CONS YOU MUST BE AWARE OF IN ISTANBUL

INVITATION FOR A DRINK

Do not let your guard off when a stranger approaches you specially around Sultanahmet Train Station, and make you all kinds of offers such as inviting you to a shop or to an entertainment place, this is a serious crime level of con, as you will find your self ended up in a club where your money will be taken away from you either by force or making you pay a huge sum of bill.

Once you step in, you will have no choice but to pay.

All starts with a friendly approach of a well dressed man in the public. Tell him you are with your friends which you will meet up soon, and you can't make any decissions without consulting them, good bye.

BANKNOTES EXCHANGE

Usually this con is practised by the Taxi Drivers. Lets say you have picked a Taxi from a destination to your Hotel, you have handed over a 50 Euro to pay, the driver will do a quick hand trick to distract or divert your attention, then suddenly this 50 euro did become a 50 Turkish Lira.

No matter how much you do argue, you will loose the argument that the fact of you have actually handed over 50 euro banknote.

The best way of avoiding this discusting con is to book your Taxi from your Hotel Reception or if you are arriving to Istanbul, then book your Airport Transfer online prior to your flight.

VAT SCAMS

Lets say you have purchased something valuable such as a Carpet or Jewellery.

You will be told that you will be charged Value added Tax which is 18% on top of the aggreed price, however you will be assured by the sales person that you will be able to get it back by optaining a tax refund at the Airport. The way they explain it is very convincing as partly what the salesman is telling you is correct.

Provided he does not Con You by making you sign a peace of paper saying that you have allready did optain the tax refund for the goods you have purchased.

Usually due to trusting the Salesperson, customers do find out after examining the papers closely at the airport that they have actually scammed.

You can avoid this by reading the document in a language that you do understand and simply not signing a document that you do not understand what is it saying, and if it says that you have been paid the tax-refund, make sure you have the money in hand before you sign anything.

AIRPORT TAXI SCAMS

At the airports of Istanbul, especialy in Ataturk airport passengers usually do get approached by unofficial Taxi drivers whom offering good deals, however often it has been reported that the passengers do get ripped-off in the end.

Driver usually drives around alot longer then usuall, pretending he does not know the area well or simply requests great sum of cash from the passengers by threatning them. It has beed reported that sometimes they dump the passenger in the middle of somewhere -nowhere in Istanbul.

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