Scaming the scamers!
I’ll save myself a lot of work and paste a copy of one of my friends e-mails. This is one of the common jewel scam in both India and Nepal, this one took place in India though. It’s long, but informative…
Life for the past few days has been very exciting. I had meet this group of
people from Spain and one from Belgium with whom I had been hanging out. We
were supposed to meet at 4 in the afternoon to grab some food and climb a
nearby mountain, camp, have drum music, a nice fire, and watch the sunrise
from the highest point around.
At breakfast I ran into Mike, the guy from Belgium. He told me that he was
supposed to go to meet some guy about taking some jewels to Australia, so
that they could avoid their export tax and they would give him a load of
cash. He is a sweet, sweet, guy who even though he has been traveling for
years, doesn’t fly because of the amount of pollution that it will generate.
I am sure that he has been pretty much homeless and penniless since I was
in high school. But he is happy, and benevolently chooses the lifestyle.
They told him that it would be possible if he would like to take a boat
clear to Australia. Therefore he is excited (but not really so much about
the 10,000 that they told him that he could make).
I told him that I thought that it was a scam and that he shouldn’t go. But,
curiosity got to me and I asked if I could go with him to see exactly what
their scam was. We met with “J” at a chai shop at the edge of town. He
explained that they were just avoiding the export tax of 250% by sending
tourist with the jewels, saying that they had bought them for personal use.
Then when the jewels would reach the other countries, they would make 400%
profit on the sale of the jewels, and give us cash amounting to the value of
the jewels in India. They would provide us with a bill of sale; and we
would have to give them no money, have to pay no taxes, and it was promised
that this is legal for us to do. “J” said that we were easy going, he
thought that he could trust us, and asked if we could go meet some of his
business associates. He took us to a nice hotel outside of town where there
were five other men. We talked for 6 hours.
Even though I said that I was not there to do business, I was just curious
as to what was going on, they told me that they wanted to send me to NY,
because I would not have the visa hassles. They were really excited and
said that if Mike and I agreed to do this that they would like to have us
fly the following day. They would need us to go for our luggage and they
would take us to Jiapur that night to do the paperwork. We asked for an
hour to think it over and discuss it with each other, but they said that
there was no time for that, that we could discuss it in the car.
I said that I was going to have to see their Ids and be able to use the
email to tell people that I was switching locations before I would agree to
go. They said “no problem, you can do all of that at our office in Jiapur”.
So Mike and I acquiesced, and went to go get our luggage. “J” picked us up
on a back road instead of at our hotels, which I thought was a flaw in his
legitimacy.
Back at the hotel, Mike and I started to speak Spanish to one
another. We couldn’t figure out where the scam was. I was thinking that
they were just going to walk away with our luggage or something.
After a couple of hours wait at the hotel, they said that it was too late to
go to Jiapur that night that we would go do the paperwork in the morning.
Instead we were going to go have dinner in Ajmer. Mike and I walk to “J’s”
car. He tells Mike to go with his “brother”, so I get out with Mike to go
in the other car with him. Then they tell Mike; “no, no go with “J”” so I
go to go with J also. They tell me to stay in the other car. “Why are you
separating us?” I asked. Mike grabbed my hand and we go back to J’s car.
In the car there was visible tension coming from J.
I memorized the other car’s license plate number when it goes in front of
us.
At dinner there is tension coming from the two main figures “J” and his
“brother”, the other 3 boys (younger-early 20s) are fine, happy and amiable.
Finally the man called “my brother”, reprimands us that they wanted to
talk to us separately, and in doing business they need our full cooperation
and trust. They wanted to speak to Mike separately.
Mike and I explain that they do this all the time and for us it is a lot of
money. It is different and a bit uncomfortable.
After dinner we find ourselves in different cars.
“J” tells me that the reason they wanted us separate is because they think
that I could continue doing business with them, but Mike, due to his
environmental values (not wanting to fly), look (long dreds), and way of
life (no money/ credit cards/ atm etc…), that they don’t think that they are
going to be able to do a lot of business with him. However, I have a
passport that can go anywhere, and they would like to do business with me.
“But in order to do business we need to show the transactions. We need a
copy of your bank card.” Acha, there is the scam.
“I don’t have a bank card, or credit card, all my transactions are in cash”.
“How do you get this cash?”
“My parents take it from my account and send it to me when I tell them that
I am out of money. I also have some Traveler’s Checks”
“But don’t you have access to your account?”
“No, before I left I signed a legal document, giving access to my parents”
“But don’t you have an ATM card?”
“No, when I was in Taiwan, there was a big scam going on where people where
losing their life savings, because cameras were stealing the pin numbers,
while I was watching all of this on the news, my bank card had problems
(true), so I decided not to use any sort of plastic money anymore (not true)
”
“Well, how do you get that money, western union?”
“Yes.”
In the mean time in the other car it is being explained to Mike that they
want to do more business with him than with me, because they feel that they
can trust him more, and I am too young.
When we were back in the hotel, I acted like I was getting ready to go to
bed, and hid my credit card, atm, social security card and transaction
receipts in my sanitary pads, and in the sleeping bag in my bag.
The next morning we were awoken and told that they needed to take Mike to
Mombay to get started on his Australian visa; and they were taking me to
Jiapur to meet with their lawyer and get started on the paperwork. We were
to meet in Mombay in the night, and Mike and I were to fly our respective
ways in the morning. The only two of the group that were around are J and
one of the boys Kevin.
I took out my camera (I broke down and bought a camera in Nepal), and say
“Pictures for the adventure!” and try to get a picture of all 3. J and
Kevin jump away. They both claim that they don’t like pictures. I take a
picture of Mike, and then say “Ah come on”, as I snap one of Kevin.
I leave the camera on and sneak a picture of J’s license plate, which is the
only license plate that I have seen in Hindi (they usually are in the roman
alphabet and numbers). I get in the car and flip the camera over to record,
and nonchalantly held it in my hand trying to get a good picture of J before
I “noticed” that I had left it on.
I was kicking myself for finding myself alone with someone in a car, who I
was pretty sure, was trying to scam me. His mobile had the name Raj on the
screen, so I start to think that his name really is Raj. In Ajmer, we
stopped so that he can make a quick email. He took the only computer
available. I sat next to him and memorized his email accounts and the info
in them. Someone got up from his computer, and without saying anything I
went to go use it. Because I know that he checks his email often, and was
hoping that he would be someone who wouldn’t freak out by such a strange
email I sent an email like this to Pete:
Sam john (the name one of the accounts) jounior4_2003@yahoo.com,
taddybon@yahoo.com
Natiallie Calam teaches in Ajmer
John Wagner
Internet cafe Satguru
Lp# 3cp 3621 white sedan
Tan Esteem
Fair grounds in Pushkar (gov hotels)- nice
J, Kevin, Sam, Bali Can, other can
Belgium- Mike
A few minutes later J says that he is ready to go. Sometime in the car J
finally tells me that a lot of people call him Raj.
When we arrived in Jiapur, just like many times before, I am instructed to
not say anything about the business to anyone, that even though it is legal,
they don’t want people knowing their business. Then we went to a Polo game.
At the Polo game I act like I am being a big tourist and start taking
pictures, trying to figure out how to get Raj in the shot.
We stop for Raj to make a phone call. I find papers with the account
numbers of a Sara someone in the car door so I take a picture of the papers.
Then again at the hotel (very nice), I am again told not to talk to people
in the hotel. I memorize the location of the hotel:
Sneh-Deep 33 B Colone Sethi (helpful that my brothers name is in it eh?)
I was told to take a shower and look nice. From the hotel we headed to a
palace that has been turned into a 5 star hotel for dinner—luxurious. We
were waiting for business associates Raj and I started talking business
again.
“In order to do business we need your atm transaction receipt, copy of your
credit card or your receipt from the Westen Union.”
“But, I don’t have an ATM card, or credit card”. There is also no way that
my parents are going to send me the money without asking questions as to
where the rest of my money went. Even if they were to send me all of my
money, I have no where near 10,000 in my account to show you”
“How much do you have?”
“I have no idea, my parents are taking care of that for me”
“Well how much do you think you have?”
“At most at very most I have maybe $3000”.
“Well get your father to send you that money and then, we can do business”
“I thought that I wouldn’t give you any money”
“No money, just the western union receipt”
“You don’t know my parents, they would never send me all of my money without
asking questions. You don’t want them to know what is going on, and I don’t
want to bring them into my business, so there is no way that I can ask for
that money. They know that I still have money left. Furthermore, we have
already discussed that they will be bringing me my money when they see me in
Thailand. So even if I said that all of my money was stolen, they would
only send me a couple of hundred dollars at most.”
“Tell them that you want to buy jewels”
“They know better, right now I can live on 100 rupees a day, and they know
that is what I am doing. It is an inappropriate time in my life to make
purchases like that. It is better that the only money that I spend is on
food, shelter and transportation. They wouldn’t agree with me doing such a
thing and they also know me better than to think that I would actually do
that. And, I really don’t like that you want me to lie to my family.”
I don’t see why you need to show where I got the money, why can’t you say
that I paid cash, and have no receipt as to where I got it.”
“Don’t you know the difference between black money and white money?”
“Raj, I have never been asked to show my transaction receipts for anything
else, as long as a person hands you real cash, that is verifiable that it is
real cash, then you don’t need to show where they got it.”
“Are you telling me that you know my business better than I do? We don’t
want to have anything that would make us lose our export license. We
legally need to prove where you got the money.”
“Why couldn’t you give me the money to show, then I give you back the money,
then you can show that I had the money”.
“Where is the transaction?”
“Western Union”
“That would never work in India”
We discuss the matter for a while more, then he says “come on we will meet
them somewhere else.”
I take pictures of the palace, and get my first good one of Raj. We go to
the Sheraton where we actually meet his associates, Baba (later called
Nacho), and Raja Patan (later called Noap) .
They are trying to get me to drink, but I say that I don’t drink.
We hadn’t eaten all day. We are the only people in the restaurant, I order
Fettuccini, and Raj orders a chicken dish, there is also the bar bill which
has Baba’s and Raja’s beers on it. They are paid separately at about 1 am
with Baba’s credit card (gotcha!)
The next day Raj says that he will be back in a couple of hours. I walk to
a nearby internet café, email Pete an explanation, and email the girls I met
in Vipassana as to what is going on (they know India, and are here). We go
around Jiapur, Raja rear ends someone, so we have to get him a loaner car, a
white hatch back with license plate Rj 36 c 3388.
We stop at some place where Raj asks me to stay on the roof (I think maybe
it is his home), so I take a picture of the sign of a shop across the
street. I start telling Raj that I am beginning to feel like a prisoner. I
am not allowed to talk to anyone, and I am being taken everywhere with him,
etc…
We go to a birthday gathering for an Austrian jewelry designer who has lived
in India for the past 9 years. It is her 60th. Her 28-year-old Indian
husband is in Pushkar with his new hotel. They tell me her name is Monica,
but they call her Sarat. She uses Noap and Nacho’s other names.
At about one in the morning they take me to Raja/Noap’s house where he
starts showing me bone and synthetic jewelry.
They next morning I pitch a fit. “If there is no need for me to be running
around doing business with you I don’t want to be sitting in a car or in a
hotel room. I am really beginning to feel like a prisoner. I have a life
too you know. I need to go do simple things like go buy cotton swabs, do my
laundry, go to the post office, email etc…It has been days since I was
supposed to be in NY. I don’t see how I can help you if I can’t produce
proof of the amount of money that you need, you are asking me to be a
magician. Bla bla bla ”
Raj argues with me that I need to be fully cooperative. Then says I will be
back in a couple of hours wait here. He comes back and says that they can’t
use me (what I have been telling him for a couple of days now). He then
asks me to pay for the hotel room. I say “that is a business expenditure,
it is your duty to pay for it”
“But I don’t have any cash, also do you know how much this has cost like 600
dollars, why should I have to pay for it.”
“Because it is your business deal.”
“But there has been no business between us, that is your fault too.”
“No Raj it is not my fault. I have told you from the beginning everything.
I am sorry that I don’t have the money that you need to show for your books,
but you have known all along.”
“Okay, I’ll pay you back”
“Well then before we leave each other, I would like to get my money back,
can we go by an atm.”
“No I have taken my limit today, because I had to pay for my car, I’ll give
you the money tomorrow.”
“Can I see the transaction receipt?”
“You are crazy! You don’t trust me?”
“Just show me the receipt.”
He gets out a receipt but won’t let me look at the information.
“No, don’t mix business with friends, I know that you have several cards,
and accounts, and I know that this is a business expenditure. I don’t feel
comfortable paying the bill because I don’t know where I am going so I don’t
know if we will run into each other again.”
I grabbed my bag, we hugged goodbye. He looks as though he is going to cry
(it’s expensive trying to rip me off).
I walk down the road. A few minutes later he drives by. I guess he had the
cash after all.
I took the bus back to Pushkar.
Now my question is should I go to the police now. I think I have enough
information to get them, and apparently Mike borrowed money from a friend to
show the proper amount. Or should I wait to go to the police until I hear
from Mike?
Tags: Scams
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