On my first day in Manila I went to Intramuros to sightsee.  While there I went to Manila Cathedral.  While inside Manila Cathedral I met two very nice respectable girls that invited me to lunch with their family in China town.  So I met their family.  There aunts, one uncle and the boyfriend of one of the girls.  While here they informed me that they were traveling as well and were from Baguio.  They invited me to join them as they had a minivan and were going to the kind of places that I wanted to see.  So foolishly I accepted.  Two days later they picked me up at my hotel and we set off to Tagaytay.  We saw the sights during the day and at night we drank and told jokes and had a good old time.

Now at some point, after I had been drinking a bit it was suggested I make a run to an ATM since in Northern Luzon it can hard to find ATMs and to make sure my card worked.  So we went to an ATM at about 9:30 at night.  Now mind you it was a real bank (Allied Bank) and a real ATM.  But what I probably didn’t notice was that their was a device their to clone my card and capture my pin number.  At some point after that I believe I was drugged since I don’t remember much more of the night and I wasn’t that drunk.

The next day I woke up and was fine and we proceeded with our trip.  We drove north stopping the town of San Jose.  Again we had a good time and all seemed well.  We sang karaoke and had a few beers.  The next morning however they claimed that they had a car problem and showed me what appeared to be some sort of leak in the car.  They said they would drop me off in Banaue and come back for me the next day.  They also asked if I could spare a 1000 pesos for the return trip to get me.  And of course I paid.

Upon my next ATM visit a few days later I am told that I have insufficient funds.  I figure this is some sort of error and just use another card and think little of it.  It isn’t until I return home that I confirm what has happened to me and they instead of it being and error my bank account really has been run dry.  They ran 19 transactions at the max on the first night.  Waited 2 days (the day when I was dropped off) and then ran 7 more until my account was done.

In hindsight, despite how warm and caring they seemed, there were small signs that could be seen.  First, nobody on their trip had a camera or took pictures.  When we went to sites most people just stayed behind.  Second, I was never clear as to what everyone’s relationship was and nobody could seem to adequately explain it.  Third, despite the fact that they are planning to be on the road with you for over a week everyone has a really small bag.   The last thing let me know for sure that it was them is that at some point, probably while I was drugged, they deleted all photos of themselves from my camera.

So word to the wise, be very careful.  Not all scams involve poor pretty women or buying things.  I hope that someone benefits from my experience.  If you have any comments or questions I’d be very interested.

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