It is called “the ATM scam”, a combination of trick and violence. German tourists are the victims.
Hungary and Budapest are generally safe but tourists had better be careful. Buying drugs is never a good idea, and it is especially bad when you do know the local environment.
The Budapest Prosecutor’s Office has charged six men with group robbery, who obtained money by both trickery and violence, according to a statement issued a few days ago.
According to the documents, the six Hungarian men, aged between 26 and 32, decided to obtain money by criminal means.
Three of them approached a group of German friends on the street in Erzsébetváros (the party district of the Hungarian capital) in Budapest, saying they had drugs for sale.
The conversation was in English.
As the Germans did not have the 30,000 forints in cash, one of the local men suggested that they take the money from a nearby ATM.
It turned out that they were preparing an ATM scam.
When the victim started the operation at the ATM, two criminals were standing next to him. When the victim entered the PIN code, one of them interrupted him and entered a withdrawal of HUF 300,000 instead of HUF 30,000.
The other offenders secured the scene nearby by watching the victim’s friends and distracting them.
The victim saw his “escort” take the money from the ATM and put it in his pocket, but when he asked for the money he was pushed against the wall.
As the threatening criminals were clearly outnumbered, the Germans decided to leave the scene.
The police later caught up with the perpetrators and are now charging them with gang robbery, which carries a prison sentence of 5-10 years in Hungary.
The prosecutor’s office has released a CCTV-based video related to the case. The German man being escorted to the ATM is marked with a green arrow, while the criminals are marked with a red arrow. They can be seen meeting and leading the group to the ATM.
The criminals are then seen walking quickly down the street and one of them counts the money he has taken.
