Philippines Scams & Warnings

Archive for October, 2009

I know several foreigners who have fallen for the card game scam. Basically you are befriended by a Filipino male or males. They may have a female ‘cousin’ with them to soften your suspicions but the Filipina will be a girlfriend of one of the gang. They will take you somewhere off the beaten track to play cards, maybe for fun or they might suggest a few pesos bet. Peso’s? Play money! Maybe but not if you lose enough of them, then they add up to real money!

You will be given drinks to loosen you up and help you relax and trust them. You will enjoy a winning streak and then they will pounce. Someone will suggest upping the stakes and before you know it, you are being escorted to an ATM by a couple of really heavy looking cut throats to draw out as much as you can.

If your gambling debts are high enough they will insist on holding your passport, air ticket and taking you to the ATM again when more money can be accessed. These guys don’t mess around, they will hurt you, maybe even kill you if they feel like it.

So why do foreigners fall for this? Why do men gamble in the first place? I don’t play cards, I only ever bet on myself and then I bet everything I have. But gambling is greed and greed is what makes every scam and con work. That get something for nothing possibility is too much for some to resist. Well, I reckon you deserve everything you get. The simple solution is don’t gamble and especially don’t gamble with Filipinos you barely might know.

Some years ago the tourist areas in Manila were targeted by ‘Ativan Gangs’, so named because of the drug they used to knock out unsuspecting victims. They would befriend a foreigner, usually spotted at an ATM or leaving his hotel and use a ruse such as being the hotel security officer on his day off or the customs officer at the airport that processed him through.

They usually have a female with them and she is very friendly and attentive, perhaps with a sister or cousin. The males are always relatives to make the girls seem available, even if only subliminally. One friend of mine, a very intelligent and well travelled middle aged man was a victim. He is neither gullible nor stupid yet he fell for their scam. He got into a car with them on the premise of seeing the sights, guided by locals etc big mistake number one. He was offered some orange juice from a can that was already open, big mistake number two.

He has no recollection of anything that happened next except waking up in an alleyway, stark naked and totally cleaned out. Some passing Filipinos helped him find something to cover himself and called an ambulance as well as the police. Basically he is lucky he woke up at all. Some victims are murdered and their bodies dumped.

If you want to make friends with Filipino males, you should pick who you befriend, not the other way around. There are reports of a gang back in Manila using a similar SOP to the Ativan gangs of the 1990s and early 2000’s.