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Sleight of Hand . . .

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Vaucluse
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Sleight of Hand . . .

Post by Vaucluse » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 12:50 pm

. . . as in the hand is quicker than the eye.

I was reading a post by 'eash' about him'her getting ripped off by a moneychanger and thought that these things happen daily - therefore we must have all experienced it at one time or another.

My two 'favourite' scams were in Argentina when I arrived at Ezeisa and was told I had to take a cab to the other airport, AeroPark, to go on to Santiago de Chile - only to have to pay the departure tax as I had left the concourse.
Turns out the Immigration and taxi operators were in cahoots and shared the proceeds of the trip as there were shuttles that kept the status quo between airports.

Next one later . . .

Any more stories?
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CardZeus
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Post by CardZeus » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 1:49 pm

I'm always amazed at the people that get conned by the old 'find the lady' trick. I guess their greed overcomes their senses.
The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible.

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Post by Wham » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 1:59 pm

I was walking down the steet in NY one day and a guy at a phone booth called me over. He had just "found" a bag of rare coins and had the rightful owner on the phone. The "owner" was willing to pay a reward of $100 for the small bag, but could not get there for about 30 minutes and the guy holding the phone had to leave. The guy on the other end of the line tried to get me to "pay off" the finder with 1/2 the reward or $50 - and he would then show up to give me my fifty and an additional $50 in 30 minutes.

Luckily, i smelled a trap (or was just in a hurry) and did not fall for it. But since then i have read of this scam taking place all over - and in many different formats - but the concept is always the same.
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Post by sapphire » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 4:32 pm

I have always been way too smart to fall for scams, hence nothing to contribute here. :P
It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity, and make it work for you.

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Vaucluse
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Post by Vaucluse » Mon, 19 Dec 2005 10:18 pm

sapphire wrote:I have always been way too smart to fall for scams, hence nothing to contribute here. :P


Thank you for sharing that with us.
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Post by sapphire » Tue, 20 Dec 2005 8:04 am

No problemo. :P
It's not getting any smarter out there. You have to come to terms with stupidity, and make it work for you.

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Post by Vaucluse » Tue, 20 Dec 2005 10:01 am

Second time I got ripped off was also in Buenos Aires.

Got off a flight from La Paz and planned to meet an old Russian exile chess Grand Master (a friend of my father) - decided on a private car as they were only USD10 (and infinitely safer). Handed the driver the $10 bill and within 1/2 second he handed me back a $1 bill and said I had made a mistake.

Friggin' prick . . . what can you do in a situation like that? 20 or so other guys like him around you - no wonder I was all for the Brits in the Falkland War.
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