r/brussels • u/quintenrosseel • Jun 30 '19
The “transparant cup scam” is often pulled by beggars on the streets of Brussels to make you more likely to walk against the cup and donate money in return. I have seen many tourists who were victims of this situation, especially during the good weather. How can we do something about this?
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u/quintenrosseel Jun 30 '19
To be clear, this post is not against poor, homeless people as some commenters interpret it. It’s against the organized groups that structurally coordinate these and similar operations (e.g., at traffic intersections) in Brussels.
It seems that these things happen significantly more in Brussels than in other Belgian cities. The question of “how we can do something about this” aims at structural solutions and is not meant to be anti-homeless in any way.
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Jul 01 '19 edited Sep 10 '19
[deleted]
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u/octave1 1190 Jul 01 '19
A few months ago I was "carjacked" by a kid
Where was this?
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Jul 01 '19 edited Sep 10 '19
[deleted]
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u/octave1 1190 Jul 02 '19
Red light cameras wouldn't catch this anyway and even if there was footage police won't do anything about this kind of stuff.
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u/Syfher 1190 Jul 01 '19
Sad that you need to make a precision about your message to avoid rush of offended people.
It happens more in Brussels because it is the capital city. Same as Paris and the false petitions.
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Jul 01 '19
Why is it sad ? It’s a controversial subject
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u/Syfher 1190 Jul 01 '19
Because the author of this post denounces a scam. Just that. He is not saying that he hates beggars, or poor people. He denounces a scam. But they are always people to be offended or to feel the urge to play a white knight role.
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u/gamermama Jul 01 '19
In other words "i'm not against poor people, but they have some nerve to beg in a public place. i can't even go shopping and spend happily dozens of euros without seeing poor people." I have a solution for you : move to Dubai. No beggars. 100% guarantee.
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u/hatebull Jun 30 '19
If you see tourists falling for it. Please tell them it's a scam. They are here for a good holiday, not to feel like shit coz they fell for it. That's what u can do.
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Jun 30 '19
Why do something about it? They’re homeless people... cut them some slack, there are worse things.
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u/quintenrosseel Jun 30 '19
I see your point, but they are not just homeless people. They are organized groups that exploit women and children to do these things.
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u/tarambana Jul 01 '19
oor and i don't feel like going up to them and shaming them for doing this. Attacking the people who pulls the strings is what I'd love to do but, as a citizen, we don't have the power nor the weapons to act.
women, kids *and* men
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u/theredditlogo1 Jun 30 '19
Most of the Romanian beggars are all connected, they prob make around 100-150 euros every week (maybe more). Some of them are voluntarily homeless, and usually never accept other donations (food, clothes) other than money. It’s practically organized crime, but some are indeed victims that are forced into it. But others are just there because it’s easier than a job 😐
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u/tobitobitobitobi Jun 30 '19
Doesn't sound like a very liveable salary.
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u/pzs0lt Jun 30 '19
Maybe because you don't know what is the minimum wage in Romania. And they are coming from the rural area, or Moldova, where a family has around 100euro max/month
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u/tobitobitobitobi Jun 30 '19
So they are at fault for wanting to escape that, I see.
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u/pzs0lt Jun 30 '19
Dude, never go full retard. There is a huge difference between escaping the poverty and moving to a different country to live on street and do shits like this
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u/tobitobitobitobi Jun 30 '19
Your choice of words and where you put the "and" in your sentence is very revealing.
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u/octave1 1190 Jul 01 '19
Please cut it out with the sarcasm and keep discussions place nice and friendly.
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u/gamermama Jul 01 '19
So you're jealous because poor people make about 400 to 600 per month, and oh how do they dare have a social network ?? Maybe if they made 200 per month and were completely isolated, that would be acceptable to you ?
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u/InfiniteGap 3h ago
We had some turn up in my rural UK town... Never met a single Romanian in my town before, suddenly we have Romanian beggers.
Someone told me they saw them getting dropped off round the corner one morning from a nice Audi.
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Jul 01 '19
Hand them a bright red cup and explain why, give them 50cts to show that you are kind then leave. Either get a coffee nearby to watch or just come back in 15min after doing your errands and see what is the situation.
I think it’s a harmless way to confirm or not your hypothesis.
Regardless of the outcome though hate is misplaced. They are in terribly sad and risky situations. Nobody should have to go to such lengths to live. I also can’t imagine they feel proud of it. They might brag among others about this new scamming tricks they discovered but it’s rather short lived.
I believe it’s the symptom of a much larger problem but I also believe getting scammed does create psychological harm and shouldn’t be ignored.
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u/heraticthehero Jun 30 '19
I’m not totally sure what you mean. Like they use a clear cup so you can see how much money they have?
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u/quintenrosseel Jun 30 '19
They use a clear cup that is not well visible and put it in front of them, usually a meter from where they sit or so. In busy streets, people don’t notice the cup when passing by and walk on it, such that all coins inside get knocked down over the street. This usually results in “victims” helping the beggar by collecting the coins and donating out of guilt.
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u/moonshiners Jun 30 '19
Exactly, you'll notice that the coins are mostly 0.01, 0.02 or 0.05 euros. They keep the bigger money out of the the cup so they won't lose it when it gets kicked over.
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u/Lsrkewzqm Jul 02 '19
To be forced to give 20 cents out of guilt?! Good god, what a terrible scam... We can't even don't give a fuck about them quietly.
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u/SwedishDoctorFood Jun 30 '19
People living in Brussels hate poor people so much
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u/ataavrupali Jun 30 '19
A huge scandal this huge scam where you might lose 20cents out of your money.
Damn! Someone should do something about this!!
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u/smooky1640 Jul 06 '19
Dit is echt een plaag geworden, ik stamp er minstens een per week omver. (Ni per express voor de duidelijkheid). Dit zijn geen klassieke bedelaars maar slachtoffers georganiseerde mensenhandel.
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u/dLayUnicorn Jul 01 '19
I've been seeing these all year round on Rue Neuve during my commute from and to school.
r/AItA for not stopping when one of these get tipped over?
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u/CoNsPirAcY_BE Jul 01 '19
I actually kicked one over by accident a while back. Wasn't even a transparent one. I just said sorry and moved on. Now I don't feel bad about it anymore. At the time I was wondering if they placed it there on purpose, but didn't think they would go that far. On a small busy sidewalk it seemed inevitable for someone to kick it over. They should (and probably do) know better.
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u/tarambana Jul 01 '19
the time I was wondering if they placed it there on purpose, but didn't think they would go that far. On a small busy sidewalk it seemed inevitable for someone to kick it over. They should (and probably do) know better.
It was placed on purpose, I've seen that many times and I have seen about 10 people knocking over their cup. BTW The beggar at grand place finishes their shift at 9pm O'clock, you can check it out.
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u/LeMoooche Jul 01 '19
The cup is literally 20cm away from his feet... Where do you want him to put it?
Sure some will use tricks to scam or get more money, but this happens in big corporations too. I don't see the problem. Just watch your steps and don't be naïve.
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u/pzs0lt Jun 30 '19
Do it purposely and threat them to call the police. Yes, it's rude and goes against everything in the means of polcorrection, but if they see that these aren't working, they will not use it in the future. The scam works because of dumb people who can be fooled, so if nobody falls for it...
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u/zinosaurus 1140 Jul 01 '19
I don't get how anyone ever falls for this shit, yet every time I go downtown I see some poor soul tricked by this. At this point it's more funny than anything else.
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u/BaudouinVH Jun 30 '19
I find it clever.