Yesterday’s Prague Post has a handy article that warns of two common Prague scams: pickpocketing and the “Bulgarian money scam”. The former is self-explanatory, Post staff writer Matt Reynolds describes the latter as “a once-prevalent scam thought to be retiredâ?? street money changers who pass Bulgarian leva off as Czech [korunas].”
The article goes on to explain that “in 1999 Bulgaria lopped three zeros off the leva and gave holders of old bank notes six months to spend them or turn them in. ‘Information has come my way that tens of thousands of invalid leva have come into the Czech Republic,’ said Rudolf Blazek, councillor for security at Prague City Hall. ‘The 2,000 leva note is especially similar to the 2,000 Kc note. They’re both green.’”
Prague has always had a bad reputation for pickpockets, and apparently thieves have gotten more adept at blending in with the crowd, disguising themselves as tourists with “cameras, backpacks – the whole bit.”
The closest I’ve ever come to being pickpocketed was on a crowded metro a couple of years ago. A Laurel & Hardy team – a big thug and a little weasel – sandwiched me, the big guy shoved me a bit to distract me while the little guy made a play for my bag. Fortunately Jitka was onto them immediately and slapped the little guy’s hand away. They left the car at the next station – or so we thought. Before the next stop we heard a North American woman at the other end of the car cry out, “Hey, get away from me, don’t touch that!” but to no avail. The pair had managed to fish her wallet out of her bag as the rest of the crowd stood around dumbfounded.
The number 22 tram is also infamous as a plum line for pickpockets who crowd around their prey and rifle through pockets and bags and purses. I’ve never had a problem on it, touchwood, but then again, I tend to walk a lot when I’m in town.
While I can sort of understand how people can fall victim to pickpockets, especially those that swarm their targets, I’m shocked to hear that tourists are still exchanging money on the street. It’s just something you don’t do. The exchange rates in the kiosks and banks in town are not so bad. Anyone gullible and downright stupid enough to deal with street money changers (all of whom look as shifty as hell) simply deserves to be ripped off, end of story.
The Post article also outlines a few other scams that tourists, and even long-term residents, should be aware of. However, there is no mention of what the police are doing about the problem, if they’re doing anything at all.
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