Tourists Warned Of Scams, Assaults In Latvian Capital Riga
Riga, Latvia: Enter at your own risk
OTTAWA — The Foreign Affairs Department is warning tourists heading to Latvia to watch out for scam artists operating in bars in the capital, Riga.
In an online travel advisory, the department says there have been reports of tourists being pressured to pay exorbitant prices for drinks.
"Some tourists have been assaulted, threatened or forced to withdraw cash from bank machines to pay the bill," according to the advisory.
The Baltic Times Newspaper, based in Riga, recently reported that the scams were on the rise in the city's bars and restaurants. Tourists from Finland alone have been defrauded of more than C$150,000 in total, said police.
Similar warnings and first-person accounts can be found on travel forums.
On the TravBuddy website, a male traveller posted an account of meeting a woman in downtown Riga: "She took me into this club and when I was inside I was handed a bill for around . . . US$300. I asked what it was for and the guy said so that I could live tomorrow."
Comments
Things like these exists in many major tourist areas. In my opinion, it is rather unfair to single out Riga.
AWARE OF GOING THERE! British embassy has warned them citizens through the bbc. More than 800 visitors have been victims (have been beaten up and robbed) as the official information says and this is just a part of that what the government cant hide and everything you can read in comments down which includes email addresses, phone numbers, names of the bars and nightclubs, its all commercials written by local people themselves and it is just hidden organized criminality what they have share from. And if u turn to them, its just a waste of ur time. And what I have experienced myself and my other friends, we can say easy racism and criminality is not only in this uncivilized society, it is even in government, that every smart journalist can investigate easily. And anybody who dont believe, go and find it out urself (should this country be the member of EU and therefore allowed to this citizens to come to ur country? Decision is up to u).
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