OK all you guys who suggested I be careful can now say I told ya so! I probably should write about this tomorrow but decided to post it now while it’s fresh in my mind (and besides I can’t go to sleep yet, it’s just 10 minutes to midnight).

In an earlier posting, I commented that the only things I’m worried about are violence and kidnapping. Add one more to that: (potential) trouble with the cops.

Maybe this explanation (which isn’t clearly spelled out in the guidebooks writeups about scams) will help you to avoid trouble: what a scammer/hustler seeks to do is lead you through a sequence of actions which will lead you into a no-win situation. Basically, your tacit or overt yes response to each step of the sequence will eventually lead you beyond a certain threshold – your no response after that point will carry negative consequences for you, and the scammer now holds the upper hand. The only way out is to pay up.

I’ll give the G-rated version of my story because although it might be embarrassing to some, I have nothing to hide. The young guy I mentioned in a couple of earlier entries rematerialized last night, I agreed to have a beer with him at that point and to meet up with him at 8pm this evening to see Intramuros at night and to discuss my plans for Baguio. He showed up an hour and a half early, and we toured Intramuros without any trouble. (Aside from the fact that there wasn’t much to see…)

He wanted to give me a massage (a legitimate one as far as I know) and to take a shower; I bought us merienda (snacks) at 7-11 and we went to my hotel. The desk clerk called upstairs to inform me that unregistered visitors are not allowed in the hotel at any time, please send this guy downstairs. So then the scam sequence became this:

  • Guy (calls himself Josh) can’t produce ID for desk clerk
  • We proceed outside to chat, finish our snack
  • He says there are short-time motels here for a couple hundred pesos ($4-$7)
  • He leads me to a bicycle-powered tricycle for a mere 3-block ride
  • As we walk to entrance, I ask whether he will ask for any more money than I’d given him before; he says no
  • We sit in a somewhat strange waiting room, during which time I contemplate that maybe we should check into a different place than this
  • Clerk leads us to a regular-looking hotel room
  • Josh takes shower, suggests I do same before massage

Having tacitly accepted all the above, a game of hardball then ensues. This is a guy half my age and about 2/3 my weight: not someone I’d ever consider threatening in any potential way. But watch out! You won’t read the rest of this in any guidebook.

  • Josh informs me that he needs to tell me something; I ask what
  • “I lied”, he says sorry to have to say this, wants money
  • Naive me tells him that if he’d simply asked for money up front before paying for taxis and a whole new hotel room, I’d have been accommodating but now my answer’s no. Little do I realize the setup!
  • He then reveals the kicker: both of us have to check out of the hotel at the same time, I can’t leave by myself. (It’s one of those love-hotels that don’t ask questions and don’t ask IDs up front. Ever been in one of those? I hadn’t!)
  • He’s sitting there wearing nothing but a towel and refuses to get dressed. I stormed out and asked him to follow.
  • I summon manager, pay bill.
  • Next kicker: guy demands that police be summoned, won’t explain what he’s planning to tell the cops other than that I’d agreed to pay him some unspecified amount. I hand him 500 pesos ($10.50), witnessed by manager, but he won’t back down.
  • Manager asks me to wait for police to show up.

What would you do in that situation? Well, work up a lot of adrenalin and contemplate just how readily you fell for this latest scam. But it’s got much larger consequences than someone filching your wallet or even your passport.

So it’s two hours since my hasty withdrawal from the whole situation; I’m wondering whether it’s safe to return to my hotel. Remember, this whole thing started at the entrance to my hotel. Tomorrow I will move someplace far away.

I can’t say this won’t ever happen to me again–con artists are very creative and clever–but this is the sort of lesson in street smarts that won’t ever be forgotten.

It all starts with tacitly (or gullibly) allowing a sequence of somewhat unfamiliar eyebrow-raising actions to take place. Remember to say no early in the sequence. Else you’ll face a no-win dilemma like mine.

And don’t believe everything you believe in those scam-avoidance guides. More than one that I’ve read suggests that if you aren’t sure about someone but want to have a private space with them (be it for business meeting, massage, or something naughty) then it’s better to rent a separate hotel room besides your own. As you can see, this advice can’t be accepted at face value.

Comments welcome, unfortunately I haven’t yet debugged this blog software to enable commenting but you can email me.