Fraud at the heart of Europe

There is a cruel scam at the heart of Europe, played out in Berlin. Naive taxpayers are being cheated out of their money every day by plausible men and women, all in collusion, often smartly dressed, appearing to be something they are not, promising the unsuspecting the chance to improve their life, but delivering quite the opposite. They are swindled out of their money. And the authorities simply turn a blind eye to this sickening practice.
No, I'm not referring to the Eurozone, though it's a compelling parallel.
I refer to the 'shell game'. It's played out on the pavement's of the German capital by groups shysters. Their leader has 3 small boxes and one small ball, moving the boxes quickly, one covering the ball. It looks easy to guess which box hides the ball. His cronies are all in on it, periodically betting and winning with whoops of excitement to make the innocent think this is a fair game of chance. It's rigged and when the victim loses their money, a burly man bundles them away, the rest melt into the crowd. This weekend, I heard more than one tourist utter the plaintive cry "I want my money back!" Fat chance.
If the authorities here don't have the will to stamp out this disgraceful little fraud, in the shadow of the Reichstag itself, what chance of reformed EU, led by a newly-elected Angela Merkel? This is one I will bet on. No chance.

Scammers work on American tourist, centre, being held by man in white cap. Picture:James Fraser