Common money scams in Hungary, and what they cost you

This is Budapest's signature con and it has run for decades. A well-dressed, friendly stranger, often a woman speaking excellent English, sometimes a couple, approaches you near Vaci utca, Vorosmarty ter, Deak ter or in the District VII ruin bar area and suggests a great bar nearby. The venue is complicit. Drinks arrive unpriced, your companion orders freely, and the bill lands at 50,000 to 200,000 forint, roughly 160 to 600 dollars, for what looked like a round or two. The stranger takes a commission, and a large member of staff tends to appear while payment is discussed. The dramatic cases go far higher; Hungarian press reported a single beer billed at 630 euros in one venue. Treat that as the far end, not the going rate.

Hungarian police have taken this seriously. A 2025 investigation into a ring of complicit bars identified 33 victims among hundreds, put the damage above a billion forint, and led to arrests in February and again in June. The defense costs nothing: choose your own venue. A genuine invitation from a person you just met does not require going to one specific bar within minutes. If you are already holding a bad bill, ask for an itemized receipt, stay calm rather than refusing outright if staff are pressing, and report it afterwards to the Budapest tourist police on +36 1 438 8080, who speak English. The general emergency number is 112.

Budapest solved most of this with regulation, and the result is a rule that is easy to remember. Every licensed taxi in Budapest is yellow and runs the same regulated city tariff, so no licensed cab is cheaper than another and there is nothing to shop around for. That means an app is not a discount, it is just clearer: the fare is shown up front, you pay by card, and there is no language barrier. Bolt is the workhorse here.

The risk is the car that is not on that tariff. Never get into an unmarked car, and never take a ride from a driver who approaches you in the arrivals hall at Budapest airport or at a tourist square. Use the official rank, book in an app, or take the 100E bus, which is the cheap direct link into town. If you are overcharged, note the plate and report it to the tourist police number above. The full picture is in the Hungary taxis and apps guide.

Nothing here is illegal, which is the point. Tourist-area exchange kiosks and standalone Euronet ATMs quote poor rates and lean on fees, and they sit exactly where visitors arrive. Use a machine attached to a real Hungarian bank instead: OTP, K and H, or Erste. On any terminal or ATM, decline the offer to charge you in dollars and choose forint, so your own bank sets the rate. Places that accept euros do so at a rate they pick.

The forint's own arithmetic is worth a second of care. Notes run into the thousands and tens of thousands, so a missing or extra zero is easy to miss when you are tired, and 20,000 forint is only about 63 dollars. Count what you are handed, and check a bill's total against the menu rather than eyeballing the digits. The Hungary cash and cards guide covers how to carry money here.

Two ordinary things catch Americans out. First, many Budapest restaurants add a service charge, the szervizdij, typically 10 to 12.5 percent. If it is on the bill, you do not need to tip on top, and adding a US-style 20 percent means paying twice for the same thing. Look for the line before you decide, which the Hungary tipping guide covers.

Second, bread, olives or a small plate arriving unasked is normally a chargeable item here rather than a courtesy, itemized at a few euros each. That is legal once you accept it, so decline it if you do not want it. The related tell in the tourist streets is a place with no printed prices, or staff outside actively recruiting passers-by. Ask for the menu with prices before you sit, and if there is not one, keep walking.

One item on this page can cost hundreds of dollars, and it requires your cooperation to happen at all. The habits: choose your own bar rather than a stranger's, use licensed yellow taxis or an app, get forint from a bank ATM, choose forint at every terminal, and check the printed prices and the service line. Everything else in Hungary is honest and good value; ordinary Budapest restaurants, the baths and public transport are all straightforward.

Handled calmly, none of this should shape your trip, and most visitors meet none of it. Save the tourist police number, +36 1 438 8080, and the emergency number, 112, and forget about it. For getting and spending money well while you are there, see the Hungary cash and cards guide and the Hungary cost guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Hungary

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Taxis in Hungary, and the apps to useUber is back in Budapest (run through Fotaxi), so Uber and Bolt both work, and every licensed taxi charges the same regulated rate. The main rule is simply to use licensed yellow cabs. Here is how it works.
• Tipping in HungaryHungary tips a little more than Western Europe: about 10 to 15% at a restaurant. Watch for a service charge in Budapest tourist spots, and tip in forint. Here is what you actually owe.
• Do I need cash in Hungary, or can I use cards?Short answer: cards in Budapest, some forint elsewhere. Hungary keeps the forint rather than the euro, its notes run into the thousands, and it is a bargain by Western European standards. Here is how to handle it.
• Bringing your dog or cat to Hungary.Hungary runs on the single EU pet-entry process for a US-origin dog or cat: microchip, rabies in the right order, and an EU health certificate on a 10-day clock. No quarantine, no rabies titer. Here is what that means for Hungary, and the local parts worth knowing.
• Staying connected in Hungary.Hungary has excellent coverage, including deep in the Budapest metro, and cheap prepaid data. There is no connectivity trap here, so this page is short rather than padded.
• What does getting sick in Hungary cost a visitor?Hungary's emergency rooms treat everyone first, tourists included, and settle up afterwards. The tell about what settling up costs is who else is in the waiting room: Austrians and Germans who crossed a border to be treated here on purpose.