Dobblare i Stockholm

Dobblare som med hjälp av en liten papperskula och tre upp och nedvända tändsticksaskar lurar av godtrogna turister femhundring efter femhundring på nolltid. Ett gäng medbrottslingar står tätt runt den som sköter själva spelet. De låtsas satsa, vinna för det mesta och förlora ibland för att göra det hela mer trovärdigt och locka in intet ont anande förbipasserande som tycker det ser lätt ut att vinna en femhundring vilket i själva verket är helt omöjligt.

Beware of the scam gamblers. Each summer they appear on the main tourist streets in Stockholm running their theft and gamble operation. They have a blanket with three boxes. Beneath one of the boxes they have a small ball and they want people to gamble money on where the ball is hidden. The thing is, it's a trick. There is no way you can win against these guys because there is no ball. The guy with the game only pretends to hide the ball under a box but instead he is hiding it in his hand.



Remember "street gamblers" are always thieves no matter where you go. You can't win against them. They have rigged the game. When the gambler picks a box he obviously picks an empty one because all of them are empty. When the ball seems to appears from one of the other boxes, it really comes from his hand. It's not a game, it's a scam set up to rid people of money. The guy with the game usually also has some friends in the audience whose job is to pick other tourists' pockets when they stop to watch the game.



The scammers are driving a dark blue VW Passat sedan with Swedish registration plates STH-959, and a dark blue VW Bora with SWJ-292.

The cars are registered to:

Agim Zeqiri, born 11:e juli 1964, phone: 070-496 08 96
Senapsgatan 12 Lgh 1102
424 43 Angered

and

Nazmi Haxhija, born 1:e january 1972, phone: 031-714 19 16
Almgården 7
424 39 Angered

Gänget som med sin papperskula och sina tändstickaskar lockar godtrogna personer att satsa och förlora stora pengar på några sekunder. Gängen, där en av medlemmarna snabbt och fingerfärdigt flyttar en papperskula mellan tre tändsticksaskar i ständig rörelse, får dag efter dag ostört fortsätta att lura turister på tusentals kronor. Fräcka som de är sitter de precis utanför riksdagshuset men flyttar sig då och då några hundra meter i varje riktning in på Drottninggatan eller Västerlånggatan.

Shell Game in Stockholm Old Town May 2012

This is the crew which has played three shell game in the Stockholm Old Town for years. This time, they have a younger man in training, to carry on the legacy.



The young man came to block my view after a while:

The guy in a white jacket pretends to be a Chinese tourist:

The female shill tries to play, but is generally ignored by the thimble rigger during this session:

The thimble rigger tries to get some marks to make a bet:

This guy has operated the thimble rigging for years, but is now doing the lookout duty. He normally wears a hat when playing the matchstick boxes, to avoid being recognized:

The scammers are driving a dark blue VW Passat sedan with Swedish registration plates STH-959, and a dark blue VW Bora with SWJ-292.

The cars are registered to:

Agim Zeqiri, born 11:e juli 1964, phone: 070-496 08 96

Senapsgatan 12 Lgh 1102

424 43 Angered

and

Nazmi Haxhija, born 1:e january 1972, phone: 031-714 19 16

Almgården 7  

424 39 Angered   

Scammers are back after winter

The scammers are back from their winter hiatus, about two weeks earlier than last year. Here they are doing their normal routine:



There is a total of seven men in the scamming crew. Two are lookouts, one is shuffling the boxes, and the rest pretend to be playing.

The guy on the left is the boss, while the big guy in the center is the thimble rigger, doing the playing. He wears a hat when playing, to avoid being recognized.







Here is one of the lookouts:



They are driving a dark blue VW Passat sedan with Swedish registration plates STH-959, and a dark blue VW Bora with SWJ-292.



The cars are registered to:

Agim Zeqiri
Senapsgatan 12 Lgh 1102
424 43 Angered

and

Nazmi Haxhija
Fjäderharvsgatan 42 Lgh 1201
424 66 Angered

Shell Game in Stockholm on July 7th, 2011

The gang of scammers was back to Stockholm after their Copenhagen visit earlier in the summer. They try to convince other people to make bets, by pretending to be betting, and usually winning. When a person who is not from the gang tries to make a bet, he will surely lose the money.

Here they are in Västerlånggatan, central Gamla Stan. In the end of the video, they try to convince the mark with the white shirt to play.



The woman is a fairly new addition to the scammers.

















Some of them speak quite good German. In the end of a video, they try to make a German tourist stop photographing, but in the end of the video, they give up and leave.

This is the same kind of scamming that has been going on in Geneve lately, where it is called "bonneteau".

Street con in Copenhagen

Most of this crew has previously been playing in Stockholm. Here they are in Copenhagen, on June 6th, 2011:









The two younger men did not take part in playing, but they were instructed by the boss where to stand during the scamming:



Excluding the two younger men, there was one thimblerigger (the guy who shuffled the boxes), four players, and two lookouts.















Here is one of the lookout guys:

Street gamble scam in Stockholm

Beware of the scam gamblers. Each summer they appear on the main tourist streets in Stockholm running their theft and gamble operation. They have a blanket with three boxes. Beneath one of the boxes they have a small ball and they want people to gamble money on where the ball is hidden. The thing is, it's a trick. There is no way you can win against these guys because there is no ball. The guy with the game only pretends to hide the ball under a box but instead he is hiding it in his hand.

Remember "street gamblers" are always thieves no matter where you go. You can't win against them. They have rigged the game. When the gambler picks a box he obviously picks an empty one because all of them are empty. When the ball seems to appears from one of the other boxes, it really comes from his hand. It's not a game, it's a scam set up to rid people of money. The guy with the game usually also has some friends in the audience whose job is to pick other tourists' pockets when they stop to watch the game.



Gänget som med sin papperskula och sina tändstickaskar lockar godtrogna personer att satsa och förlora stora pengar på några sekunder. Gängen, där en av medlemmarna snabbt och fingerfärdigt flyttar en papperskula mellan tre tändsticksaskar i ständig rörelse, får dag efter dag ostört fortsätta att lura turister på tusentals kronor. Fräcka som de är sitter de precis utanför riksdagshuset men flyttar sig då och då några hundra meter i varje riktning in på Drottninggatan eller Västerlånggatan.



”Tre-ask-spelet” är det vanligaste spelet bland svindlarligorna. Där ska man gissa under vilken av de tre kopparna kulan hamnat. Oftast arbetar ligorna i grupper där några låtsas vara spelsugna turister som spenderar tusenlappar, för att få i gång åskådarna.

The gamg members are mostly of Eastern European origin. They have also been operating in Oslo and Copenhagen.

The boss

This guy is buying coffee for the team, and can be seen talking in the telephone or eating ice cream while the gamble scam goes on. He sometimes also takes part in pretending to be placing bets.

He speaks fluent Swedish.

The players

Usually, one person will do the playing for one season. He places the piece of carpet on the street, and the rest of the gang starts gathering around pretending to make bets.

They will try to speak in the language that they guess the tourist looking has: English, Swedish, German.









The participants

The guy below will often try to distract people who are critical by being aggressive. He speaks good Swedish.









The watchers

Mostly, two persons keep watch while the game goes on, one on each side.

This guy speaks poor Swedish and English:






Dobblarna, med sin fingerfärdigt förflyttade papperskula mellan tre tändsticksaskar, fortsätter sin bedrägliga verksamhet år ut och år in och lurar av godtrogna turister många tusentals kronor om dagen.

De försöker förmå godtrogna människor att satsa femhundringar och vinna dubbla pengarna tillbaka om de lyckas lista ut under vilken upp och nedvänd tändsticksask en liten snabbt och fingerfärdigt förflyttad papperskula döljs. Alla som försöker gissar alltid fel utom de brottsliga medhjälparna som låtsas vara vilka förbipasserande som helst. De låtsasvinner för att locka troskyldiga personer att satsa och bli av med sina pengar. Många naiva människor lockas i fällan. Den här verksamheten är olaglig. Men det är sällan man ser någon polis ingripa. Ligorna har också spanare utställda en bit ifrån. De varnar om polisen är på gång. Då skingras gänget blixtsnabbt för att en kvart senare återuppta sin lukrativa verksamhet som inbringar många tusentals kronor i timmen.

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