The fake police story

The problem is not just one for tourists - I have lived in Budapest for over 2 years, and I was hit by what I am sure is the same team.

One Saturday afternoon early in June, about 2.30pm after all the shops were closed, I was walking on deserted Gerlóczy utca near Kamermayer Károly tér, when the "decoy" appeared from nowhere, nicely dressed in a dark blazer and tie, swarthy complexion, neatly combed black hair, about five feet tall, asking if I spoke English and if I knew where a bank was.

He then pulled out his wallet, showed me some Ft 5,000 and Ft 1,000 notes, and asked if I had any Deutschmarks. I too said no and proceed to walk away, when suddenly and also from nowhere (I think from behind some parked cars) the "police" appeared.

One was just under six ft tall and stocky, the other about the same height but skinny; both had swarthy complexions and were casually dressed in plain clothes. The "police" ID`s that they waved at me showed photos of them in dark blue shirts, like an American policeman would wear, with an American-type silver police badge on the left breast pocket.

The stocky one did most of the talking, asking me for my passport; I got a lecture on not changing money on the street, and was asked for my wallet. I had nothing in my wallet but forints, which the stocky one took, pretended to count and then gave back to me.

The skinny one then asked me why I had stopped the decoy! He asked the decoy for his passport, which was a Yugoslav one, andt hen grabbed the decoy by the collar (an "arrest", I assumed) and marched him away.

When those two were out of sight, the stocky one gave me another lecture about not changing money on the street. When I suggested that we go to the police station together, he muttered something I couldn`t understand and walked away in the same direction as the other two had gone.

Source: Budapest Sun, Oct 22-28.

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