r/TheHague • u/Bullsapiens • Jun 09 '25
news WARNING: “Businessman in trouble asking for cash” scam arrived to The Hague
The classic “my credit cards failed” and “I give you this ‘expensive’ ring for small cash” scam is going around The Hague
He is Driving a semi luxury vehicle and he goes around with a woman and a baby.
Do not fall for this
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u/PeePee_theMonkey Jun 09 '25
Just encountered exactly the same this afternoon on Mauritskade. The car is with a German plate
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u/Bullsapiens Jun 09 '25
I took pictures of the car.
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u/ChemistryOk9353 Jun 09 '25
Is this a dark (black) Volkswagen Touran? If that is then this guy approached me a few weeks ago in Amsterdam .. giving his business card and providing a similar story and left when I stated that I do not have any cash of me…
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u/haringkoning Jun 09 '25
That’s why I always have a prop money €500 bill in my wallet. It’s fake, off course, and worth less than the €10 ring. So I’m making a profit out of that scam. Scam the scammer!
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u/EvilKungFuWizard Jun 09 '25
I probably had the same guy approach me months ago. Two guys in a car with German plates, saying they were having car problems and needed money for a mechanic. Then they offered to sell me a ring. I knew it was a scam, and it happens that there was a jewelry store across the street. I wanted to see their reaction and asked them if we could go into the jewelry store to check the value on that ring, and they quickly shooed me away 🤣
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u/Just1n_Kees Jun 09 '25
Who in their right mind would ever fall for this?
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u/PH_Jones Jun 09 '25
The average person here expects to be scammed by someone who looks like they need the money, not a guy in his nice car with his family.
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u/skitswirls Jun 10 '25
Not this particular scam but the baby formula one. If it wasn’t for Reddit I probably wouldn’t have realised.
The backstory: I was at central station, and a women said she was really hungry and could do with a sandwich, of course I really don’t want anyone to go hungry, and then she threw an entire shopping list at me and wanted diapers baby formula etc! The second I heard baby formula that’s when I put it together and told her I couldn’t help her.
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u/flyflyflyfly66 Jun 09 '25
Ive been scammed twice in my life and both times it was when I was in a super relaxed mood. Trusting. Just floating through life type of situation.
Idiotic really as usally im extremely streetwise, and switched on.
I had the classic variant of this. Guy asks for directions to motorway to get to airport, hirecar logo on his keys, thanks me then is like hey I have all these expensive italian clothes which I have brought from my supplier in italy to give samples to bijenkorf, do I want them as I cant take them back with me.
Didn't really want them but ok sure if you are going to throw them away. Then it's can I just have 50 euros to buy my wife a gift at the airport duty free. Sure why not Ive just got 400 euros of free clothes and at the time 50 euros was like 5 euros to me so I didn't think twice about it.
Drive off with the shit clothes. Realise its a scam. Shit clothes go in the bin.
So yeah idiots like me fell for this scam
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u/BlanKatt Jun 12 '25
Damn.
I feel a particular type of disdain for people who perform scams like this. It's the type of scam that makes us distrustful of people who could be in need. Reminds me of those fake accounts who pretend to be Palestinian displaced families and ask you for money on insta. Super gross.
I've bought homeless people cigarettes or a salad or whatever from time to time and I feel like if someone is less fortunate than me it barely costs me anything to make their day slightly better (if it's something affordable of course), but these organized scammers just make people even more distrustful of those people or others in trouble and literally make you go against your instincts to believe someone (we has humans tend to lean towards believing others' stories despite the fact that we also know how easy it is to lie) and pat themselves on the back for being such smartasses. Then again I guess many people in power scam us all the time we just frame it differently because we don't look down on them the same.
What a sad species we are. Damn I went down a weird mental rabbit hole lol
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u/big_fartfanatic6911 Jun 09 '25
What's the scam?
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u/Bullsapiens Jun 09 '25
“Trust me, look at me, I am a businessman. Take my “expensive ring”, give me 500€, the ring is worth 10,000€. Goodbye”
You go and check and the “valuable” item is worth 10€
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u/sen1982 Jun 09 '25
This is a very old trick.Ask them so me your CC let me call police to help you.Then they will start yelling in their language.Now I enjoy that scam as I know it very well.
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u/janedebhai Jun 10 '25
2 months ago , a guy approached me , driving suv , don't remember the brand name , Asking for a second hand store , then told me that he have perfumes, and wallets which he wanted to sell . Told him that I am not interested
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u/dj_conmann Jun 10 '25
Oh my god, this happened to me at the bus stop of central station. He was super creepy..
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u/Particular-Wallaby78 Jun 11 '25
I have also experienced this but I’m too street wise so I realised it was a scam he asked for 200 euros I think for gas and he would pay me back tomorrow and that he is a Businessman and he even showed me a business card
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u/TurkishStreetboy Jun 12 '25
This has been here for aaaaaaaaa looooooong time now. If you think this is new ahahahahha
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u/Fischerking92 Jun 12 '25
That is still around?
Someone tried that on me in Bavaria all the way back in 2017.
Stoped on the side of the road near a highway entry and was signaling for people to stop.
He then told me he was a millionaire and needed money for a cab to reach his flight to Paris.
Suuure, at half past 7 in Nuremberg on a Sunday evening going towards the highway, leaving his expensive sports car on the side of the road while being a "millionaire" but having to ask people for cash.
He got annoyed when I kept pointing out other ways for him to solve his problem and finally just asked me "So how much money can you give me?"
When I told him "None" he walked away without a word already signaling traffic again.
I was suuure this had been reported enough for no one to still fall for that story in 2025.
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u/Sweetlake97 Jun 09 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
What did he look like? Does he drive a Mercedes, grey hair, Dutch despite the German plates?
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u/Bullsapiens Jun 09 '25
It was a BMW, with German plates, Middle East accent 100%
Plus a lady and a baby to make him look more trustworthy/ family friendly/ etc
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u/SmifnWessun2 Jun 09 '25 edited Jun 09 '25
Wasn’t a BMW but another brand rental car from Germany in my experience. Woman / wife in the back seat but the rear glass was tinted so I didn’t realise until I saw some eyes staring at me from close distance. There are multiple scammers running this scheme in The Hague.
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u/Imaginary_Produce_76 Jun 10 '25 edited Jun 10 '25
In Eindhoven they were singing the violin on the street yesterday, were also hanging by the casinos. Some of their women engage in prostitution, if they are not stealing from the supermarkets oh and pickpocketing of course
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u/Mouthfullofcrabss Jun 09 '25
No need to warm me, im not stupid
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u/TightBeing9 Jun 09 '25
You look pretty stupid saying this with that typo though. There are well meaning people who will fall for stuff like this and I'm happy OP is warning us
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u/SmifnWessun2 Jun 09 '25
I encountered this same scam some weeks back when I was stopped by a car and told they needed gas to reach their destination. The guy offered me his gold chain and ring in exchange for money so I took them and ran the opposite direction since it was a one way road.