Online gay dating middle east scams
The story went big because it happened this guy was a DEA agent working in Colombia.Last year also saw scammers increasingly using romance as a hook to lure people into bogus investments, particularly those involving cryptocurrency, she said. The guy was getting back home after the NBA finals he went to watch in a bar of an upscale part of Bogota. A few days ago, and American citizen got killed in Bogota because he tried to resist a paseo millonario.
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99% of taxi drivers are perfectly fine, but this tiny minority of criminals is working where upscale Colombians and foreigners are going out.
#Online gay dating middle east scams driver
The important thing is that the taxi driver knows he will be traced back if anything happens to you. If nobody is taking a picture, you can also take a picture yourself with your smartphone, and send the pic to someone (or at least pretend you’re sending it to someone). I have seen a lot of places where the guy from the restaurant or bar is taking a picture of the taxi plates and taxi company, or write down the information in a notebook. If the restaurant or bar you are leaving are telling you they’ll call a taxi for you, that’s ok too, but only if it is a reputable place. When taking a taxi at night, it is safer to call the taxi company and ask for a taxi. They of course also take all the cash and any valuable (watch, jewelry, cellphone, camera…) you may have with you. Once they have run out your 2nd day withdrawal limit, they dump you out of the car with no money in some isolated part of the city. They then withdraw cash up to your daily limits before midnight, wait after midnight to do it a second time. They can either transfer you to their car, or continue with the taxi (who is actually part of the band), to drive to a ATM. But the taxi driver does not take the usual route, and suddenly stops in an isolated street.Īnother car pops up, two guys enter your taxi, threaten you (usually with a gun, sometimes with knives), ask for your credit card and pin code. You’re stopping a taxi, give your direction and off you go. It’s 11pm, you’ve spent a nice time out, and willing to get back to your hotel, or to another place. I guess the most common scam would be what’s called "el paseo millonario" (the millionaire drive). But just don't carry any (or very few) valuables with you, go easy on the watch & earring wearing, and be alert of your surroundings.Īt the same time the smaller towns can feel safer than my home country old cowboys and students alike chit chat with you and hang out on the plazas.Įnjoy beautiful Colombia. Poblado not too bad either but apparently can have tricky alleys after dark.Īnd I'm no sissy and had travelled solo in places like Salvador da Bahía, Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam and Lima before this.
Funnily enough the poor Santo Domingo area in Medellín felt a lot safer and more doable / simple. I needed to just sit and take a breather ever now and then. Urban myth?Īnyway, have fun! Use your intuition, Bogotá after dark can be dodgy, Medellín Centro can be chaotic and intimidating even in daytime. I mean, wouldn't that be the most popular drug in the entire world by now? īut again, I never came across anyone who told me about it first-hand or even second-hand while I was in Colombia for 5 weeks.
But at the same time I wonder if the stories are true. A was a bit paranoid about it at times and have avoided certain guys who set off my intuition alarm bells. Be careful if a dodgy guy suddenly moves in your direction though.
On the internet you read a lot about the 'devil's breath' / scopolamine but I haven't heard about it from any Colombian or traveller in Colombia. But at least it's not a scam in which someone tries to steal from you. Your choice whether you want to support this system. But later on he will sell the sandwich and use the money for drugs anyway. To prove that he's using the money for food not drugs, he will let you order and pay for the sandwich. Oh - and one thing in Medellin: a beggar will ask you if you can please buy him a sandwich because he's so hungry. And the time they tell you it will take always add an hour.
The only thing that comes closest to scamming is the prices bus companies try to make you pay, so always haggle: prices are negociable. So being travel-savvy you should be fine. You lose it, it's for the first person who finds it. Most common is distraction tactics, or sneakily getting to your valuables while you're not paying attention (or you've been so naive as to put them on the floor or hang them from the back of your seat). I'm sure the same usual tricks are being pulled as in Amsterdam or Jakarta. None that were tried on me or that I heard about a lot.