Scam #1 happened to my friend - who is Chinese. They hired a cab driver for the day to take them around. The cab driver said he would take her and her friends to a great restaurant. They went to this 'great' restaurant, had some ok food, and got the bill for 1000 RMB. The restaurant claimed the fish they ate was rare and very expensive. She paid it. The cab driver then started crying and saying his mom had just died. He called them another cab and left. When I was talking to her months later she still wasn't convinced it was even a scam. She asked me if I thought his mom had actually died. SCAM!
Scam #2 happened to me on my first night in Beijing. I had read about University students convincing tourists to give them money for art projects. I met one of those guys. As soon as he told me he was a student I walked away quickly. As I was walking around Beijing looking for my friend sans cell phone. This group of 3 started talking to me. One said she wanted to practice her English. The other girl was her older cousin. The guy was the brother who supposedly spoke worse English than I spoke Chinese. Initially the younger girl had said she wanted to practice her English and I was starting to blow them off. Then the older one was talking to me and she was nice and interesting. She convinced me to get a drink with them. I was sick of walking around and a drink with some nice people sounded good. We went to a place that they knew - had a drink, some tea, some snacks, and they sang a little karaoke. When the bill came I did reach for my wallet because I didn't want them thinking they had to pay the entire bill (as the Chinese always do). Stupid me - the bill was coming my direction whether or not I had reached for my wallet. It was nearly 800RMB!! That's $114USD. Impossible. They had a breakdown ready. The tea one of the girls was so in love with cost 800! Right. I lied and said I didn't have that much money. The girl said we could split it and the rest is a blur. I was so confused. Look how nice these people look:
They wanted to go get food and I said I had to go. Nice to meet you, bye bye. I wasn't completely sure it was a scam until I really thought about it on the way back to the hostel. I'm sure the girl didn't go pay her half of the bill, I'm sure she went and took part of my money. I often wonder what their story really is and how often they do this. I noticed on the way out of my hostel the next morning that there's a sign to be careful of this scam. I definitely learned my lesson and I really don't trust anyone in Beijing. Especially taxi drivers. I find comfort in the fact that the Chinese get scammed / ripped off as much as the foreigners. Beijing is an awesome city just be careful!
2 comments:
So its only in Beijing that this sort of thing happens?
I don't think it only happens in Beijing but the student / tea house scams seem to be the worst in Beijing. Maybe they happen in Shanghai too but I haven't spent enough time there to find out.
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