I hope I'm the last person this "family" manages to scam, but I'm sure they've moved on to victimize more tourists. I had never thought people like they could exist, which is probably why I didn't suspect a thing until days later when I found cash missing from my belongings. Please read the following and learn from my mistake and experience; also, I hope you will please forward this to others so more people will be aware of some of the harder to spot scams that happen. (Even better if you can translate this into another language and forward it from there!)
In September 2009, I spent eight days in the Philippines after having backpacked in several other SE Asian countries. While in Manila, a mother and son approached me while I was at the bay waiting for the sunset. Helen, a 58 year old woman, said she was from Legazpi and traveling with some of her sons and in-laws. She makes small talk and asks typical questions-- where are you from, how many days are you here for, where are you planning to go, and so forth. Before you know it, Helen and her 32 year old son, David, are joined by Helen's sisters-in-law, Hilga (in her late 50s or a solid 60 years old) and Donnie (in her 40s), and two other sons (Joey, 33, and another, 31).
Helen suggests taking a walk along the boulevard, so we all walk and chat and everybody is very friendly and warm. While we walk, Helen gives me some travel suggestions-- where to go, what's interesting on the island of Luzon, where she and her family are headed. Nothing out of the ordinary. She even graciously offers me to join her family on a day trip tomorrow to Taal Volcano, a site I had been wanting to go to, reasoning that it's cheaper for me to go with them than by myself regarding rentals and such. I tell her I really appreciate the offer and would love to go with them. When we reach the end of the boulevard, we sit down at the cultural center and Hilga chats with me about her grandchildren, taking out her cell phone to show me photos of them and her pet cat. After sitting and chatting, Helen suggests we go for a beer and karaoke right across the street; she says it'll be quick, and then we'll take a jeepney to go back to my guesthouse (Helen had said she and her sons were staying in the same neighborhood, while Hilga and Donnie were staying in other parts of the city). I agree, so we cross the street and go to a small pub.
It's around 7:00 p.m. by this time. While the family sings karaoke, I nurse my beer and avoid drinking much. Helen manages to persuade me to go with them now-- at night-- to Tagaytay, a city which overlooks Taal Volcano. We leave the pub, hop on a jeepney to an area packed with buses, get on one of the buses, and head out. When we arrive around midnight, we go to a cabin rental and go to sleep. The next day, two of the brothers and I go sightseeing while the ladies prepare lunch. After lunch, I'm told we'll have coconut wine while we wait for the bus. Sounds good. Helen mixes a pitcher of coconut wine cocktail, and several of us take turns taking shots from the same shotglass. After several shots, I start to feel the effects of what I had thought was the cocktail-- I pass out. (From this point until I come to 6-8 hours later, I can't remember anything clearly, but I do remember engaging in sex. When I come to, I cannot remember where I am, cannot think clearly, cannot move my body fluidly, and am confused and disoriented. I panic, only thinking I've been raped, and leave the family so I can take the 2:30 a.m. bus back to Manila. It is between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. when I come to; we had started drinking around 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
Two days later, I meet the family again-- I call one of the aunts because I feel horrible for what happened, which I still can't remember, and I feel sorry for ruining their vacation by flipping out and completely losing it after my blackout. Donnie agrees to come to the guesthouse in Manila to meet me (everyone is back in Manila now), but she calls back to put Hilga on the phone. Hilga asks if I'm okay, asks what happened, tells me everyone is worried about me. I tell her I'm okay but can't remember what happened, and I apologize for my behavior. She tells me it's okay, it's in the past, and invites me to join the family to continue on their vacation as planned (to 100 Islands, a six hour drive away from Manila). At this point, I feel I can trust the women and think what happened was an isolated incident, so I go to the metro station to meet them. (At the station, the family gives Joey and me privacy to talk and patch things up.)
The remainder of my time with the family was fine-- they were very warm and hospitable the entire time I was with them. We stayed at Donnie's parents' home one night (it was between Manila and 100 Islands), she introduced me to her family and her boyfriend, and everybody was all smiles. Donnie also took me to an ATM to withdraw pesos, citing that the exchange rate at 100 Islands was very poor, thus discouraging me from exchanging cash I had on me. After spending one and a half days at 100 Islands, renting out a boat and snorkeling, the family drives me back to Manila and drops me off at the airport. We say goodbye and I leave thinking how lucky I was to have such a great experience.
It isn't until after I've left the Philippines that I realize I'm missing $2000 in cash; I try not to think the family took it, because they were so kind and warm and friendly... I think maybe I was clumsy and misplaced it or lost it, but really, after guarding it so closely while in Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, why was it now it went missing? I search for Philippine scams on the internet and read about several involving ATMs and PINs-- and I immediately think back to Donnie and her suggestion I use an ATM. I call my bank to close my account, learning there's an additional $100 withdrawn on top of the amount I had withdrawn. Not a huge deal.
When I return to the US at the end of September, however, I learn that $1000 had been withdrawn from my bank account-- in small increments in one day! I close my account immediately and contact my credit card company. I find that the scamily had also attempted to get cash advances from my credit cards (at the ATM, I had tried using my credit cards before using my bank card); fortunately, those failed because I never established a PIN to get cash advances even in the States.
Please be careful when you travel-- I've backpacked in Central and South Americas, Asia, and Europe alone and have never experienced such a scam involving a seemingly nice family. In hindsight it's very clear this was a scamily because:
1. They approached me in bits and pieces-- that is, the whole group wasn't together when they initially "met" me. I suspect they paired off according to English fluency and scoped for a mark to congregate around.
2. They traveled very light-- just a small pack or satchel that somehow all materialized while we were at the pub; plus, one of the men traveled with a small tool kit, which I had found a bit unusual.
3. They had no cameras to take photos of their alleged family vacation (but it's an impoverished country, so I assumed they simply couldn't afford such gadgets).
4. They spoke remarkably fluent English (Helen says she was an operator, Joey only finished high school, I don't recall what the others say they did).
5. They (Donnie) took me to an ATM. Big warning sign I should've been aware of.
There are probably even more red flags about this scamily that hasn't even occurred to me. I just want to spread the word so that others don't have this costly lesson. I'm an experienced backpacker and solo traveler, and I'm usually pretty aware of my surroundings-- this totally caught me off guard. All they wanted was money, thankfully, so at least I didn't come to with my kidneys missing!
In September 2009, I spent eight days in the Philippines after having backpacked in several other SE Asian countries. While in Manila, a mother and son approached me while I was at the bay waiting for the sunset. Helen, a 58 year old woman, said she was from Legazpi and traveling with some of her sons and in-laws. She makes small talk and asks typical questions-- where are you from, how many days are you here for, where are you planning to go, and so forth. Before you know it, Helen and her 32 year old son, David, are joined by Helen's sisters-in-law, Hilga (in her late 50s or a solid 60 years old) and Donnie (in her 40s), and two other sons (Joey, 33, and another, 31).
Helen suggests taking a walk along the boulevard, so we all walk and chat and everybody is very friendly and warm. While we walk, Helen gives me some travel suggestions-- where to go, what's interesting on the island of Luzon, where she and her family are headed. Nothing out of the ordinary. She even graciously offers me to join her family on a day trip tomorrow to Taal Volcano, a site I had been wanting to go to, reasoning that it's cheaper for me to go with them than by myself regarding rentals and such. I tell her I really appreciate the offer and would love to go with them. When we reach the end of the boulevard, we sit down at the cultural center and Hilga chats with me about her grandchildren, taking out her cell phone to show me photos of them and her pet cat. After sitting and chatting, Helen suggests we go for a beer and karaoke right across the street; she says it'll be quick, and then we'll take a jeepney to go back to my guesthouse (Helen had said she and her sons were staying in the same neighborhood, while Hilga and Donnie were staying in other parts of the city). I agree, so we cross the street and go to a small pub.
It's around 7:00 p.m. by this time. While the family sings karaoke, I nurse my beer and avoid drinking much. Helen manages to persuade me to go with them now-- at night-- to Tagaytay, a city which overlooks Taal Volcano. We leave the pub, hop on a jeepney to an area packed with buses, get on one of the buses, and head out. When we arrive around midnight, we go to a cabin rental and go to sleep. The next day, two of the brothers and I go sightseeing while the ladies prepare lunch. After lunch, I'm told we'll have coconut wine while we wait for the bus. Sounds good. Helen mixes a pitcher of coconut wine cocktail, and several of us take turns taking shots from the same shotglass. After several shots, I start to feel the effects of what I had thought was the cocktail-- I pass out. (From this point until I come to 6-8 hours later, I can't remember anything clearly, but I do remember engaging in sex. When I come to, I cannot remember where I am, cannot think clearly, cannot move my body fluidly, and am confused and disoriented. I panic, only thinking I've been raped, and leave the family so I can take the 2:30 a.m. bus back to Manila. It is between 11:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. when I come to; we had started drinking around 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.)
Two days later, I meet the family again-- I call one of the aunts because I feel horrible for what happened, which I still can't remember, and I feel sorry for ruining their vacation by flipping out and completely losing it after my blackout. Donnie agrees to come to the guesthouse in Manila to meet me (everyone is back in Manila now), but she calls back to put Hilga on the phone. Hilga asks if I'm okay, asks what happened, tells me everyone is worried about me. I tell her I'm okay but can't remember what happened, and I apologize for my behavior. She tells me it's okay, it's in the past, and invites me to join the family to continue on their vacation as planned (to 100 Islands, a six hour drive away from Manila). At this point, I feel I can trust the women and think what happened was an isolated incident, so I go to the metro station to meet them. (At the station, the family gives Joey and me privacy to talk and patch things up.)
The remainder of my time with the family was fine-- they were very warm and hospitable the entire time I was with them. We stayed at Donnie's parents' home one night (it was between Manila and 100 Islands), she introduced me to her family and her boyfriend, and everybody was all smiles. Donnie also took me to an ATM to withdraw pesos, citing that the exchange rate at 100 Islands was very poor, thus discouraging me from exchanging cash I had on me. After spending one and a half days at 100 Islands, renting out a boat and snorkeling, the family drives me back to Manila and drops me off at the airport. We say goodbye and I leave thinking how lucky I was to have such a great experience.
It isn't until after I've left the Philippines that I realize I'm missing $2000 in cash; I try not to think the family took it, because they were so kind and warm and friendly... I think maybe I was clumsy and misplaced it or lost it, but really, after guarding it so closely while in Thailand, Cambodia, and Malaysia, why was it now it went missing? I search for Philippine scams on the internet and read about several involving ATMs and PINs-- and I immediately think back to Donnie and her suggestion I use an ATM. I call my bank to close my account, learning there's an additional $100 withdrawn on top of the amount I had withdrawn. Not a huge deal.
When I return to the US at the end of September, however, I learn that $1000 had been withdrawn from my bank account-- in small increments in one day! I close my account immediately and contact my credit card company. I find that the scamily had also attempted to get cash advances from my credit cards (at the ATM, I had tried using my credit cards before using my bank card); fortunately, those failed because I never established a PIN to get cash advances even in the States.
Please be careful when you travel-- I've backpacked in Central and South Americas, Asia, and Europe alone and have never experienced such a scam involving a seemingly nice family. In hindsight it's very clear this was a scamily because:
1. They approached me in bits and pieces-- that is, the whole group wasn't together when they initially "met" me. I suspect they paired off according to English fluency and scoped for a mark to congregate around.
2. They traveled very light-- just a small pack or satchel that somehow all materialized while we were at the pub; plus, one of the men traveled with a small tool kit, which I had found a bit unusual.
3. They had no cameras to take photos of their alleged family vacation (but it's an impoverished country, so I assumed they simply couldn't afford such gadgets).
4. They spoke remarkably fluent English (Helen says she was an operator, Joey only finished high school, I don't recall what the others say they did).
5. They (Donnie) took me to an ATM. Big warning sign I should've been aware of.
There are probably even more red flags about this scamily that hasn't even occurred to me. I just want to spread the word so that others don't have this costly lesson. I'm an experienced backpacker and solo traveler, and I'm usually pretty aware of my surroundings-- this totally caught me off guard. All they wanted was money, thankfully, so at least I didn't come to with my kidneys missing!
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