Nearly got scammed out of $15,000 in India!

I'm well aware of the jewelry scam which goes on in India and have read about this in Lonely Planet ... but I think I was just about a victim of this (even though I knew about it). If you don't know about it, an Indian guy gets friendly with you and tries to convince you to help him avoid paying tax by exporting his goods yourself. And, of course, you get some kick back/commission from doing so.

I met these two guys at a bar in Palolem Goa and played a couple games of pool with them over a couple beers. They invited me back to their place a couple hours later and I cooked a Thai curry for everyone for dinner. The house was really nice and I ended up getting a bit to sleepy after a smoke and slept on the couch.

Then, the next day we all rented bikes and headed out to see a Fort and go to another beach. A couple other foreigners I knew tagged along and we had a really good day.

Both the guys seemed pretty well off and well traveled. I can't think of anything they said that would make me think they had being lying about they were talking about.

After two days no mention had been made at all about any business opportunities (although they'd talked a bit about how they design and export jewelry).

Then, on day # 3 their friend (who I'd met the day before), started to tell me about how you have to pay a 260% export tax to the government when you export any products that you intend to sell. I just listened, and didn't say anything to suggest I'd be keen in participating ... then he started to talk about me posting a package to myself in London, picking it up and passing it onto a wholesaler. The idea being, that if the stuff is for my own personal supply, I can avoid paying any export tax, and when I pass it on to their wholesaler, I have in fact saved them a lot of money.

They offered me 6000 EURO to do this, and explained that I would not need to outlay any money myself.

OK, so now I was interested ... 6000 EURO for doing a couple days work and flying into London seemed like a really good deal ... or so I thought.

I chatted to the initial guy I had met and he seemed so genuine, that I couldn't imagine he'd be blatantly lying to me. He seemed really sincere and I asked him straight out if this really was plausible ... and he always maintained it was.

After agreeing to what he suggested, I checked out of my place and they took me to Margao where they set me up in a a pretty nice hotel. The next day I watched the guy pack the stones and I went with him to post them.

He had the value stated as 16,800 POUND, but said it would sell for five times this in the UK (thus making 6000 EURO a small amount to pay)

He got me to write a letter saying that I had bought the jewelry and was sending it to London, where I also intended to go and pass it on to my family. With this he also had a copy of my passport and visa.

Then, the next day I get a call from customs who are a bit suspicious as to why a New Zealand guy is posting stones & jewelry to London. I explained (as I had been previously told) that I had family over there (which is true) and that I was going to see them and give them some jewelry as a present. Customs said they wanted proof of me having paid for the jewelry.

The guy told me to make a cash withdrawal and give him a receipt showing this. I would then have two options for the money:

1. Take it to London and re-deposit it
2. Leave it with him and he would arrange for it to be sent to NZ

I explained that even if I was happy with this (which I wasn't) I only had access to $15,000 on my credit card. He said that if I could give him a receipt for that amount, he could probably convince customs that this was a part payment and the rest would come once I was in London.

It all seemed plausible, but there was no way I was going to trust $15,000 with someone I had only know for two days.

So, I ended up leaving and catching a bus away from there.

I can't say for certain this is the same well known scam ... but what else could it be?!!

I guess the thing that threw me was the two guys I met originally didn't even mention this and I hung out with them for 2 full days, before their friend even raised the issue.

Ah well, lesson learnt and I'm not worse of for it.

Ciao

Ray

Should of rolled the guys and stuck them in your arse.



Nice dodge though.

Met a kiwi couple in Austria who'd been scammed by something similar in Thailand... they said the thing that threw them was there was about 4 or 5 guys working together who they didn't know had any connections... while I think they were a bit gullible, these guys are professional and damn good at what they do

Have also heard of other scams where a local guy will befriend you and have a few drinks with you (just what every backpacker wants, right?).. then he'll suggest a bar to go to... you end up getting charged thousands for drinks at the new bar, and the "bouncers" won't let you leave without paying...

Unfortunately, westerners are obvious targets in third world countries... you do have to be on your guard, especially when something seems to good to be true

good on you for getting out with your wallet in tact

I'm surprised you were tempted by this! lucky it worked out well for you. I'm a complete opposite, if some stranger starts talking to me when I'm travelling I'm that guarded that as soon as they mention wanting me to do something or offer me something I'm outta there! I don't even like if I am in a marketplace and some guy wants to take me to his shop for "cheap cheap prices". I won't even go. I would rather find places myself. then again... I've had bad trouble with men especially in Morocco & Egypt to the point where I always had to be on guard looking over my shoulder.

Yeah nice dodge, pity about the copy of your passport etc still with them though

Yeah, fully knew about this, but it all seemed plausible at the time, especially cause the two initial guys hadn't even suggested doing this and we'd hung out as mates for a couple days.

It seemed like all I'd do was post the package from India, fly to London, meet the wholesaler, pick up the package from London GPO and pass it on in return for 6000 EURO

As per the old saying, if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is

Ah well, no skin off my nose (I hope)
I think start to finish, including the call from "customs" was all part of the scam. They posted the package one day, and customs called me the next, even though no customs forms were included with the actual package (the guy said his lawyer sent them). This whole thing would of been internal to India and won't effect me going to England at all. I don't think there's anything to be gained by going to the police. I sleep lightly, so there's no way anyone would of gone through my stuff after I'd had a smoke. It was just a bit of hash, not like I was smoking mean as buds and/or sleeping pills. They have a photocopy of m passport, but no credit card details, so I'm assuming there's not a huge amount they can do with that ... probably time for them to try scam the next foreigner

Emailed me friends/family and got a mixed batch of responses. Reading what I wrote it seems so obvious. My aunty in Texas was kind enough to do a reply all and say her piece about it too. Ha ha, oh well probably well deserved I guess.

Seriously though, the two initial guys seemed so genuine and I hung out with them for two days without either even suggesting this .... yeah, but almost certainly a scam.

I've emailed bank and embassyy so hopefully all will be tickety boo