I would be interested to know whether anyone here has experience disputing such charges with the CC company? I can't imagine they would make it easy...
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I don't want to sound really stupid (though I probably am ) but I don't understand exactly what the scam was. What was the role of the friendly Iranian person?
Con artist person gains a foreign visitor's confidence.
Con-artist takes foreign visitor to a highly overpriced place and incurrs expensive purchases (or baits expensive purchases) whose costs are unparalleled even vis-a-vis the most expensive legitimate restaurants in the world.
Mark-up on the items is more than 100x retail price.
That is, the "friendly Iranian" was the con-artist trying to draw a foreigner into a trap, an egregiously overpriced trap.
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I was solicited for this scam countless times in Istanbul beware of good looking russian looking guyswho speak great english...don't go with them!! There approach was to usually ask me the time in turkish, compliment me on "looking turkish" and "fitting in" then suggesting drinks at a really epensive club. This usually happened in Beygalou/Taksim.
Last edited by gradvmedusa; Oct 8, 06 at 11:23 pm..
Reason: I will not post to flyertalk after five scotches!
I would be interested to know whether anyone here has experience disputing such charges with the CC company? I can't imagine they would make it easy...
I'm interested to know the same thing. Disputing the charge minutes after the charge is probably best. That said, there's no guarantee that the credit card company would back the customer. For example, there is some highly-publicized situation that happened with a NYC strip club customer who claimed they had been fleeced, but the strip club claimed that the customer had actually tipped the huge amounts charged and that state of inebriation was not the issue.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sadiqhassan
I don't want to sound really stupid (though I probably am ) but I don't understand exactly what the scam was. What was the role of the friendly Iranian person?
To get PresRDC into the "club," i.e. the friendly Iranian person (who probably wasn't even Iranian) was a "capper." It's no different than, for example, the tea shop scam in Beijing, though that one is frequently executed with such style and finesse that the victim doesn't even realize he's been conned. This scam is international -- a "club" or "bar" or "tea house" in which you are inveigled into buying drinks for "ladies" that wind up being charged at exorbitant rates. I suspect that similar scams were run in ancient Rome and Sumeria. I had my brush with such a place in Amsterdam -- my friend (a real friend with whom I was travelling), said she had heard of a great bar and I should meet her there that night. As soon as I walked in, I recognized it for what it was (and the "ladies" weren't really ladies), got out quickly for a relatively minimal cover charge, and intercerpted my friend at the doorway. She told me the place was recommended to her by a cab driver. I told her she should have known better.
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In Hong Kong, a purchase I made on a Bank of America Visa card that was HK$200 was actually fraudulently charged to me as HK$2000. At the time I didn't notice it, but when I did a phone call to BofA got it all straightened out.
They (meaning BofA) were courteous and prompt and I was quite pleased. I remain their customer to the present day.
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I'm interested to know the same thing. Disputing the charge minutes after the charge is probably best. That said, there's no guarantee that the credit card company would back the customer. For example, there is some highly-publicized situation that happened with a NYC strip club customer who claimed they had been fleeced, but the strip club claimed that the customer had actually tipped the huge amounts charged and that state of inebriation was not the issue.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. It will make us all more vigalent. This type of scam is common everywhere, I think. I had the beginning of this trick tried on me in both Bangkok and Rio de Janeiro. I just walked away because I had heard of this happening to males walking alone before.
I am curious about one thing though—why did you feel a need to converse with this guy just because he was Iranian?
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I very much appreciate the OP.
I felt SO stupid after being duped for 50 euro in madrid last year for this acquaintances' "mother's best box seat" for Opera that evening.
Key points:
Foreigner begins to take you to places and disorients you from your location
They begin to pay for food/drink/other items
Things spiral out of control and you are forced to make bad decisions.
Thanks for sharing your story with us. It will make us all more vigalent. This type of scam is common everywhere, I think. I had the beginning of this trick tried on me in both Bangkok and Rio de Janeiro. I just walked away because I had heard of this happening to males walking alone before.
I am curious about one thing though—why did you feel a need to converse with this guy just because he was Iranian?
An opportunity for mutual understanding; people-to-people soft diplomacy.
Even random people I've met are now included amongst my friends. Because of that, I think the important things are not to let something like this to jade you -- even while internalizing the lessons.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sadiqhassan
I don't want to sound really stupid (though I probably am ) but I don't understand exactly what the scam was. What was the role of the friendly Iranian person?
Not stupid, no. But I would chalk this one up to your age, sadiqhassan. It just hasn't happened to you yet, and hopefully it won't, but if you're out travelling, chances are it will happen sooner or later.
GUWonder and PTravel have explained the role of the Iranian (or whatever he was) rather well, he's the reason you enter the club in the first place. It's a more elaborate version of touting, and you can be sure that just like any common tout, he will get a commission for bringing PresRDC into the club to get fleeced.
There are variations on this scam all over the place - Paris (dodgy Club near Place Pigalle, happened to an old school friend), Mexico City (happened to me at a dodgy place in the Zona Rosa), Beijing (the tea scam, happened to a colleague), Bangkok (the Poker an Gem scams, see the Lonely Planet), etc.
It can be great talking to people, and it's usually very interesting, but when they start telling you about this great shop they know, it's usually a good time to bail out. Also, while I know that there are people who hang around places frequented by tourists in the hopes that they can practice a foreign language they're learning, I am always very, very wary of people who try to chat me up with that line. Nine times out of ten, they're touts.
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You let another man buy you dinner and dessert??? Weird. To me, moral of the story is stay away from quasi-third world countries. I'll still to travelling in the west. At least you're only out $300. You should still chat with VISA about it. Maybe they can pull their credit card account.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thegeneral
You let another man buy you dinner and dessert??? Weird. To me, moral of the story is stay away from quasi-third world countries. I'll still to travelling in the west. At least you're only out $300. You should still chat with VISA about it. Maybe they can pull their credit card account.
This happens in london and paris so I'm not sure about your comment concerning quasi-third world countries??
Cheers
howie
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You let another man buy you dinner and dessert??? Weird. To me, moral of the story is stay away from quasi-third world countries. I'll still to travelling in the west. At least you're only out $300. You should still chat with VISA about it. Maybe they can pull their credit card account.
This stuff happens in many countries, including in non-quasi-third world countries. I've known a version of this to happen in Miami and Boston. There's reports here of something like this happening in Paris and London too. Staying home because of irrational fear (e.g., fear of being fleeced) is not my first choice.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thegeneral
You let another man buy you dinner and dessert??? Weird. To me, moral of the story is stay away from quasi-third world countries. I'll still to travelling in the west. At least you're only out $300. You should still chat with VISA about it. Maybe they can pull their credit card account.
I'm fairly certain this sort of thing also happens to foreign travellers in the US. The main idea is to get people who have little or no knowledge of the local language or local laws and/or arrangements and who will consequently be hesitant to deal with the police over such a matter. Add in a few intimidating comments about the scammer's good relations with (or tremendous bribes to) the local police force, or about political connections, and most people try to negotiate whatever they can and write off the rest.
I'd imagine the only reason you don't really hear about it in the US is because it will mainly be happening to all those dang furriners.
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) but I don't understand exactly what the scam was. What was the role of the friendly Iranian person? 
