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A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

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Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#121

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

lopis wrote: post #54
Freak_NL wrote: post #28

The mention of the presence of a Spar supermarket in Europe being a marker for overtouristed areas seems oddly area specific. In most European countries which have them these are bog-standard supermarkets.

Maybe I'm wrong but that's probably only true in DACH and maybe a couple other1 surrounding places. Outside that sphere, the rule does seem to apply that Spar is a mass tourist smell.

In .D(e) SPAR is dead. What can be seen labeled as SPAR, or Spar-Express, 'to go', or whatever, is operated by Edeka and is indeed catering to so called 'captive audiences' in airports, railway-/subway-/metro stations, little kiosks on platforms, gas-/fuel stations, and some larger locations in some downtowns, whose independent owners couldn't be bothered to 'reflag/relabel'. With the exception of the latter, they all have one thing in common: huge prices for common crap.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#122

Post by latchkey »

alephnerd wrote: post #112
latchkey wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Hard Rock Cafe in Saigon, before it closed down, was actually kind of fun (where else would you hear a live Rock coverband in Vietnam?) and the food was decent.

> where else would you hear a live Rock coverband in Vietnam Acoustic Bar and Yoko Cafe in D3

So that’s where they ended up?

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#123

Post by evrimoztamur »

lxgr wrote: post #80
evrimoztamur wrote: post #9

These ATMs are plenty useful for contributing to the local money laundering industry. More signals are unlisted prices, fading storefronts, fluorescent lights. Read more about what’s happening in London https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/oxford-street-candy-sho... It’s not about scamming tourists at its core, it’s about avoiding electronic banking networks and pulling cash back into the system. Disclaimer: Amsterda…

What exactly is the supposed connection between these specific ATMs and money laundering? Nothing in the referenced article mentions ATMs.

Briefly put, it’s not just the ATMs but the shops who launder. No prices makes it easy to lie about intake cash (revenue) which is part real revenue and part dirty cash. Then cook books for costs to extract clean cash.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#124

Post by yankput »

lxgr wrote: post #80
evrimoztamur wrote: post #9

These ATMs are plenty useful for contributing to the local money laundering industry. More signals are unlisted prices, fading storefronts, fluorescent lights. Read more about what’s happening in London https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/oxford-street-candy-sho... It’s not about scamming tourists at its core, it’s about avoiding electronic banking networks and pulling cash back into the system. Disclaimer: Amsterda…

What exactly is the supposed connection between these specific ATMs and money laundering? Nothing in the referenced article mentions ATMs.

Yeah how can you launder money with ATMs, all the cash in and out is accounted for in the system.

They are scam but not for money laundering. Just scam.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#125

Post by alephnerd »

latchkey wrote: post #122
alephnerd wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where else would you hear a live Rock coverband in Vietnam Acoustic Bar and Yoko Cafe in D3

So that’s where they ended up?

Maybe? I was never in Saigon when the Hard Rock Cafe was around. That said, D3 has an amazing arts and culture scene. Lots of hip cafes, art shows, and popups. Plus, because of the large Viet Kieu community back in California, a lot of cultural interchange occurs between the two.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#126

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

izacus wrote: post #31
orwin wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most Europeans citizens use euros so they won't get 'scammed' by euronet ARMs, as the only 'scam' there is currency conversion (and fees if you use an 'out of network bank', so I think if you are at Boa it should be fine)

That's not true at all, Euronet ATMs will happily add 5€+ to your withdrawal - something (local) bank owned ATMs usually don't. There's a reason why they got such a bad reputation.

Yah, well. That's also true for the ATMs in Germany, operated by the 'Sparkasse' (usually big red S) or 'Volksbank/Raiffeisenbank' (usually orange/blue signage) when you want to withdraw cash as customer of the 'Cashgroup' (Deutsche-/Post-/Commerz-/Hypo-Vereinsbank). Hm, k, just 4EUR and 80cents. But still...

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#127

Post by lxgr »

Symbiote wrote: post #87
lxgr wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is the supposed connection between these specific ATMs and money laundering? Nothing in the referenced article mentions ATMs.

I think the method is the shopkeeper receives dodgy cash, and puts that cash in the ATM in their shop. They get a clean €101 when someone makes a withdrawal, and the tourist has no problem spending the money.

I’m pretty sure that’s not how ATMs are operated – how would the operator prevent fake bills from getting dispensed?

Other than that, this would then not be any different from a regular cash deposit, no?

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#128

Post by latchkey »

alephnerd wrote: post #125
latchkey wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that’s where they ended up?

Maybe? I was never in Saigon when the Hard Rock Cafe was around. That said, D3 has an amazing arts and culture scene. Lots of hip cafes, art shows, and popups. Plus, because of the large Viet Kieu community back in California, a lot of cultural interchange occurs between the two.

D3 is the locals "wealthy" area going back to post war days. Many homes there were gifted by the government as a reward. It is indeed a really nice part of town. My partners family lives on Tu Xuong street.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#129

Post by alephnerd »

latchkey wrote: post #128
alephnerd wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe? I was never in Saigon when the Hard Rock Cafe was around. That said, D3 has an amazing arts and culture scene. Lots of hip cafes, art shows, and popups. Plus, because of the large Viet Kieu community back in California, a lot of cultural interchange occurs between the two.

D3 is the locals "wealthy" area going back to post war days. Many homes there were gifted by the government as a reward. It is indeed a really nice part of town. My partners family lives on Tu Xuong street.

Yep! It does have the posh stereotype.

Though it does feel like a lot of energy is moving away from D1/D3 and towards D2/D7 as there's similarly priced property that is newer.

Re: A map of ATMs designed to scam tourists in Europe

#130

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

AussieWog93 wrote: post #115
dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Paypal has this same scam going, but they charge up 6% plus and you'll still get the 3% FTF from your card company.

I do a lot of PayPal stuff and this isn't true. You only get charged their fee (closer to 2-3% for AUD-CNY and AUD-USD) when converting your balance from one currency to another. If your card gets charged in a foreign currency, the bank takes a few but PayPal won't.

I'm talking about using your credit cards through PP, especially the PP branded Mastercard.
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