Criminal incidents of latvian girls with foreign tourists, or The safety of relationship

Hi there, could anybody be so kind from here and let us know if there were notable criminal cases regarding foreign tourists and Latvian women? We are going to visit Latvia in the next month, but we are not sure if it will be safe. Thanks

As I remember there were few incidents regarding your question. Can't list them all precisely, but I could warn you not to refer to escort services, cheap prostitutes and other "sides of business" which is criminal itself. If you care on yourself everything will be allright. I suspect it's like about any other country.

I remember one case which happened in 2007. It was not noted in Latvian media though, I've read about it from "The Baltic Times".

There was a UK retiree, sometimes English teacher named Timothy George William Harper living in Riga. June 13th, 2007 he met a 24-year old girl, earlier judged unwed mother. The girl had a "non-standard" eastern-type face, that's why Timothy liked and trusted her. They took couple of drinks in a cafe, and later Timothy invited her to his rented apartment located at Vidus street. There, this girl found a kitchen knife and knocked Timothy a lot of times in his stomach. He died immediately and was later found nude on the floor in his room. The girl has stolen a flat Philips TV, Samsung and Panasonic digital receivers, video and audio players. The total sum of these things was about 1800 euros.

For police it seemed strange that Timothy trusted a girl who came obviously from the "bad" side of Riga. Timothy's friends weren't strong enough to understand it as well. There was a letter to "The Baltic Times" where somebody claimed Latvian police in hiding the proofs and the real side of this murder. It was full or enigmas.

This girl herself said it was a murder under emotional pressure. She was negatively surprised seeing his partner nude and holding 20 Lats bill in his hand where she came out from showering. She was angry enough to kill him for it, despite she never killed anyone in the past.

Obviously this seems to be a bullshit because so many knife wounds can't be made simply of emotional stress.

Our forums were established exactly by this purpose: to give you enough information on safety in Riga. Recently there was already a case, proofing the main tactics when visiting Riga:

Be aware to walk alone at night on Riga streets.

First of all, you should know you are arriving in the ex-USSR country. You may feel safe in Great Britain or Ireland because everybody feels safe there, but this is because people think differently. Center of Riga is full of scams, thieves and vagrants who are ready to rip you off and even to kill you for couple of Euros. So you must always know the time of day and keep your nose in a cool place. If you simply see something suspicious which doesn't bring you a good feeling, get away from there immediately.

Second, visiting Riga you should always have some kind of plan in your head. Which places you would like to visit and where to go. Avoid visiting unknown places, specially if somebody on the street is offering you to go along. Avoid speaking to unknown people talking to you in bad English (specially in the recent past, there is a lot of scams from Romania). Just ignore them. Do not reply.

Third, it would be a good idea to study Riga's map a bit, having an idea where your staying room is located. Center of Riga is very small, but it is an epicenter of everything happening bad; despite of it, don't stay in cheap places/hotels/hostels outside of center of Riga. Districts may be even more dangerous, but there you won't be able to find any help quickly, if needed.

Finally. Meeting a women you should always keep in mind it's not safe in general. However if such women agrees immediately to go with you at your apartment or hotel room, don't be a child and know straight away she's a prostitute or tries to consume you. Not mentioning she could have in mind to kill you. Try to date a good-looking and good-smelling girl only, don't be pity if she's trying to make you so.

Latvia is has western type of people, european kind. I think he met gypsy girl, what he was thinking of?

You are right, I suspect too it was a "gipsy" girl and I have no ideas how drunk you must be to trust such people.

I think the good advice would be to look for European-type faces in Latvia as well If you meet somebody who is not a regular white person, think carefully before building a communication.

Just a humble opinion...

Additionally to the above said, paid attention at the special 'fraud business' in Riga night clubs.

Racists!!!

Racists? We didn't understand you.

I think when you go out in Riga you dont have to worry so much, I have been living here for a few years now and run a business in the tourism industry.

A FEW SIMPE RULES WHEN HEADING OUT IN RIGA:

1. Dont take out your passport
2. Avoid any kind of strip club or gentlemen clubs
3. Dont listen to any guys on the street offering a club with FREE drinks and ladies
4. If you meet some girls and straight away they are asking you to come visit some bar or club, be careful, they could be trying to trick you into a place that is run by criminals.

Just tell them you know some places and they should come with you, if they refuse and keep mentioning this other place then you know its a trick!

Apart from that you will have great times in Riga, as long as you are friendly because no one really likes a drunken tourist - it doesn't matter where you are from.

You have to respect the local culture and people and its as simple as that!

Nothing more to add to what wombat mentionned. I am coming to Riga since 2004 and still coming one week per month and I never had any problem in Riga.

I just confirm that Respect is essential and also use your commun sense, and you will discover a great city (I should say a great country) with really nice people!

Yes there is a criminal bar called Student Hostel just down the a lane from Hotel Riga. Two girls followed me in the street and said they were students. Did I want to have a drink with them. I said "NO". Later they said: "Look, we are students no need to worry, just come and have a drink with us, then you can go." 2 Orange juice, 2 cognacs, 1 grape juice 80 lats!

The bar is situated underneath the hostel and you go down some steps. They give you the bill, when you complain they say see the tariff. They then give you the book with the prices in. The bar just looks like a small UK pub. If you don't pay, you are assisted to pay by a very ugly looking bouncer.

So when will the City Police and your government do anything about this place?

The main problem here is that you need to address it to the Police and Government. If you do this, you need to sign your words with your signature and give a proof you are really the person you are standing for. If you post such complaint via Internet anonymously, it means it could help somebody to avoid this club. But in general, it doesn't mean it is true.

The true is only the thing you could check with your eyes and hands

ı have been lıvıng ın Rıga for about 3 months.I am just sayıng that DONT TRUST LATVIAN GIRLS .If they understand u have money . u fucked up...bye