Especially in Istanbul, one must be extra cautious, a busy cosmopolitan city.
In the area of Sultanahmet, probably the central neighbourhood of the tourists, crooks are frequently operating. You will be approached by an ordinary, usually well-dressed man with a reasonable average level of English. He will start to chat with you; he will look genuine and have a friendly personality.
During the conversation, he will mention a place where something nice is going on or invite you to have just one drink with him. At this stage, you should say no to his invitation and be firm or say that you are waiting for your friends and you can make a decision only by consulting them. He has to manage to take you eventually to a private club. To gain your trust, he might take you to a place nearby in a public area where he will buy the drinks; then he will offer to take you to this lovely club.
Once you are in there, you will be greeted and seated in the most friendly way. A bottle of an expensive drink will arrive; if you are a bloke, women will be placed next to you; these women are part of the scam, and every glass will be billed to you. Eventually, you would like to leave so that the bill will arrive and your eyes will pop out of your skull. This is the moment where everything turns nasty.
You will likely have an objection to the bill; therefore, you will be taken to the manager’s office to discuss and solve the matter. Once you are at the back of his office, you will be forced to pay the bill no matter how big. If you do not have enough cash, you will again be taken to a Cash Machine nearby by force. Don’t think for a moment that you can get your way out of this. These are dangerous men, pay it and walk away.
If you are thinking of reporting to the police and maybe getting your money back with the help of the police, please let us know the result so I can say, “hurray, it works”.
The other common serious crime is the assaults in Dolmushes operating in rural Istanbul by several men simultaneously.
Imagine standing in a Dolmush in Istanbul; everything is fine, then a few men get into the dolmush on one of the stops. They look around and pick you, as you are the tourist, and they will squash you in front of people and pull your wallet and everything you got on you just as the dolmush stops.
It will happen quickly; if you fight back, they will pull you out at the next stop and beat you up. Police did manage to crack down on these; however, they still happen more than occasionally.
Advice is don’t go to rural areas without a tour guide.
Syrian gangs and other refugees from neighbouring countries commit the most serious crimes.
