Scammed.

In Istanbul.

During the Greek occupation, this city was called "Byzantium," and during the Roman era, it was called "Constantinople." The architecture of the entire city inexplicably reminded me of Shanghai—clean, developed, and orderly. I let my guard down.

Just a couple of days ago, I came from Egypt. Because I was always worried about being scammed, I stayed alert the entire time and nothing happened.
But when I arrived in Istanbul, from the moment I got off the plane, I was healed by this city—a female American traveler proactively gave me her local transit card because she was leaving and couldn't use up the money on it. At that moment, my goodwill toward this city shot up to the maximum.

The atmosphere on Istiklal Avenue at night was great. My wife and I strolled all the way to Galata Bridge. The bridge was bustling with traffic, people fishing on both sides, and the blue-domed mosque in the distance looked especially beautiful under the lights. We both relaxed completely and were indeed tired from the walk.

So, after getting off the bridge, I casually hailed a taxi. Since our hotel was nearby, we agreed on 400 lira (8 USD) without using the meter. The driver chatted with us enthusiastically, saying he liked China, that driving a taxi could earn him 1,500 euros a month... the typical "friendly local" scenario.

It was in this completely relaxed atmosphere that I got scammed.

Upon arrival, the driver took out a POS machine for payment. In fact, I had seen posts on Xiaohongshu warning about "taxi drivers overcharging tourists," but in that moment, I didn't want to suspect him—human nature is like this, the "good impression" you just built will automatically override rational judgment.

After paying, I sat in the car waiting for the transaction notification. Because the network was bad, I didn't receive it. The cars behind kept honking, and I didn't want the driver to think I "didn't trust him." He gave me an OK gesture, so I got out of the car.

Just as I walked a few steps, the payment notification came—$106 USD.
I turned around, but the car was already gone...