By reading another forum about the amount of Brits that want to leave Turkey because of many reasons why they want to take residence in Bulgaria which surprise me one bit.
But what l am worried about is what others have said about Bulgaria's organized gangs in Bulgaria[hence mafia]hassling and threatening the Brits to hand over money.ls this very few and far between.or does this happen often.

l know there is Mafia worldwide and in some countries they are more active and freely allowed to threaten foreigners out of their money without any worries of being arrested.

So!,is it as bad as it is made out to be and is there anything l should know to protect myself from a mob driving up to my place with threatening behaviour.Do l tell the police,or do l let the municipal know what happened.

ls it just as bad in Bulgaria as it is in Turkey for instance.Wonder if a mob found out the business l want to set up is making money and they want a slice of that or else.Should not be taken in by threats,since surrendering to threats breeds more threats.

Can someone reasure me here,and do l have anything to worry about.l just hear from others[whether they are exaggerated or not]of the mafia in Bulgaria using threatening behaviour.

snail wrote:

By reading another forum about the amount of Brits that want to leave Turkey because of many reasons why they want to take residence in Bulgaria which doesn't surprise me.
But what l am worried about is what others have said about Bulgaria's organized gangs[hence mafia]hassling and threatening the Brits to hand over money.ls this very few and far between.or does this happen often.

l know there is Mafia worldwide and in some countries they are more active and freely allowed to threaten foreigners out of their money without any worries of being arrested.

So!,is it as bad as it is made out to be and is there anything l should know to protect myself from a mob driving up to my place with threatening behaviour.Do l tell the police,or do l let the municipal know what happened.

ls it just as bad in Bulgaria as it is in Turkey for instance.Wonder if a mob found out the business l want to set up is making money and they want a slice of that or else.Should not be taken in by threats,since surrendering to threats breeds more threats.

Can someone reasure me here,and do l have anything to worry about.l just hear from others[whether they are exaggerated or not]of the mafia in Bulgaria using threatening behaviour.

Hi Snail,

It's extremely unlikely that a mob will drive up to your place and threaten you - I'm in my seventh year here and never had that happen. If you run a big business (by that I mean more than 1 bar or 1 shop or 1 restaurant), overtures may be made to you for a piece of the action and this is most likely to happen in Sofia.

What you really have to watch out for is "
trickery"
. Bulgarians will try to "
trick"
you every which way from short-changing you to selling you something that is not actually theirs orsimilar. Vigilance should be your watchword. In the highly unlikely event that you are threatened by some mob, the Police will genarally sort them out in short order.

Regards, George.

I've been here for several Years now and never had a threat from anyone I think it all depends on the company you keep.

theres crimes of all types in all countries. mafia, the ordinary guy will never come across them.
my 4th winter here in bulgaria, i feel totally safe in my home and theres no gangs of youths hanging around on the street corners. I have an german sheperd dog and no one comes through the gate, not even the security company.

Quote :

It's extremely unlikely that a mob will drive up to your place and threaten you - I'm in my seventh year here and never had that happen. If you run a big business (by that I mean more than 1 bar or 1 shop or 1 restaurant), overtures may be made to you for a piece of the action and this is most likely to happen in Sofia.

What you really have to watch out for is "
trickery"
. Bulgarians will try to "
trick"
you every which way from short-changing you to selling you something that is not actually theirs orsimilar. Vigilance should be your watchword. In the highly unlikely event that you are threatened by some mob, the Police will genarally sort them out in short order.

"
Pheew"
,that's reasurring.
The trickery you have mentioned is the same here in Turkey.They will alter the bill and over price you etc in bars and cafes and also the the goods you ask for will be different to what you bought and they pocket the remiander."
Yep"
,no doubt about it.lt is just a matter of being aware of the trickery and keep away from that lot.
Nice to know the police will sort them out.But here in Turkey l hear of so many threats scams etc where the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to ,unless there is money involved for them
They even class the loss of a foreigner's property that was bought through the proper channels as a civil matter.l knew a person here that owned a large tourist boat and he was doing very well.Rumours has it that his boat was sunk by a mob for not giving in to their demands.

l think l'll feel safer in Bulgaria then in Turkey.The place is the area of Elhovo l am buying in with a dog kennel business in mind

Nothing for me to add here its all been good for both of us

snail wrote:

"
Pheew"
,that's reasurring.
The trickery you have mentioned is the same here in Turkey.They will alter the bill and over price you etc in bars and cafes and also the the goods you ask for will be different to what you bought and they pocket the remiander."
Yep"
,no doubt about it.lt is just a matter of being aware of the trickery and keep away from that lot.
Nice to know the police will sort them out.But here in Turkey l hear of so many threats scams etc where the authorities seem to turn a blind eye to ,unless there is money involved for them
They even class the loss of a foreigner's property that was bought through the proper channels as a civil matter.l knew a person here that owned a large tourist boat and he was doing very well.Rumours has it that his boat was sunk by a mob for not giving in to their demands.

l think l'll feel safer in Bulgaria then in Turkey.The place is the area of Elhovo l am buying in with a dog kennel business in mind

If you just keep vigilant and never give the impression you could be a "
soft touch"
, you should be fine. My lawyer keeps telling me you have to be pretty outspoken and fight hard everywhere you are right or the Bulgarians will start riding you! I have not lived in Turkey, but I certainly get the impression things are much better here overall.

What gangs, what bullies. As star has said been here for 3 years and the only bully we have seen is on the local farm (Bully beef).

If you call the mafia the one's driving about in big black 4x4's then there must be mafia in nearly every other house in Bulgaria. Take a close look at these cars you will see that most;
if not all of them are on lease hire. The mafia thing is realy over hiped, and it exists in the Major cities and possibly only in politics. Plus how would you know a mafia person anyway do they have a label on thier collar.

The 'Mafia' are too busy fighting each other to worry about any 'man on the street'.

As corruption is being lessened, they are too busy worrying about their own 'slice of the pie' and therefore are more concerned by other 'Mafia'.

I lived in Sofia for four years and had no hassle, despite frequenting bars and restaurants which were renowned as 'Mafia' places.