Second Night in Riga, Latvia: Scam
Second Night in Riga, Latvia: Scam
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So, I wake up nice and refreshed in Riga, Latvia. Do some roadwork, shadow box a little and jump some rope by the Daugava.
I get in a good dose of aquatherapy, throw on some fresh gear and go into a Street Game session (which is kind of like The Crack Game).
I am literally amazed by the amount of open fly girls on the streets. High heels. Cobblestones. Short Skirts. Cold.
I approach five different girls and get two sets of numbers. Decent. (I will get more into Street Game in Riga a little later.)
Get some work done, take a little Vampire Nap and head out into the cold and beautiful evil that is nighttime in Riga.
I have some decent Data Sheets of bars I accumulated from some people and I decide to check them out.
It’s Wednesday night, and Riga seems curiously dead. I check out three or four spots that were recommended to me, and they all turn out to be airballs. (Typical, as not everyone comes through with the bulletproof Data Sheets like The G Manifesto. My Riga, Latvia nightclub/bar Data Sheets coming soon.)
I grab a Kebab and switch up my buzz. As I walk down the main street, two pretty fly girls check me out and step to me in transition.
“How are you?” I say.
“Why you speak in English?”, one of the fly girls says.
“I am from California. American.” I respond.
“Oh, good.” Both Latvian/Russian girls say. Although the reaction is more of a “Oh, good.”, like “Ok“. Not a pre-George Bush “Oh, good.” which ment “Cool, I am really interested in getting to know you and swoop you”.
The trap is set.
Let me back up a minute:
I had heard before about the scams in Riga where girls try to get you to go to a bar and then you get overcharged, but I am not thinking about this now.
So you don’t fall victim to this one, here is how the scam goes down:
1. Fly girls step to you, and invite you to a bar that they like.
2. You get mad overcharged.
3. You argue about the bill.
4. Russian Thugs jump you and beat you senseless until you give up your PIN #.
Smooth scam. And I fell for it. And I was even warned about it previously.
But then again, I am the perfect “Mark” for a scam such as this as my Ego is huge and two fly girls stepping to me happens all the time, so it didn’t give off any red flags.
Here is another thing about me: Money has very little value.
I am a complete moron when it comes to money. I have had a certain ability to make it my whole life, but I have also hadan equal ability to lose it. Sort of like Mike Tyson.
In the spirit of this, I didn’t even bother to check out the exchange rates between Latvian Lats to USD before I rolled out for the evening.
And for some reason, I was thinking in my head it was 2 USD to 1 LVL. But in reality it is 1 LVL to .5 USD.
So these girls were showing me around and we got some food and drinks. When I got the bill, I noticed it was a little expensive, but not knowing the exchange rates, I was actually doubly hustled.
(I found this out the next day. Oh well. I will Charge it to The Game. You can keep the change, but I got to hold on to my receipt.)
After partying with these girls for a while, I end up ditching them for some other fly girls and end up raging till 6am. I think I actually got scammed again, but didn’t realize it again. Full idiot move.
Did end up with some decent leads though.
But just like that, I go 0-2 in Riga, Latvia.
(Well, technically, I am 0-2 on swooping girls. But I am 1-0 on the physical confrontation tip after that judo throw the night before.)
Click Here for The G Manifesto’s Gentleman’s Club Report
Click Here 007 Lifestyle – Living Like James Bond!
The Rest is Up to You…
Michael Porfirio Mason
AKA The Peoples Champ
AKA GFK, Jr.
AKA The Sly, Slick and the Wicked
AKA The Voodoo Child
The Guide to Getting More out of Life
http://www.thegmanifesto.com
LAY AWAY / THE ISLEY BROTHERS
17/10/2010 at 2:45 pm Permalink
Brutal scam G. Thanks for letting us know about it. You really are “for the people”. In all honesty, I would have probably fallen for it as well.
17/10/2010 at 6:19 pm Permalink
You know … Those two exchange rates are the same…
17/10/2010 at 6:31 pm Permalink
If you had a choice, which country in Europe could you see yourself “living in” long-term? Long-term meaning for 6-12 months a year, every year.
18/10/2010 at 6:24 am Permalink
Eleven,
Thanks. Fixed it. I told you I had trouble with currencies.
– MPM
18/10/2010 at 6:26 am Permalink
Samurai,
Excellent question. I have been working most of my life trying to find the answer.
I will touch more on this soon.
– MPM
18/10/2010 at 6:35 am Permalink
Brian G,
Yeah, hopefully I will save some others from making the same mistake.
That is why we do it around here. It’s never for ourselves. Its always “For The People”.
You would think people would be a little more thankful.
Ha.
– MPM
18/10/2010 at 11:17 am Permalink
“2 LVL to 1 USD. But in reality it is 1 LVL to .5 USD.”
These are the same.
18/10/2010 at 12:43 pm Permalink
Michael,
I dig the attitude. The Game can throw you a mean left jab every now and then. But you just have to return the favor ten-fold, as I trust you did later on.
Keep it up.
18/10/2010 at 12:49 pm Permalink
I got pulled in by this one a couple years ago… Now I feel like I’m in good company though if even MPM got tripped up by some shady Latvian girls.
18/10/2010 at 1:01 pm Permalink
Phillip Zardono,
Yeah, its only money, I certainly have gotten as good as I have given in life where that it concerned.
The Game is a warzone when you are in the trenches night in, night out.
– MPM
18/10/2010 at 1:02 pm Permalink
Justin,
Ha. I think many have been hustled by this one but just don’t admit it.
Hell, I was warned about it and still got hustled.
I don’t know how any red-blooded American male who wouldn’t.
– MPM
18/10/2010 at 3:03 pm Permalink
No worries, even Jordan took an L every now and then. Just play big in the finals.
15/02/2011 at 4:15 am Permalink
I spend alot of time in tallinn but avoid latvia becuase the scam you described is so common. There is a statistical shortage of girls in latvia and lithuania but it can be dark and dangerous. If you have not been to tallinn yet i have some tips for wheb tou get there.
26/02/2012 at 2:30 pm Permalink
Brilliant Gentlemens Club
Baumana 9
Riga
Tlf.: +37 167287815
VISA signature: Brilliant-Nakts klubs
Be happy if you still have money at your account after a visit here.
I have got a transaction overview from DNB bank about an incidente from a weekendtrip to Riga:
From card: 4925055001453941
Acceptorname: BRILLIANT-NAKTS KLUBS RIGA
All in local valuta.
2012-02-11 02:05:10 250,00 LV Acceptet transaction
2012-02-11 02:54:25 1075,70 LV Accepted transaction
2012-02-11 03:27:44 795,80 LV Accepted transaction
2012-02-11 04:08:16 772,80 LV Not accepted transaction (not enough at account)
2012-02-11 04:09:41 700,00 LV Not accepted transaction (not enough at account)
2012-02-11 04:10:18 600,00 LV Accepted transaction
I was not consciously after two friendly people from Donagans pub visited my hotelroom until I woke up at the middle of the day with my Visa-card intact at the room.
I found it was a problem when I tried to withdraw money the same day.
Congratulaten to this Club who managed to emty my account for about 3500 EUR. As you see the last transaction was tried severel times until they found an amount the account could cover.
Comment from an unhappy visitor to Riga from Canada:
Planned to spend two days in Riga – went to strip club, got drunk and they robbed me of passport and $8000 from credit card – avoid this city if you want to party.
Took me 5 days to leave because I was without Canadian Visa.
I went to the police and they basically lectured me and told me drinking was a “sin” – I’ll never return.
andrey Canada
30/03/2012 at 7:35 am Permalink
i did not joke u,so, dont say it about RIGA;)