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NYTimes
New York Times
12 Apr 2025
Lizzie Dearden


NextImg:Con Artists Scamming London Tourists Meet Their Match: Batman and Robin

Batman and Robin have taken a break from fighting crime in Gotham City to swoop on low-level scammers swindling tourists in the center of London.

Footage shared by the Metropolitan Police on Friday showed undercover officers disguised in the superhero costumes tackling a man who was running a street entertainment game similar to “three-card monte” near Parliament. The police said the game was an illegal gambling operation.

In the video, filmed by the police during an operation in February, the officer dressed as Batman could be seen running along Westminster Bridge wearing the character’s traditional mask, flanked by Robin in a comic book-style costume and bucket hat.

Batman, whose real name is Inspector Darren Watson, pushed through a crowd of tourists watching the suspect’s game, flanked by Robin, played by Police Constable Abdi Osman.

The pair arrested one man, handcuffed him and seized a “cup and ball game.” In the game, the operator places a ball under one of three cups, shuffles them around, then encourages passers-by to bet on where the ball is concealed. But the game run by the arrested man, police said, was rigged: It was impossible to win because the operator would move the ball using sleight of hand.

A 2017 report on the scam by the Metropolitan Police said victims in London were “predominantly tourists,” because they are targeted for disposable cash and are “unaware of the illegality of street gambling in the U.K., and naïve to the confidence tricksters who run the games.”


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