@Too Legit To Quit I was a little tipsy and got scammed. Because I never expected this kind of scam to take place in heart of London. I informed the police but they didn't do anything. As soon as they approached, they all disappeared for 5 minutes and returned to play again. One of the Romanians approached me to say that he will throw me out of bridge if I don't leave now.
@Too Legit To Quit if I were sober I wouldn't play obviously. It was like seeing food and not realizing it's poisoned. It's not a game because he picks up a ball. How can you ever win? Even if you win they will definitely attack you.
I was in London in December and was surprised at how many of these scammers populated this crowded bridge. I have already heard that there are decoys who pretend to play there. Anyway, there were many people standing in front of these cups scammers. As soon as a police car drove onto the bridge, these scammers quickly packed up their stuff, as soon as the police were out of sight, they went straight on. This trick is very old, I'm surprised people still fall for it.
yeh try breaking the speed limit by 4 mph in London, you will soon feel the full weight of the law on your shoulders, come from some foreign country and steal from our valuable tourist friends and you will just be ignored.....go figure
@@adenwellsmith6908 Do you really need the police to sort this out? This is a video, on the world's biggest platform, explaining it's a scam. The trick has been around for thousands of years If you can't be bothered to spend 10 seconds looking it up, you will loe your money some other way. Maybe at the magic beans stall down the road?
Around 8 to 10 of the ppl around him are in on the scam. If you walk past them and come back an hour later you will see the same ppl standing around him 'winning' or ' losing'
R A it is incredibly fun to watch! The way they set up the scam, the positioning, the exchange of money between the hands. The best part is watching when the scammed person tries to get their money back... the slight of hand, the money disappears through so many hands. Amazing
You are right,Even though I hate what they are doing it is fascinating to watch.Only yesterday I spent a good 30 minutes watching 2 groups of them on Westminster bridge scamming people,A poor Swedish man lost a good few hundred.
Zeke, Same can be said for any betting shop, Gambling should be completely outlawed as it serves no purpose besides ruining the lives of thousands of people and their families.
The irony is that they're doing this RIGHT outside the houses of parliament.. I see every time I go to London and police even walk idolly past them. Disgusting stuff
It's not the policies fault the Bridges owned by Lambeth Council to enforce the by law on st gambling, which occasionally every couple of months they do.... DO YOU REALLY THINK IF WESTMINSTER COUNCIL HAD OWNERSHIP OF THAT BRIDGE THOSE THINGS WOULD BE GOING ON😂🤣🤫 ONE DAY THEY WILL BE SHOPS ALONG THAT BRIDGE Remember what I have said🤫
I got arguing with a group of these about a year ago. I was recording everything they were doing and some of the other ‘betters’ in the crowd started getting aggressive saying I shouldn’t record. I was like lol stfu I can record whatever I want. They packed up within a few mins and moved and so I went and recorded the other group doing it, they did the same thing then they left. I spoke to some of the police outside westminister palace and they didn’t seem that bothered about stopping them
@@joshky121 You cant get it right, its impossible. Its an old magic trick the ball is palmed as the cups are shuffled, and placed under one of the cups you didn't pick after you have chosen. Nobody wins except the scammer, as its a scam. All these "get rich quick" street games are cons for the gullible.
I remember seeing these guys five feet apart from each other when I was in London last year. Only the tourists would get conned by this. There was one guy, who was local, and was like "I'll put £20 on it!!!". I pretty much knew he was in on the scam since locals aren't stupid enough to be taken in by this.
Saw a Chinese tourist hand over £140 to them today, should have seen his face when there was no ball under his chosen cup. Scammers packed up and left within split seconds. Felt sorry for the guy but his greed got the better of him.
I saw this being done in Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie. As soon as I took out my camera, they took off, a group of about 5 people. Why do people think they can win? They can't.
When I was in Paris these dickheads tried to play this stunt on a Chinese couple so I came over and said open your hand it’s in your hand and he wouldn’t open his hand. Thankfully this was enough to save the Chinese couple from getting robbed
used to have the same scam where im from, so they put up posters with pictures of the guys around the places they stayed at saying not to participate. Havent seen em for years now
4 years later and still its a problem, right on the doorstep of Scotland Yard headquarters. It really is tragic that tourists get fleeced and nothing is done about it for years. They could put up CCTV on the lampposts at the very least to record all the crimes going on and gather data on the perpetrators, but then they would actually have to do some work to approach the bridge from both ends and arrest them all.
Some people really are stupid. Why would you gamble on the side of a road with someone you don’t even know. Get your ass to work, this isn’t going to set you for life.
Me and my girlfriend were there earlier this month for a few days, we literally walked up Westminster bridge after being at the dungeons and walked past about 8 of these people doing the same exact scam, hilarious how people fall for this!!
I’ll be 50 next year. I’m a lifelong New Yorker and dudes were running this scam here back in the 70’s and 80’s. I just figured at this point that everyone knew it was a scam. I stand corrected.
These gambling needs to be stopped. Many tourists come with limited money with them and these idiots cheat them. I had the experience on losing my money. Thanks to BBC news for publishing these type of video so that it would reach many people and the public don’t take a chance of losing their money.
Presumably these tourists are bright enough to get a passport, book a hotel, catch a flight and go on Google to see what to do in London. But when it comes to spending 10 seconds checking out 'cup and ball scam', they suddenly forget how to use the internet? Come in...nobody wants to see people ripped off, but people have to take some responsibility. I've seen £200 trainers for £15 when I've been on holiday...I never for one second think they are genuine.
Still happening in 2020, or at least it was early this year (haven't been there since March). Seen them many times in High St North, a few metres down the road from the Station
Ive seen this scam happen before on Westminster bridge its crazy how people can fall for it. At the same time my 6year old friend got approached by another lady on the bridge preaching to her and handing something out(i didnt quite see what it was because i grabbed my friends hand said thanks bye and we all walked off quickly)If you are a tourist in a city or popular destination please, please, please, stay safe, be cautious and get of your phones!!!!
Good theory, but police make a lot of money in their job and they are many of them around , also the scammers has to share their money, then impossible to give to police too
I have seen this a lot in London street, I think it's usually run by some European people. The first time I saw it I just knew it's almost like a magic trick, so it is impossible to win the magician in their own tricks. But it is not just run by one person, there will be team, one person will lead the game, others team members act like playing games as costumers to make it look like real, they sometime pretend to lose and sometime win and that's just to attract other real costumers passing by. The funny part is that when members from their team play it, they make it look real easy when they move things around, you can actually easily see and guess where is that thing hidden. But as soon as it's the public playing that's when the magic starts, you can't easily see and guess where is the thing hidden and the public just ended up losing. How I figured it out because I saw one same group in north london and everytime they play this game on the street, there is always 4 or 5 same people around because they work as a team, one will be leading game, others will be acting like costumers.
The bridge is full of them. I was there just two weeks ago and they were trying to get me play. He even stuck £50 in my hand … I didn’t understand that part of the scam so I gave him money back ….
They don't put the ball into the cup instead they keep the ball in their hand. when u bet there won't be any ball but to make u believe there was a cup with a ball, after they take your money they put the ball into the no bet cup and show you. There is zero chance of winning.
This has been going on for years I remember going into London as a child in the 60s and seeing this and find the queen card trick. But the biggest con trick in London is the one where you pay to drive though London
To be honest, I'd say which ones doesn't have the balls and so the last one should have the ball. He's obliged to give the money if he doesn't want people know he's cheating... But those scumbags will find a lame excuse to not reveal the ones you've chosen but will prefer to designate the unchosen one and break your trick.
It seems that's not long enough for people to learn it's a trick. Maybe hundreds of clips on the world's biggest video platform would help people out? Erm..nope. 😂
how come they keep coming back in the same spot on that bridge everyday if theyre been arrested they scam loads of tourest like the one in paris as a regular visitor in london i see them every week same person.
Went past them, it was pretty easy to pick up on their slight of hand tricks. Coulda won big if I bothered playing into the scam. Saw the people winning they all looked like family members...they also plant people around to pick pocket while you stand around.... also it's still happening on waterloo bridge so clearly the action isnt working....
It’s all planned. Read the Kalergi plan and the Frankfurt School 11 point plan. NOT some nutjob theorist nonsense- it’s happening NOW. Spread the word.
Subscribe to BBC London here: bit.ly/2Gd18gB
😮
We got Romanian translater...LMAO
it was just an act from BBC they got non
@AngloSaxon. So you'll travel the whole way to Romania just to steal goats and old Adidas tracksuits?
Tommy Sheldock, No no, just travel into places like Barking and Dagenham.
It is non-stop on London Bridge, Westminster bridge and southbank. I’ve never seen police doing anything about it.
Too Legit To Quit this has been going on for years lol it’s not something new
Too Legit To Quit I know a millionaire that lost to this scam 😂😂😂
Too Legit To Quit some people just don’t use they’re heads
@Too Legit To Quit I was a little tipsy and got scammed. Because I never expected this kind of scam to take place in heart of London. I informed the police but they didn't do anything. As soon as they approached, they all disappeared for 5 minutes and returned to play again. One of the Romanians approached me to say that he will throw me out of bridge if I don't leave now.
@Too Legit To Quit if I were sober I wouldn't play obviously. It was like seeing food and not realizing it's poisoned. It's not a game because he picks up a ball. How can you ever win? Even if you win they will definitely attack you.
If anybody fools for this type of scam they must be the biggest mugs going
If the victims are happy to collect money if they win they should take a loss aswell lol, obviously there is going to be some slight of hand going on
you would be surprised how many people do aswell
@@guitarstaraces746 the thing is there is no chance to win at all, the hassler won't let you
Mad World
As in they don't pay up if get it right? Then it's a big problem
@@guitarstaraces746 you just CAN'T get it right, that's the problem
Please ask the police or Westminster council to put signs on both ends of the bridge, warning tourists of Scammers! ❤
I was in London in December and was surprised at how many of these scammers populated this crowded bridge.
I have already heard that there are decoys who pretend to play there. Anyway, there were many people standing in front of these cups scammers. As soon as a police car drove onto the bridge, these scammers quickly packed up their stuff, as soon as the police were out of sight, they went straight on.
This trick is very old, I'm surprised people still fall for it.
yeh try breaking the speed limit by 4 mph in London, you will soon feel the full weight of the law on your shoulders, come from some foreign country and steal from our valuable tourist friends and you will just be ignored.....go figure
They still fall for it because the police won't deal with them. Something to do with that little bit on the side in a brown envelope.
what once was old eventually becomes new again ;)
@@adenwellsmith6908
Do you really need the police to sort this out? This is a video, on the world's biggest platform, explaining it's a scam. The trick has been around for thousands of years If you can't be bothered to spend 10 seconds looking it up, you will loe your money some other way. Maybe at the magic beans stall down the road?
Around 8 to 10 of the ppl around him are in on the scam.
If you walk past them and come back an hour later you will see the same ppl standing around him 'winning' or ' losing'
R A it is incredibly fun to watch! The way they set up the scam, the positioning, the exchange of money between the hands. The best part is watching when the scammed person tries to get their money back... the slight of hand, the money disappears through so many hands. Amazing
You are right,Even though I hate what they are doing it is fascinating to watch.Only yesterday I spent a good 30 minutes watching 2 groups of them on Westminster bridge scamming people,A poor Swedish man lost a good few hundred.
Why even bet on something so stupid? Those people are practically asking to be scammed.
Zeke, Same can be said for any betting shop, Gambling should be completely outlawed as it serves no purpose besides ruining the lives of thousands of people and their families.
@@TheSniper9752I personally don't mind a fiver for Chelsea to win, but this is inherently a really stupid game to play
Peer pressure all those beliefs like fomo and yolo seeing people win they fall for it the scam is not made for intelligent people
No deterrent is being enforced whatsoever.
The irony is that they're doing this RIGHT outside the houses of parliament.. I see every time I go to London and police even walk idolly past them. Disgusting stuff
They are still here mate I see them everyday...too much human rights mate!!
It's not the policies fault the Bridges owned by Lambeth Council to enforce the by law on st gambling, which occasionally every couple of months they do....
DO YOU REALLY THINK IF WESTMINSTER COUNCIL HAD OWNERSHIP OF THAT BRIDGE THOSE THINGS WOULD BE GOING ON😂🤣🤫
ONE DAY THEY WILL BE SHOPS ALONG THAT BRIDGE
Remember what I have said🤫
As long as it's not white people gambling, the police don't care!
I got arguing with a group of these about a year ago. I was recording everything they were doing and some of the other ‘betters’ in the crowd started getting aggressive saying I shouldn’t record. I was like lol stfu I can record whatever I want. They packed up within a few mins and moved and so I went and recorded the other group doing it, they did the same thing then they left.
I spoke to some of the police outside westminister palace and they didn’t seem that bothered about stopping them
tell them you are Albanian they scare to death from Albanians, Police should get some albanians from jail to deal with scamers
They wouldn’t have this problem if they started throwing them over the bridge.
Been to London so many times and it's unreal how many people fall for this
Londonder here..Still they are here mate!!
Suckers are a dime a dozen
You're paying to see a magic trick.
Nah, they pay to see if they guess which cup it's under, in which I'm assuming they would get more money if guessed correctly
I fell for this scam
Wasted 50£
@@skrillz_14th yeh they double ur money if u get it right
@@joshky121 You cant get it right, its impossible. Its an old magic trick the ball is palmed as the cups are shuffled, and placed under one of the cups you didn't pick after you have chosen. Nobody wins except the scammer, as its a scam. All these "get rich quick" street games are cons for the gullible.
This is also a Scam in Paris. Where they do it near the Eiffel Tower
yes and my friend lost 150 euro
Capital cities have fallen, get out of them.
I remember seeing these guys five feet apart from each other when I was in London last year. Only the tourists would get conned by this. There was one guy, who was local, and was like "I'll put £20 on it!!!". I pretty much knew he was in on the scam since locals aren't stupid enough to be taken in by this.
Let s guess why the police is not interested to arrest the scammers? £££
@@janzam A hen which lays Golden eggs!
I love driving pass in my van and shouting
its a scam.
Hahha kicked one of their cups by accident, went straight in the river
Good job CIA
Hero
Good
A fool and his money are easily parted
1 dislike from Romanian scammer I guess lol
It's still going on. Lmbeth Council and the Met need to pull their fingers out.
Saw a Chinese tourist hand over £140 to them today, should have seen his face when there was no ball under his chosen cup. Scammers packed up and left within split seconds. Felt sorry for the guy but his greed got the better of him.
No wonder we voted for Brexit.
But diversity is our strength
That's not why lol Brexit was for people who didn't want to change to the EU's system (euros, km/h)
@@alial-hashemi4272 Irony is we're probably going to adopt the Euro if we leave within the half century.
chukapee - brexit won’t help dumbàss! They’ll still come in the country
A B, Come to east London and tell me that again.
I saw this being done in Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie. As soon as I took out my camera, they took off, a group of about 5 people. Why do people think they can win? They can't.
4 years later and theres dozens of these groups still operating in the same place in broad daylight!
Well done Sadiq!
Thank you BBC. The most important interview for tourist be carefully
290 penalty notices none paid.
In Paris they have the same trick on show beside the Eiffel Tower.
4 years later and there's more than ever including pickpockets
When I was in Paris these dickheads tried to play this stunt on a Chinese couple so I came over and said open your hand it’s in your hand and he wouldn’t open his hand. Thankfully this was enough to save the Chinese couple from getting robbed
why blur their faces? they are scammers
Stamp on the cups!😂😂
used to have the same scam where im from, so they put up posters with pictures of the guys around the places they stayed at saying not to participate. Havent seen em for years now
SEND ALL CRIMINALS BACK.
I saw a guy switch the balls and guessed the one he switched too and he wasn’t dry happy
i first saw this in 2006 from the real hustle on BBC 3
Yup
it always good to look out for these line of work, i am watching people like a hawk, thank you
If you are daft enough to stop and take part and give money then you deserve to be scammed to be honest...nobody is forcing anyone to play this..
Good for you! The whole country is behind you.
"These games are a con and that the person running the con always wins" Sounds like a casino to me!
Yes, casino is bad too , but at least that's legal , this is illegal and is in front of police and in 2024 still they didn't fix anything...
The difference is is that there are people who win in the casino, the casino is not scamming you they are just playing the odds.
This scam game is used everywhere. I’ve seen it being played here in Dublin, Ireland. I can’t remember the name of it but it’s been used a long time.
Why are you hiding their identities show them for what they are scammers
4 years later and still its a problem, right on the doorstep of Scotland Yard headquarters. It really is tragic that tourists get fleeced and nothing is done about it for years. They could put up CCTV on the lampposts at the very least to record all the crimes going on and gather data on the perpetrators, but then they would actually have to do some work to approach the bridge from both ends and arrest them all.
Not as big a scam as the TV licence
Oof!!!
The bridge is such a dump
And the police are not interested in stopping them.
If you tell a nearby cop about it they tell you to phone 101 and they tell you they will phone you back in three days.
This has been going on for many many years
Some people really are stupid. Why would you gamble on the side of a road with someone you don’t even know. Get your ass to work, this isn’t going to set you for life.
Me and my girlfriend were there earlier this month for a few days, we literally walked up Westminster bridge after being at the dungeons and walked past about 8 of these people doing the same exact scam, hilarious how people fall for this!!
As long as there's stupid people around there will always be scammers.
They issues fixed penelty notices... And none get paid because Romanian people keep changing their address
I’ll be 50 next year. I’m a lifelong New Yorker and dudes were running this scam here back in the 70’s and 80’s. I just figured at this point that everyone knew it was a scam. I stand corrected.
Nigel was right.
Guy Fawkes had the right idea!
These gambling needs to be stopped. Many tourists come with limited money with them and these idiots cheat them. I had the experience on losing my money. Thanks to BBC news for publishing these type of video so that it would reach many people and the public don’t take a chance of losing their money.
Presumably these tourists are bright enough to get a passport, book a hotel, catch a flight and go on Google to see what to do in London. But when it comes to spending 10 seconds checking out 'cup and ball scam', they suddenly forget how to use the internet?
Come in...nobody wants to see people ripped off, but people have to take some responsibility. I've seen £200 trainers for £15 when I've been on holiday...I never for one second think they are genuine.
Cups and balls is not gambling, its stealing.
Nicked this from the real hustle. Can't even think of his own scams..
This scam is older than dirt, to be fair; it predates the Real Hustle by millenia. It dates back at least to Ancient Greece.
Surely it’s a job for Dynarod or Rentokil?! A stones throw from Scotland Yard and parliament as well.
this was happening in East Ham in 2010!!!
Ayztv I saw in Green Street
Still happening in 2020, or at least it was early this year (haven't been there since March). Seen them many times in High St North, a few metres down the road from the Station
This has been goin on in Berlin for years
also been done in Naples, Piazza Garibaldi, October 2022 - exactly the same strategy
And the ones winning are all Romanian.
Odd that.
They’re still in the same spot 2 weeks ago 😂
feeling really culturally enriched after watching this
Chucky arla.
Man was walking across this bridge. Heard one say £60 quid to watch
Ive seen this scam happen before on Westminster bridge its crazy how people can fall for it. At the same time my 6year old friend got approached by another lady on the bridge preaching to her and handing something out(i didnt quite see what it was because i grabbed my friends hand said thanks bye and we all walked off quickly)If you are a tourist in a city or popular destination please, please, please, stay safe, be cautious and get of your phones!!!!
softies.
Police just aren't interested 😢
My dream would be giving them counterfelt money.
All you need is 1 police officer on the bridge during the day. Problem solved. But that's too easy for government to handle.
Been going on for years, should just get someone to hose them down whenever they set up, would definitely be harsher punishments back in Romania
I guess they pay some of it to the cops.
Good theory, but police make a lot of money in their job and they are many of them around , also the scammers has to share their money, then impossible to give to police too
Thankss bbc
It makes you wonder why the police haven't caught these scammers.
Broo just arrest them
I walked on this bridge there were about 20 different people doing it. Most of them shouting PICK THIS ONE
I have seen this a lot in London street, I think it's usually run by some European people. The first time I saw it I just knew it's almost like a magic trick, so it is impossible to win the magician in their own tricks. But it is not just run by one person, there will be team, one person will lead the game, others team members act like playing games as costumers to make it look like real, they sometime pretend to lose and sometime win and that's just to attract other real costumers passing by. The funny part is that when members from their team play it, they make it look real easy when they move things around, you can actually easily see and guess where is that thing hidden. But as soon as it's the public playing that's when the magic starts, you can't easily see and guess where is the thing hidden and the public just ended up losing. How I figured it out because I saw one same group in north london and everytime they play this game on the street, there is always 4 or 5 same people around because they work as a team, one will be leading game, others will be acting like costumers.
It's gypsies mostly Bulgarian or Romanian.
The ones in Westminster would do this while there friend pickpocket you while your drawn in
Correct
Still going on. Today they were beside the Westminster Bridge underpass / steps. £50's handed over like candy!!
I know very well to stay away from this game. I grew up in Zimbabwe with this game. They would exactly do that and mislead people 😂😂😂😂
Lived in London for a little while and those Romanians are there near enough every day with huge crowds... It’s awful
The bridge is full of them. I was there just two weeks ago and they were trying to get me play. He even stuck £50 in my hand … I didn’t understand that part of the scam so I gave him money back ….
They don't put the ball into the cup instead they keep the ball in their hand. when u bet there won't be any ball but to make u believe there was a cup with a ball, after they take your money they put the ball into the no bet cup and show you. There is zero chance of winning.
This has been going on for years I remember going into London as a child in the 60s and seeing this and find the queen card trick. But the biggest con trick in London is the one where you pay to drive though London
put it into .25x speed at the start and you can see when/how he palms the ball
Anyone who falls for this deserves to loose their money.
They say they have issued fixed penalty notices….but how much of these fixed notices have been paid?
Still going on in 2024
''peepole''needed to look not at the cups but at their hands.
This also happens in San Francisco
They're still there. There's one every ten feet.
Old kung Fu movies teach you that this is old school scam 👊🏼
To be honest, I'd say which ones doesn't have the balls and so the last one should have the ball. He's obliged to give the money if he doesn't want people know he's cheating...
But those scumbags will find a lame excuse to not reveal the ones you've chosen but will prefer to designate the unchosen one and break your trick.
Lazy journalism. Wow, you exposed something that’s being going on since 2500bc.
HAhahaha
It seems that's not long enough for people to learn it's a trick. Maybe hundreds of clips on the world's biggest video platform would help people out? Erm..nope. 😂
Those initial bets are his own gang. The purpose is to tempt & lure the passerby to bet and these suckers will lose big time..
how come they keep coming back in the same spot on that bridge everyday if theyre been arrested they scam loads of tourest like the one in paris
as a regular visitor in london i see them every week same person.
Went past them, it was pretty easy to pick up on their slight of hand tricks. Coulda won big if I bothered playing into the scam. Saw the people winning they all looked like family members...they also plant people around to pick pocket while you stand around.... also it's still happening on waterloo bridge so clearly the action isnt working....
mark
Any better? I think they still performing on this bridge
Being doing it in Leyton by the Asda for years
U got 2b a right ding dong 2 hand over ur money 😂
i lost 180 pounds to that☺️☺️ but learnt a lesson
It's been going on for years in the shadow of the UK parliament. Shows how shite the government is at being concerned for its citizens.
Call someone the wrong pronoun and cops will be there in under a minute. Priorities of a broken country.
It’s all planned. Read the Kalergi plan and the Frankfurt School 11 point plan. NOT some nutjob theorist nonsense- it’s happening NOW. Spread the word.
Maybe the citizens should use their noggins a bit more and not fall for a scam that's all over the internet?