August the 20th, 2025 – The taxi horror stories continue as a Zagreb taxi driver allegedly charges a woman from New Zealand 1506 euros for a 1.5 kilometre journey.
As Index vijesti/news writes, Carol Cowan from New Zealand has claimed she was scammed in Zagreb back at the end of May. As she revealed to Jutarnji list, a Zagreb taxi driver apparently shockingly charged her 1,506 euros for a ride from the Main Station (Glavni kolodvor) to Frankopanska Street, which lies at a distance of about 1.5 kilometres.
Carol arrived in Croatia on May the 20th, having visited several locations. On May the 26th, she arrived in Zagreb. That’s when she decided to call a taxi, thinking nothing of it at all.
a shady practice
“Noticing a line of cars on the right, I headed towards them and saw a tall man leaning against a dark-coloured car. He greeted me and I was surprised that he seemed to immediately recognise that I spoke English. I approached him and asked him if the car was a taxi because I didn’t see any markings on the vehicle indicating that it was. He said it was.”
After he told her that he only accepted cash, Carol, who had 65 euros in cash and deemed it much more than enough for the ride, agreed. “After a short while, I noticed that the taximeter was showing 42 euros and I grew a little worried, but I didn’t know what units it was in. A little later, at the traffic lights, the taximeter was showing 85 euros.”
When she asked him if the amount was in euros, he showed her the price list. “The letters were too small for my visually impaired eyes. I quickly counted the money in my wallet, yes, I had 65 euros, and said to him: I can’t afford this, please let me out!”
“I’ll give you a discount…”
The driver asked her if she had her bank card with her and added that his so-called “boss” would be waiting for them at their destination with a card machine. “When we arrived at Frankopanska, the taximeter was showing 185 euros, and I was in tears. Then he said he would give me a discount and charge me “only” 150 euros. I didn’t see the other car arrive, but I heard them talking, and then my driver put the card machine in front of my face and said: ‘150, okay?’ The screen said 150, and I just agreed,” Carol revealed of her terrible ordeal.
The driver then told her she had to enter her PIN, took her card and inserted it into the device himself. “He held it above my eye level. I entered my PIN, then he handed me the card and passed the device through the window, and the other car drove away,” said Carol, who only later noticed that she had not received a receipt at all.
“I checked the balance on the card and saw that 1506 euros had been charged! I immediately reported the error to Visa. I went to look for the police station, but I wondered what I could show them as proof, so I just returned to my accommodation,” she said.
taxi “business” owner Ivan Madžar: i never drove her anywhere
Jutarnji list also contacted the owner of the autotaxi transport “business”, Ivan Madžar, who gave a different version of events. “I didn’t drive her anywhere, she was driven by another taxi driver who doesn’t have a card machine. He called me and asked if I could lend him mine. It was raining, I didn’t see what the man was typing into the machine,” he said, claiming he didn’t know it was such a large amount.
When asked how it could be possible for that large amount to have been transferred, he replied that if it was a criminal act, the police would do their job. He added that the police had not yet contacted him, even though Carol had reported the entire case.
