Scam City: Rio de Janeiro - Party Time for Scammers at the World's Biggest Party | Free Documentary

foreigners the

world

's largest cities attract millions of visitors easy targets for waiting

scam

mers I'm Connor Woodman I've traveled the

world

writing about all types of commerce and now I'm researching the tourist route the guidebooks will tell you exactly what to look at but there is a What they don't tell you is a chapter that thieves don't want written with hidden cameras. I will discover the

scam

s that are every tourist's nightmare. I want to see what he does and I want to see how he does it. If the guy is blocking the door, I will meet the guys.

scammers

, I will make friends with them and learn the tricks of the trade six

time

s what you charged me to go out.

They scam me so you don't have to go abroad. I'm undercover at the Rio carnival. and it's crazy. I've been inundated with

party

goers and feel like everyone has their eye on my wallets. I didn't even realize that Rio is the most visited

city

in the southern hemisphere. Four days every February or March, 5 million people descend on the

city

for what has become one of the

biggest

parties in the world. Carnival, despite the Despite the efforts of the Authority to monitor the festivities, it continues to be a real magnet for street criminals. It may seem like I'm here to have fun, but I'm actually here to support the scenes and they reveal how the economy of Rio's streets really works.

Firstly, Copacabana, one of the most visited beaches in Rio and a real hotbed of petty thieves, the team has been staking out Copacabana beach and we found a couple of guys operating as pickpockets, so I'm going to pretend to be a tourist and I will settle in the middle of your plot. I'm going to use this bag as bait. Contains a secret chamber. I'm also going to film them with a pair of sunglasses that contain another secret. camera, let's catch a thief to carry out this elaborate undercover operation. We have multiple cameras covering all angles, as well as my sunglasses and the camera disguised in the fanny pack.

We also have crew members posing with what looked like tourist cameras. Bernardo the camera. The assistant has a shot from behind. Translator Leticia has struck up a conversation with the girls in front of me to get a clear view and it's not long before we're in business. Sorry, hello, okay, look for me. Sorry, look for me. I swing you. are you going to swim yes oh do you want me to take care of your things yes it's okay just leave it leave it here it's okay yes yes yes no problem how long will it be two minutes two minutes yes very hot okay okay two minutes okay no problem? yes, my bag is gone, it's convenient, I was caught completely off guard, but luckily the five cameras didn't miss anything, this is what happened.

Pocket number one appears and gains my trust while he distracts me. Pickpocket number two comes up behind you and is caught red-handed with hidden cameras stealing. my bag, fish, are you waiting in case I need any translation here hey, hey, hey, hey, just a second, just a second, a moment, a moment before, before you take this, where is my bag , my bag is gone, can't I hold my bag, my bag under the chair? oh my god, she left at the same

time

, at the same time you're talking to me, at the same time you're talking to me, no, no, no, no, no, come in, she's with me too, it's okay, no problem, no problem, I know what happened, come on.

Come on, come on, no problem. I don't want to cause any problems. No, there is no problem with the police or anything like that. I just want to talk to you a little. What is your name? Junior realizes that honesty is his best policy and calls his partner to return my bag. The accomplice was very good, he was very good even though I don't want to be in the film, fortunately Junior agrees to speak on camera. That's a good trick you just did, you know, just distract me by talking to me and I was completely focused on you and I didn't realize that your friend was stealing my bag there, that's actually very good, yeah, are you always there?

I'm always looking for opportunities and now it's during carnival. It's a particularly good time to do this kind of thing. So how much money can you make during Carnival? How much is a pretty good scene? It's like they're almost a couple. of thousands of dollars a day as an expert trader Junior has several tricks up his sleeve using me as an accomplice and agrees to show me another of his well-known techniques, yes, spots on a bag, yes, okay, demonstrate the scam, we are using two crew members. members to sit like unsuspecting tourists have you seen it have you seen it behind you just once the bag has been seen the operation begins look for me I am looking for I look good as a lookout my responsibility is to choose the right moment to take the bag it is essential to move quickly in seconds we have the loot and we are away from the crime scene how many bags do you think are buried under Copacabana beach is I've barely had time to put on sunscreen and I'm already on first-name terms with one of the

scammers

in Rio, that's it everything, it can't always be that easy, can it be hello hello first time Carnival first time first time Carnival is crazy huh, yeah, no, crazy, yeah, most of the cities I've been to?

I have some kind of taxi trick, I guess Rio will be no exception, oh, the Sugar Loaf, yes, yes, very beautiful, very beautiful, what else in Rio? woman women is beautiful woman of beautiful women the best woman in the world you better believe, so I'm taking a short walk on the beach and it shouldn't cost more than 20 reais or ten dollars, how much is it? yes, there you go, it's fine, but as soon as I hand over the money, it becomes clear that something is wrong. Father's house. Sorry no. No, no, I gave you 50. Okay, I gave you 50.

Some of those single Five Five Guys, my friend, I gave you 50. The driver refuses to back up and I'm getting nowhere, it's time to reveal my stinger, the camera, okay? re filming we feel waiting One moment One moment old taxi ride okay I understand what he's doing you can keep the money if he comes and tells us a little about some of those tricks and some of his other tricks change the trick note I said I mentioned how Does foreigner well, yes, my driver Laro is clearly proud of his skills. He tells me he's what Brazilians call amalandro, a lovable rogue who uses skill and charisma to get his way.

Foreigner can convince a tourist of anything. you know you have to love Rio, even they are scammers they operate with this kind of charm and a smile, they even have their own word to describe it, melendraging, you know it's a scam, but it's a scam, plus they take it to a completely different level new, it's clear. that for many people scamming is a way of life it is ingrained in their psyche night falls it is time to leave the beach and head to the birthplace of the milandro lapa yes, right in the center of Rio lappa it is famous for its nightlife a mix heady crowd of

party

goers prostitutes transvestites and drug addicts it is the old bohemian heart of Rio and a veritable playground for sinners where it said anything can happen hello foreign beer, you get one for me too and one for me too much, why what not two?

It won't be long before I make a new one. Dude, this girl seems pretty pushy, but I'm not really looking forward to sharing a drink with a complete stranger. She certainly is talkative. Junior, the beach hustler, told me about prostitutes who add a drug to their drinks that they call goodnight, Cinderella. I wonder if that's why he wanted to share a baby with me there's only one way to know how it works if I make a brave face he imagines making me fart right if you put it in my drink now how long does it take before I start to feel dizzy and fall? asleep, okay then you have to rob me here on the streets, I can't believe what I'm hearing, this is an extraordinary confession, well it was a pleasure meeting you and I'm glad I bought you a drink and you didn't buy it. me a drink goodbye ok 24 hours in Rio a stolen bag scammed in a taxi almost drugged and stripped of everything I have I think I'm in the right place most people come to the Carnival to see the big Samba parade that takes place during the Carnival weekend because the parties start days before Junior invited me to a street party in Santa Teresa, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Rio, on a hill above Lapper, so tell me a little about this party at the let's go I don't know the foreign Carnival.

Street parties like beaches attract hordes of tourists and offer great job opportunities for pickpockets. I'm going to put a secret camera here, okay, let's put this over here. To catch a thief, we will use a thief that you must keep. An eye on my wallet. I'm going to put my secret camera here in the back too so if someone comes in from behind we can see it being stolen. Okay, oh yeah, yeah, we'll be covered. be covered if there's someone out there okay we'll see them we'll see them yeah yeah yeah okay sure sure sure okay yeah let's do it come on let's do it just like Juniors and my hidden cameras.

I'm also accompanied by my translator Leticia, who carries a disguised camera in her bag, but becoming a snitch in Brazil is no laughing matter and we've been told to be very careful if you were stealing here, what kind of things would you be looking at? What I want to highlight is that with Dimension wallets in our back pockets we go with the party in full swing, we go deeper into the crowd, there is a surge and we find ourselves in the middle of a crowd of people, some of my fellow party-goers party make me feel nervous.

Call me paranoid but everyone seems suspicious, it's a really horrible feeling but there is no way out. I'm trapped. I didn't realize there was a full search for people. I didn't even realize, oh yeah. They warned me and I was waiting. but the thief was so skillful that I didn't feel like my wallet was stolen. I can't be sure who took it, but looking back at the hidden images, the man in the blue and white shirt disguised with big sunglasses and an afro wig is hanging. Suspiciously behind us, my bad camera captures him approaching me and sees him raising his hand in what looks like a motion to reach into my back pocket, but what's amazing is that despite the multiple cameras and Junior watching my back , I still can't be 100 sure.

Of the identity of the culprit, even if he was the man in blue and white, he was undoubtedly a skilled operator, so what motivates guys like Junior to become pickpockets? He lives in one of Rio's many notorious slums. Favela Taveras Basto grew up in a favela. Well, foreigner, I don't know, since my 12 years here. foreigner, foreigner, it has a lot to do with poverty, but not everyone in the shanty town is a thief, for the young people, it is so much about the excitement that all of Rio is preparing for the main attraction of Carnival. The samba parade is a fierce competition between the city's best samba schools who showcase their skills in a highly orchestrated spectacle.

The schools represent different Rio neighborhoods like soccer clubs. They are integrated into communities and attract fanatical followers. It's a big win for the industry at the parade. It is worth more than two and a half million dollars. Fans will do whatever they can to help their school win. Junior has asked me to support his Portella team the old-fashioned way with some old-fashioned Magic. This offers me the perfect opportunity to investigate what I suspect. being othered with macumba is an Afro-Brazilian religion and the ceremonies are advertised all over the city and I'm putting my money in support of my team, but tourists looking for a supposedly authentic experience sign up for all kinds of rituals for health, love and good luck.

I organized my meeting with a macumber but first I have to fill out shopping lists strange shopping list that includes a mirror a doll some linen a headdress some fabrics even some animals right, let's go shopping Aruda apparently all these items are necessary to carry out my ritual I believe you I trust you I'm not sure what all this stuff is for, but I've been given the address of a macumbers market that conveniently sells all the items on my list. I have a lot of stores, you know, that sell popcorn caskets. swords headdress White a little creepy, although you have to have some kind of business agreement with the macumbas that send clients here, you have, you have three wishes for life, how about who do you expect to win the sambadrome competition we are on different sides then Because I take all this to go do my Portella ritual, it's all very convenient that you make an appointment with Macumba and McCumber's cell phone gives you a shopping list and you Come to a store and eliminate practically everything from the shopping list and the only thing the store has in stock are the things on the shopping list.

It's a nice little arrangement, isn't it? Ciao, but I'm not done with the foreigner later. I am well equipped for my ritual, well, I am going to meet the priest to do the macumber. It feels a little strange. I have a bag full of bricabrack, a suit that makes me look like one of the inhabitants of thetown and two birds. a box, but I don't want anyone to accuse me of doing less than everything in my power or anyone else's power to make sure Portella wins the overseas competition, other than the seventy dollars I spent on my macumba kit in advance.

The payment of three hundred dollars has secured me an appointment with a Macumba priest. A waterfall in one of Rio's national parks is our date. This is starting to seem less fun and a little scary. I come with gifts. My priest is a man of few words. I'm not really sure what to expect you're not a face not a face um just a little Where We Sing YMCA I have no idea what's going on, but I guess I'll just have to go with the flow I have. They beat me with a bunch of leaves dipped in ice water and now they rub my face with a pigeon, and all for just under four hundred dollars.

I can't help but feel like I've been fooled. I've never seen anything like this before, so I'm a little suspicious and a lot of tourists come. and do this today actually and what kind of things they ask for is orange are there two sides to this? They are a more serious side than you think get up and walk come on kind you don't look very serious Right now you have a cheeky smile on your face. I'm not going to arrive so early this year. You think it's going to work and I must say I have my doubts, but the proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

So when? The results are announced and we see if Portal won or not, we will know if all this was worth it. Portella will be parading tonight and tickets to the sambadrome where the event takes place are the most expensive in the city, so Sector 9 costs 540. What is the price? their boxes are actually seven thousand five hundred riels well, I have been doing a little research on the cost of a ticket to go see the samba parade and to say that it varies would be an understatement, the cheapest price I have been quoted is 240 US Dollars, the Most expensive seats in the house, they can cost five thousand dollars for the main tourist section, Sector 9, which is where most tourists go, prices range from about 380 US dollars to 800 US dollars, depending on who you talk to .

It's the same tickets, only one agency charges more than double the price of another agency, it's easy reselling, but if I want to experience the best show in the world, I have to accept being charged above the odds, oh, here we go , this is months of planning. and preparation and God knows how much money has been invested in tonight the

biggest

party in the world they are gone good luck Godzilla this is the center of all the action this is the middle of the carnival you can see all the way to the end of the Sunbird the foretella floats away As they get closer, you get a real idea of ​​how huge it is, what a vast work of choreography, it looks absolutely brilliant, you've seen its size and how huge it is, one thing occurs to me how and who pays for everything. this foreigner with the centerpiece of the carnival is already over I have come to the madurera district in the northwest of Rio home of the portela samba school I am here for the repairs the peace district this is like ashes the world cup the champions league and the Super Bowl all in one and they're going to announce the results in about two minutes with a big prize at stake.

There is a lot at stake in these results. Now it's a two horse race and unfortunately for Teller he is not one of them in the previous nine years the same school has won six times where the money comes from the president is to get the money from please well it seems that my macumba magic does not it worked for portella today is not going to be her year the people here are quite angry they feel like they have been robbed and they say that the schools that did well today receive a lot of money from these guys who are called buscheros and they get their money from a game called ajugo davicho that people play on the streets of Rio, it is not only Portella's supporters who seem unhappy that certain samba schools are being financed by buscheros, the newspapers also link the carnival with the main tourist event Of the carnival.

The Shadows put money into the samba parade. You know, Carnival wouldn't be what it is. It's with their support what I don't understand is that if you look inside the newspaper three of the busheros who financed the most successful samba praise last night have been jailed recently there is no doubt that there is a connection between the busheros and the illicit bisho jogo and some samba schools, but why are the busheros so interested in investing huge sums of money in the samba schools and the parade? What do they gain from this and why are they arresting three?

Is it due to his participation in the illegal Jugo Derby show? Or is there something else? Playing the game myself would be a good place to start, but to do so I'll need some local knowledge. Can you take me to play the forbidden Bishop's Juice? Okay, thanks, it's funny that Laro They find Hugo as a player in the show. I was a little nervous about it, so I'm going to try to find a game on the street and I'll have to film undercover, so I'll wear my glasses. Cam and I will also be filming for my little bag and Leticia, who will be my translator, will be filming from a secret camera and everything has to be completely covert, the bishop, it is private, yes, but where is there anywhere they can't play?

Well, tell him I can work in a B store around here, of course, you know they don't want to get involved because it's illegal, because we can be police looking for him, yes, around here, there are finally useful people with something to help. Go on, it doesn't take long to see what Brazilians call a at the door or the bookie Laro told me that the jogo de B program is a lottery-type drawing where players bet on a series of numbers associated with animals, okay , yes, one in the eagle. there is a portella yes there is a horse yes oh yes dog and what time is the draw at three and where is the where is the draw I don't understand right you don't even know where the draw takes place a little on the side ciao what I found in Punta Dora and I've played it, go to show B unfortunately, he wasn't happy talking to me on camera, although he would take my bet, it's funny.

Once I knew where to find it, it's obvious that everyone I asked before must have known where it was. It's right in front of their stores, which shows how people feel about this game. Everyone knows where it is and what's next, but no one wants to talk about it with the exception. that's from my friend Laro who are these characters from Machado ukara why did the Shadows put money into the summer schools? Well, then what you're saying is that it's like a money laundering operation. They put their illegal money into the samba school and then recoup legitimate money through ticket sales and sponsorship and presumably also foreign prize money, it finally makes sense if Laro is right, it seems that some of the schools samba and ultimately Carnival's number one tourist attraction could provide a perfect front for large-scale money laundering. and you only have to turn to any news channel in Brazil to see the true magnitude of the Finger of God extortion operation that arrested 49 people with ties to Bishop's game and confiscated millions of dollars despite arrests, indictments of money laundering remain unproven and confronting a bushiro is almost impossible at this time, but through one of our informants who was asked to remain anonymous, we managed to locate someone willing to talk to us, explain to me what it is your role in yoga to be sure how big. uh, shadow is your boss, so how much can one of Shadows top earners become in one day?

So I'm surprised that they also gave a lot of money back to the carnival. I think everyone here knows that a good chunk of the money comes from these individual sponsors who are the heads of various promoters or networks. It's in all the newspapers. It's what everyone says on the streets. To an outsider, it would seem like a pretty good way to launder illegal money. in a samba school and then get the money legitimately as sponsorship and prize money and that kind of foreign stuff sounds like a good plan, right? I think I have discovered everything I can about this yoga to show the story.

You know, there are layers and layers to this and it's surprising that Danny has said as much as she has and, in fact, I think he probably gives away more by what he won't say than by what he will say. I came here looking for tourist scams. What I did. What I didn't expect to discover was that the main show everyone comes to Rio for could very well be a front for money laundering before leaving town. They invited me to dinner with Junior and his family. Excellent Junior, very nice foreigner, I was going to say, bring. a wallet full of cash but he actually brings two wallets full of cash because you'll probably lose the first one.

The carnival is the land of opportunity for Ríos melandros, at one end of the scale there are street scammers who seek to deceive tourists and at the other there are accusations of gangsters who use the Carnival to launder their dirty money. Landro Spirit symbolizes all that is good and the bad thing about the city, so despite all the scams, I would return to Rio in a heartbeat, even during Carnival.