Raised social unrest in Bosnia
Risk of social unrest is raised recently in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to difficult economic conditions. A group of people tried to scam me trying to gaslight me into believing I caused an accident on a highway. I was driving to Sarajevo from the direction of Croatia. I hit the highway about 2 hours before the Sarajevo. Suddenly, another car drove at an equal speed, the driver opened the window in his car and threw a stone into my car. I felt anxiety but I quickly remembered what I learned about South Africa, and that it can be a theft attempt. I didn’t stop, I thought he’s insane, and it’s not South Africa so he’s probably unarmed and he would probably let go if I keep driving. Yet, he overtook me and showed me his left mirror. There was no mirror in the handle. The driver pointed onto it and we stopped. Initially I didn’t leave the car and I estimated the threat. He left the car and told me that I caused an accident in a tunnel and I broke his mirror. I saw he’s unarmed so I left the car and started talking to him. He showed me the right side of my car, there was a black trace, it looked like a scratch. I believed him that I caused an accident. My car was insured for that, so I didn’t have anything to fear calling police, so I insisted on doing so. He suggested that I gave him money and we would repair it on our own cost, but I said no.
After a few attempts, he said we were gonna meet at the next gas station and call police. So I drove after him, he didn’t take a photo or a contact to me which raised my suspicion. After I parked my car on the first gas station, it was about 15km from the spot where we met, he was gone. I waited for him about 20min. Then I calmed down and realized the trace on the right side of my car was just a pen. He must have drawn it when I was at a gas station before entering the highway. I went to the bathroom so he had a little time to do so when I couldn’t see him. The trace wasn’t a horizontal line, it was wavy but I didn’t realize it straight away. The trickster used emotional argument to gaslight me, that he has 3 children in his car, and he showed me his trembling hand.
My car has a foreign registration plate number so I was vulnerable on this kind of attack. It’s an old car, so they didn’t risk stealing it as it would be hard to sell it. And I kept the doors locked so he couldn’t still my stuff. I kept calm, although the trickster tried to use persuasion to scam me for money. Later I learned tricksters target brands like BMW or Volkswagen as they’re easier to sell. The other security issue right now is identity theft, related to cybersecurity attacks. General atmosphere of psychosis in the society can be felt. Hijacking tourists isn’t common right now, neither are attacks with weapon. Self defense is encouraged by local people because police isn’t considered reliable here. I’m a young, healthy male so my chances of a successful self defense are estimated high enough by tricksters so that they are likely to let go of further actions beyond persuasion. However, I discourage unnecessary trips by solo travelers after observing the current situation here.