Thousands of Indians travel to South East Asia every year for budget-friendly holidays. Most come back with happy pictures and fond memories but a few unfortunate ones get scammed by fraudsters too. A scam that many have been victims of but haven’t found a platform to talk about it is the currency note trick, a situation that would leave you startled and poorer.
Culturally, Indians are generally very open to friendly conversations with foreigners and within moments pour their hearts out to them. The conmen, who are quite aware of this fact take complete advantage of it. The modus operandi involves a couple of local con-artists (mostly a man and a woman) posing as friendly tourists approaching Indians and engaging in small talk with them. Gradually, as the conversation progresses these friendly strangers ask the carefree travellers that they have never seen Indian currency or for that matter the currency that the tourists have on them.
Being large-hearted and welcoming, we Indians would typically fish out multiple US Dollar bills from our pockets and put them up for display. The trickster would then try and touch the currency bill, pretending to feel it. Once they’re through with this act, the victim would then keep the bills back into their wallet or pockets without counting them again.
The hunky-dory touristy acting con-artists will then immediately try to flee the scene in a rush citing an urgency, maybe excusing themselves to use the bathroom etc.
Mostly, until this juncture, the tourists are completely clueless about the trick that they have been tricked on. Usually, the missing cash is accounted for later on when people take stock of their expense for the day and the cash in hand doesn’t add up.
I was a victim of this trickery in the Sukhumvit district of Bangkok. The year was 2012, the con-artists were a man and a woman, seemingly people of Arab descent. They engaged me at a pick-up point for taxis. I was waiting for a taxi for quite some time and was getting impatient. The posh looking couple elegantly dressed and wearing an expensive fragrance got me talking.
They said that they had just landed in BKK and weren’t sure what a Thai Baht bill looks like. I immediately took out a wad of 1000 baht bills (these were the pre-forex card days) and the man tried to touch it. I did not resist as we were “friends” by then.
Immediately after this act a taxi with an Arab looking driver stopped by, the couple got in and the vehicle drove away. What got me thinking after a couple of minutes was the fact that how did the taxi stop by just for them while I had been waiting at the point much earlier than they were. Upon counting the bills, I found out that I was left with 28 of them. I had exchanged 30 notes in exchange for my US Dollars from a reputed money exchanger across the street an hour earlier and remember counting them multiple times.
Needless to say, play safe in South East Asia doesn’t apply to just one thing, next time you travel there, play safer.
The author is a Bengaluru-based Globetrotter, Liverpool Supporter, Old School, Advocate of Free Thought and a dreamer.
