that might be of any help.
Luckily I got wise after the first bill I was brought, as the people I was with wanted to take me to a restaurant and club after that. I couldn’t even imagine what the bills would have been there.
It’s clear the local authorities are involved here. The place they took me to, I found out later, is even listed on the US Embassy website in Budapest. If even after that no action is taken, collusion is a given. I guess a new item on the checklist is to Google {City Name} scams before I head to a new destination.
I do say though it makes me feel better to know I’m not the sole victim of this scheme, and that other seasoned travelers are taken as well.
February 1st, 2010 at 12:07 pm
Never go to the Városközpont bar (with outside elevator access), they charge me over 1,000 usd for a few drinks with the two scam girls, they are professional and really ruin my vacation in Budapest.
April 5th, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Városközpont – advice was too late for me. I’d much rather be robbed at gunpoint, it would have been a lot more dignified.
Two burnt out tramps appoached me and my brother looking for directions. We suspected nothing cause the older one was old enough to be my mother – nothing sexual or attractive about it. They say they’re Italian air hostesses stuck in Budapest for the evening before their plain leaves for Italy tomorrow. So, they say they’ve been suggested some great place and we join them. 40 euro for two beers. Then we were stupid enough to pay…
I have contemplated retribution. Was going to go back with a bottle of red vinigure and lots of raw fish or red paint and screw up their lift with that and a load of dog crap… Is this normal or am I mentally fucked up?
June 10th, 2010 at 10:44 am
Just happened to me last night (9 June 2010) and can’t still believe it. $1,000 down the pan. Woman in her 40s from out of town attending a conference and returning home on Friday. Orders drink after drink including cheap Hungarian wine and the most expensive steak in the house, FT5000, OK. The bill arrives FT220k. They refuse to take a credit card and frog march me to the ATM. I call the 24 hour Police helpline later at 2pm, I just can’t get any sleep, only to be told to go to a Police Station to file a complaint. The pen drops – what futility that would be. Guys there is no question the Government, Police the whole goddamn country is in the tank. Funny thing is I am a regular visitor to Budapest – business strictly – and I stick to the Buda side, the hotel, and yes, I can be boring the Spar Supermarket, a work colleague strongly recommended the area.
Please just avoid the bloody place, is what I say. I blamed myself for being such an idiot, but after reading this thread I feel a bit better and I do not think there is much I could have done other than follow my instict, which has served me well in the past. The lesson is certainly learned.
July 26th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
It happened to me as well during my stay last weekend. I hadn’t read this kind of articles before, unfortunately.
I was approched by 2 girls starting to speak Hungarian to me. It was in the main shopping street, close to the main square. As I said I didn’t understand Hungarian they asked if I was tourist and if I had a map by any chance because they were looking for a street where they remembered a nice restaurant with live music. (they were so called not from Budapest)
so they looked on the map and said they found it. then a bit of talk, where I am from etc, and they asked if I was maybe interested in joining them. As it looked like nice girls, I said why not. (they were between 35 and 40 I think, one blond called Andrea and another one more brunette but forgot the name. They looked really ‘normal’, not hooker types or so, and normal clothes…)
So the restaurant was only 2 minutes away from there on October 6 street with a big sign Restaurant, live music
It has a name ‘etterem’ but figured out later that this is ‘restaurant’ so you can not look for this restaurant on internet.
the place was on the first floor and looked more or less normal and there was live music.
They gave us the menu and we ordered. the food itself was normal priced (like 7 eur for a main dish). Unfortunately they asked if I tried some local drinks before and I said no. so they orderd a typical shot, a bottle of sparkling wine and regular wine and some energy drinks.
During the whole evening we had really normal and interesting conversations and I didn’t find anything suspicious in the stories they were telling, only when the bill arrived I realized i was set up. 550 eur!!! no credit card, only cash and they accompagny you to the ATM machine…
I wish I had read this kind of things before. Luckily they were ‘so nice’ not to push you to try many drinks.
July 31st, 2010 at 7:34 am
Yep, I fell for the same scam on 7 July 2010 and was done for around US$900.
Two local “ladies” started a conversation with me in the main square as I left a respectable hotel, we went to a music bar (Etterem on Besci Utca) and had a nice time dancing, drinking champagne and snaps, at no time was I shown the prices, the bill was 172,000 in local currency.
Like the previous writer I was frog marched to an ATM. There wasn’t any direct intimidation as I was aware enough to realise it was coming if I didn’t cough up the cash.
I still had one (rotten) day left in the dump they call Budapest so I went to watch the world cup soccer the next night in the same place. Yes, four different sets of two women (normal looking “ladies” aged between 20 and 40) struck up a conversations, 3 sets were looking for directions or wanted to borrow my map, I felt like showing it up their arse each time but continued to see what would happen.
I have since written to the Australin embassy and the Budapest tourism police, but no one gives a shit and I expect to see plenty more stories like mine on this website.
I managed to leave a big spit on the door the final day (plenty of flem and morning coffe in it) but other than that I can only bad mouth Budapest and the Hungarian people as dishonest and cheats. Don’t go there.
August 2nd, 2010 at 12:24 pm
I suspect the new name for the infamous Galaxy Etterim is Belvirosi located on Besci Utca.
Beware, going in there is going to cost you a dam lot more than you expected to pay
December 12th, 2010 at 10:15 pm
Yep, in December 2010 I can tell you these two bitches are still taking full advantage. We also were looking at a map and these ’2 hair dressers’ friendly chat, off for a drink and bite to eat in this crappy restaurant. Few drinks later and the bill … a lot more than you think. Its a disgrace and the place should be burnt down.
December 12th, 2010 at 10:24 pm
Yep, in December 2010 I can tell you these two bitches are still taking full advantage. We also were looking at a map and these ’2 hair dressers’ friendly chat, off for a drink and bite to eat in this crappy restaurant. Few drinks later and the bill … a lot more than you think and yes, they don’t have a credit card .. same as Andrea / Kriztina. Its a disgrace and the place should be burnt down. The money they are robbing people of is a disgrace. If I go to this city again I will hunt them.
December 28th, 2010 at 10:28 am
December 27, we got got. We were approached by 2 very normal looking 30-40 women. They were not attractive. I repeat, NOT HOT and not hookered out or anything like that. Their names were Szandra and Noamie (or something similar to that, I thought it was Amy). Same deal, do you have a map, want to get a drink, yada yada. No bouncers or pressure. We don’t take credit cards, there is an ATM outside. Bill was 125,000 Ft. My friend and I figured out we’d been had and told them we would only pay our share. We ended up paying around 68,000. They said they were teachers from somewhere near Austria and were on holiday staying in a hostel. Restaurant was the same place as mentioned by these other blokes.
December 31st, 2010 at 9:36 pm
The dump they call Budapest, the Metro ticket checkers – I’m sure they have eaten their young.
As with another comment above – I would have preferred to have been robbed at gunpoint. What happened to me was a disgrace. A straightforward rape where I know I’m being raped would have been a lot more dignified.
I was made to feel like a criminal on Christmas Day for not validating the Metro ticket, the usual thing about the police, etc.. I would never wish any ill will to anyone – but boy oh boy do those Hungarians know how to get a rise out of their prey.
April 26th, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Yep, just got me too. Two girls one young one older at a conference etc. I can remember the bar name but I’m sure it was one of the ones mentioned above. A few shots and drinks they order food and then I suggest going on to a different place. Then oh you want to pay cash follow me… I get dragged along to the cash point which sets more alarm bells ringing (I thought the scam was two girls getting a guy to pay for some food and a couple of drinks) but I do a conversion quick on the iPhone (thank you Mr Jobs) and work out I am about to pay 700 Euro! I freak out and tell them all where to go and demand a manager. We go back to the bar and the waitress who led me to the cash point goes away and returns in a business jacket ( WTF). The girls say ok we will split it and look all desperate and pull out some cash, “but there were three of us”. Yes, but we were not drinking molten gold! I take the “manager to the cash point again and tell her 25000 F (100 Euro) and no more. She yield and now I’m back in my hotel room, which I stupidly told them which hotel I am staying at, wondering if the corrupt police are going to show up and accuse me of god knows what :-(. I am a moron! Please lean from my mistake!
June 3rd, 2011 at 5:57 am
Same same but different, a couple of drinks and could I work out the bill? nope…marched to cashpoint done for £480GBP for a meal and a few drinks.
I felt wierd, it just didn’t seem right but couldn’t seem to put the brakes on or run it.
Felt sic when I finally got back to hotel and calculated the true cost
Very embarrassed now and wondering wether its worth telling the cops…by the sound of it not really.
July 24th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
I WOULD NOT WISH BUDAPEST ON MY WORST ENEMY.
WAS STUNG IN 2008 BY THE TWO (IM LOST BITCH’S.)
COST MYSELF AND TWO MATES 1;400 EURO TO GET OUT OF THE BAR WITH THE OUTSIDE LIFT. YOU SEEM TO SPEND YOUR FEW DAYS IN BUDAPEST WAITING TO GET HIT WITH YOUR NEXT SCAM.
BEST ADVICE …GIVE THE PLACE A MISS
July 24th, 2011 at 8:40 pm
July 24 2011. I was approached by two normal looking 30-40 days on July 23. Map, directions, we are Hungarians visiting Budapest, looking for a some place to eat, blah blah blah, why don’t you come with us for a drink. “No thanks”. Next day, July 24th. Two younger looking women 20-30 taller blond shorter brunette. They speak to me in Hungarian, map, we are Hungarians just in Budapest for a couple days, we were told there is a nice place around here, blah blah blah, why don’t you come with us for a drink. By now alarm bells were ringing (because of the similarity with the previous incident) but I went anyway. We go into the sad “elevator place”. We sit down, couch sitting, they put me in the middle, while some idiot playing “live” music. The waitress comes, they ask her in English, “do you have some food?”, “yes of course”, “do you have some Hungarian “special” dishes?”. At this point I get up and say “I am sorry I have to go”. “But you said you wanted to eat”. “Yes but this place is not for me”. I walk out unobstructed. I sit outside in a corner, I see them coming out 2 minutes after me. One of them sees me and says: “this place was too expensive after all”. And they walk back to the same spot where I saw them initially. Waiting for the next customer. I go eat a burger and I google “Budapest map scam”. This page was the first one that came up! I am an experienced and careful traveler. But they are smooth, they are professional, and that is why I could just walk out: they are sure to have many victims, they did not need me.
August 29th, 2011 at 3:10 pm
I fell for the same thing this weekend. 1500EUR.
I manage to get a picture of one of the girls. They really did´nt want to be taken pictures of…When I tried they turned away or put their arms in front of the camera. NOW i know WHY.
I´ll try to post it!
August 29th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
HERE`S ONE OF THE GIRLS!
Make sure you spill something on her on the street.
http://t.co/Q9jBuLn
September 29th, 2011 at 1:56 am
I was another fucked up guy who falls for this. This time they act as italy school teachers. Kept drinking and ended up with a bill of 1k Eur, so damn stupid and I can’t sleep now. Really destroyed my otherwise excellent trip here if I had not met them!
October 25th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
The same fucking scam happened to me this night. Two girls trying to find a street with a good restaurant in the center, talking to me in Hungarian. After they saw that I’m not from here we had some basic conversion in English and they asked me to join them for a drink.We found the street together and take the elevator to the famous restaurant.We had only drinks (wine, energizers) , no food. Final bill around 200euros, but they wanted in HUF. The waitress invited me to withdraw the money from a very strange ATM covered by a curtain.I refused to insert my card in that ATM and hopefully I had 200euro and some HUF in my wallet and gave them all my money.
Avoid talking to strangers!!! Now I remember what mama use to said when I was a kid…
I thought – Oh, what a nice people around here! Finally this stupidity cost me some money! Trust nobody!
October 29th, 2011 at 9:25 pm
It happened to me around 2003 as well. Same place, outside elevator, 2 girls – one very tall one with dark hair and a shorter one with blonde hair. 128 000HUF was the bill. In hindsight though, we drank all night and I managed to grab the one on the dancefloor to some old fashioned hungarian music. A complete ripoff, but as it was happening was quite fun. Fun the whole night, except for the bill. Once the bill came, I still continued to spend more in the hope of getting more from these chicks – but no luck.. They are well trained actresses who are like vampires. you’ll get nothing out of it, only loss of cash and maybe a bit of a grab here and there.
February 4th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
I am so embarrassed that this happened to me! The women were old, and I believed them when they said they were from out of town. They really seemed to me like a couple of moms out on the town for a girls’ night out, who were just excited to try out their terrible English on somebody. I had nothing better to do so I joined. I had even heard of this scam, but since there was nothing sexy or flirtatious about these women, my guard was down. After reading the post, I feel lucky that I got out with only 100000 HUF in damages. I am in Budapest for several months, however. Somehow I will get even. The place is the ever-tacky RESTAURANT WITH LIVE MUSIC at the corner of Besci and Kristoff ut.
February 13th, 2012 at 10:45 pm
This list of the scammed is testament to the good nature of travelers and holiday makers.
I was at the very same bar the person above went to. Some lost lady in her 30s asked me for directions, I helped her out with my tourist map and she asked if I wanted to join her for a drink in the place she had been trying to find. Why not… the bill came in at 42,000 HUF and I was forced to go to the ATM, why i didn’t run I will never Know. I went back to take a photo to warn others and while I was taking the photo two more lost girls came up asking for directions, I must have mug written all over my face.
I told a police man in a car just around the corner that they were hanging about and he said he he was busy. I told the receptionist in a hostle across the road to tell his guests to watch out and he couldn’t have been less interested.
I think revenge might come in the form of a can of spray paint.
March 27th, 2012 at 10:29 pm
Hi guys,
today I experienced something similar as you.
I just came to the internet to google for what I suspected…and I have many testimonials here that confirm that I took the right decision… sorry for those who were not this lucky :) but it is nice to share the experiences to try to stop it….EVENTUALLY.
the story was the same…I was traveling alone…two average good looking girls, between 20 and 25 started talking in Hungarian to me…this was the first mistake, because I certainly can not be mistaken as so… (but they are good!!! It is just that I was vigilant from the begining…it was strange from the begining)…then asked me about a “nice restaurant” someone told them about… I told them that I was not from there, so they would better ask someone local “try entering any bar”, I said… (there were many better possibilities….That was not an interesting answer for them…they only had to walk a couple of steps…mistake number 2…. Then I said I was also looking for one…so I basically made my self invited…(silly brave, maybe) Then we started waking and talking… they knew too much about Budapest considering that they were from “country side and where only there as kids”….mistake nr 3… On the way I comment… “well, considering that you have no idea where it is, you seem very determined”….mitake 4…they replied it should be around there….When we got near the lift area, I didn´t like the way it looked…there were also two big guys sitting at street entrance…there I stopped and said…I wouldn´t go to a restaurante in this place…then they found the lift…VERY SURPRIZED…. As I saw the sign with restaurant name, I said to my self…well…there is a restaurant, so the worst that can happen is not to like it…let´s see how it goes…
At the restaurant, I purposely started acting REALLY NOT INTERESTING PERSON LIKE…they kept very interested…mistake 5…so I directly asked them…”come on, what is this?? what are two nice girls doing alone in Budapest??” …there was some silence, but one of them said…”that´s a cliché question…we are not alone, we are together…bla bla bla…” …Then they ordered some shots and other drinks… for the 3 of us… At this point I tested them and asked where the WC was…they passed this one very well…they called the waitrice and asked her…When I came back I thought very strange that both of them had like a red bull can with a straw already inside… I was very vigilant by then…after “drinking” the shots, not at the same time…even if we made a toast…. I noticed that both of them went immediately to “drink” the “red bull”… mistake 6… I suspected that they went to throw away the strong alcoholic drink in the can….that was it for me… “I must make a phone call”, I said…”But taking the jacket?” one of them asked…I just replied that it was too cold outside and went on to another restaurant to have my dinner… after all, girls should make our evening better and not a nightmare :)
But don´t be fouled…they are good…but we must be better…we have 2 heads…we just need to make a good judgment about which one of them we put in command at each specific moment…
take care
April 2nd, 2012 at 7:54 pm
Thanks for this page! And my deepest apologies foe those who got scammed. Im going alone next week to budapest, for 7 days, but after much research into this and other scams it has put me off. Ill still likely go, because of the flight and accomodation have been paid for. However, I will NOW take just 30% of my planned budget for this trip and definately no debit/credit card- now I will probably take a mere 240e instead of 800e for the week an do it on such a budget. These idiots are ruining it for everyone I guess- the Budapest economy is suffering because of these things. Ive read many people have decided against going budapest because of these occurences.
April 21st, 2012 at 10:52 pm
I was ripped off,scammed and generally misinformed as soon as I got off the plane,read on the way out to Budapest that they were trying to attract more tourists what a joke,will never go again,and have told all my mates not to go,and anybody else who will listen,paid the tourist tax to leave,would have paid 4 times as much to get out of the shit hole,take care
May 15th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
OK…this happened to me and a mate in July 2011.
these two girls came up to us on the street..same thing asking us to go for drink with them..so we go…place with elevator entrance…we have a few drinks each and bill comes out at $1000!!…we were going to do a runner but a few big guys at door…i looked at my mate and said “that we are getting ripped off..what do we do?…we arent gonna pay”..
we are pretty well trained at kickboxing..i guess it was time to put our skills to the rescue.We simply got up, put $40 on the table and walked for the door.we got stopped by one of the guys who put his hand out..i said dont touch me..other guy stepped in..thats when my mate kicked him in the head and i punched the other bouncer and probably broke his nose..they were both on the floor and everyone in bar was stunned at what we did..we simply walked out the door and no one dared to chase us..THIS IS HOW YOU DEAL WITH SCAMMERS