Frank – or “The Stag Man” as he is known online – regularly gives tips, tricks and advice to those visiting Benidorm as he lives in the Spanish resort with his “legendary stripper” wife
Brits in or heading to Benidorm have been warned about charity scams on the sunny destination’s beaches.
Frank – or “The Stag Man” as he is known online – has told his followers Brits are falling for the popular con, which allegedly sees a group of men lie about a “petition” for charities in order to blag cash off people on the beaches. They say the money is going to good causes, such as to help disabled communities, but actually the men pocket the cash, Frank says in his video.
The clip on Instagram has been viewed more than one million times and fans have left comments, thanking Frank for giving them the heads-up before their trip to the Alicante resort. Others have warned tourists similar scams are happening elsewhere, such as Tenerife.
In the footage, Frank, dubbed the “King of Benidorm”, says: “They’re jumping on everyone, look,” as he films a group of men holding clipboards. He explains: “And then once they’ve done that, they’ll be looking at what’s in your wallet to rob you later.”
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The travel agent and bar owner, originally from Tottenham, north London, films various tourists being approached by these men. Frank’s wife Jade films Frank himself, as he swiftly brushes the men off.
Frank, 54, continues: “What you’ve just seen there is one of the scams that runs along the beach […] it’s kind of out of sight, out of mind… The way it works is this: normally, what they’ll do is they’ll say to you, for example, it’s a petition and they ask you to sign it. Once you sign it, then they start pushing you for a donation.”
Jade, described in previous videos as Benidorm’s “most legendary stripper”, adds: “They’ll say ‘it’s for the blind, it’s for the disabled, for petitioning to get something sorted here in Spain’ it’s all a load of rubbish.”
Frank ends the video saying: “[They’re] scamming and they will take your money. Some people even get their wallets out and give them a few quid and then once you’ve done that, then they know.”
As Luxury Travel Daily reports, social media users have flocked to the comments to share their reactions. One man said: “Benidorm is getting bad now, that’s my opinion.” Another posted: “I had this scam done to me and my partner luckily we had no cash on us.”
A further post reads: “Coming tomorrow for first time with misses. I’m more clued up thanks to this.” Another tourist reacted with: “It’s happening in Tenerife as well.”
The warning comes after footage captured a massive brawl break out by the swimming pool at a hotel in Benidorm recently. Punches were thrown in the ugly scenes this month.