Saturday, December 6, 2014

Conned

November 23rd, 2014

I arrived into Mexico City on the overnight bus from Puerto Vallarta and hopped on the metro.  I had to change lines at a station called La Raza and as I walked along the long underground passage from one line to the other, a tall, well dressed, white man came up from behind me and asked if I spoke English.  He was wearing a dress shirt, pants and nice shoes.  He seemed to be in a bit of a bother.  He told me that a taxi driver had just taken off with his coat on the backseat which contained his wallet and his passport.  He was a corporate lawyer from Chicago who was down in Mexico City for some meetings for his client Siemens, a company I am familiar with from my previous job.  He had already checked in at the airport but had some time to kill so he thought he’d check out the nearby basilica.  At this point he’d missed his flight and needed to call American Airlines to see what he could do.  I offered to help find him the phone number with my smartphone so we exited the subway station and found the number for him.  He complained that he had a headache so I offered him the remainder of my almost empty water bottle.  He happened to have a phone card on him so he made a call to the airline.  While on the phone he asked if I had a pen and paper, which I did and he wrote down some details.  They stated that he would have to pay cash for the next flight but since he’d already checked in for the previous flight the missing passport wouldn’t be an issue.  He then called his wife and asked her to wire money however in order to pick it up he needed ID so she was going to send the money in my name and he asked me for my full name and email address.  Seemed harmless to go with him to the bank, it would just cost me some time, which I had.  He knew my name from the phone call but I had to ask for his, which was Gary Caplan.  Now as I write this, alarm bells should have been going off in my head but I hadn’t slept that well on the bus so I don’t think my mental capacities were firing on all cylinders.

We hopped in a cab to go to the nearest Banamex bank which was only five minutes away but Gary didn't speak much Spanish, and nor do I, so he kept trying to explain to the cabbie that we needed the “Hospitaly Square” next to which was the bank.  We arrived at the bank after the cabbie had to ask some people in the street the directions.  However, it was Sunday so the bank was closed.  Gary seemed exasperated.  There happened to be a phone nearby so he said he’d call his wife again.  He told her the situation and said that he had to be in court the next day at 10am in Chicago which increased his frustration.  He told her to cancel the money transfer and for her to see what else she could figure out from her end.  The next flight that he needed to catch was only an hour and a half away and he seemed to be in a real jam.

So the only solution to me seemed to lend him the money.  I had earlier asked him how much the flight would cost and he said around $900 US since it was last minute.  The closed bank did have an ATM.  I withdrew 4500 pesos from my chequing account and thought I would be able to do the same from my Visa account, however it refused.  I figured my Visa account had been locked as it has been numerous times during my travels over the past 5 years so I’d have to call Visa to tell them that I was in fact in Mexico, even though I had already told them of my travel plans.  I had however taken out pesos just the day before so I already had 3-4000 in my wallet.  So I counted out 9000 pesos and had some emergency American cash and pulled out $60.  I didn't know if this would be enough for him but it would be close.  I asked for his contact details and I started to hand the pen and paper to him, thinking it would be faster for him to write it down but he just started rattling off the details.  Gary Caplan, 351 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois.  His email address was garycaplan@lsk.us.com.  He told me what the “lsk” stood for and it was the three names of the firm partners.  Phone number (312) 354-2303. 

I handed him the money and felt like a halo must be forming over my head.  He said he’d email me as soon as he got to Chicago.  There was a taxi nearby so he said a quick thanks and bye and hopped in.  I felt like I’d placed a big coin in the karma jar and I walked back to the subway station and continued on my way.

The next day in the hostel I noticed a sign in the kitchen saying “Dear Guests, Please be aware that in Mexico there are some “CON artists” at the city right now.  They are normally foreigners lying about getting ripped off and the have nothing, not even passports.  So they ask for some help with transfers of money to your bank account.  We know that when it is another foreigner it is very normal to be asking one another, but they are just ripping off people, especially tourists.  If something like this happens to you please try and take a photo of these guys and give it to us so we can give it to the authorities”.  My heart sank.  Why hadn't I seen this earlier?

After a few days of not receiving an email, I decided to look up his address in Chicago on Google Maps.  It did show on the map but the specific address number I couldn't see on the large buildings that seemed to have coffee shops and other commercial businesses on the ground floor so if he did live on this street, he would need a condo or apartment number.  I did a reverse phone look up on the number and it did show as a mobile number in a suburb of Chicago, so there was still some hope I hadn't been duped.

I sent an email asking if he’d made it or not on that flight.  A day later I received a “Delivery Status Notification” that the email had been delayed to the recipient but I didn't have to resend it.  Oh shit, I've been had.  I then tried the phone number and sure enough, I received an automated answer that this phone number was not active. Damn.

How could I have been so stupid?  I've been on the road for years and yet I still get taken like this?  Why didn't I ask to have his “wife” call me so I confirmed the phone number?  Why didn't I just go to the airport with him with the money in my pocket and buy the ticket for him?  Why didn't I take a photo of him, even surreptitiously?

But hats off to this guy, he was brilliant.  He played the part to a tee.  He even talked about the meetings he had attended and about Siemens.  He looked the part.  He acted the part.  He never even asked me to give him the money, he waited until I offered it.  And perhaps he just does this scam on Sundays and Saturdays when the banks are closed.

Now typing this out I see the holes in his story.  Things like when he called American Airlines, the first person he spoke to dealt with his issue right away.  Normally you get routed through an automated machine or from one person to the next before you get were you need.  Why did he have a phone card on him if his wallet was stolen?  Why did he have 50 pesos to pay for the cab to the bank? 

Con artists are the lowest of the low.  They prey on the goodwill of people, which can in turn shatter the possibility of that kindness being offered in the future when perhaps it is really needed.  I know I’m going to be more cynical and suspicious of people I don’t know asking for help down the road.  And that sucks.

I have to feel slightly lucky that the withdrawal from my Visa account didn’t work as I would have lost more money.  Also it was not a violent crime that I fell victim too.  In the end it was just money.  So in my three chapters of Wandergliding so far, in Europe I had my problems with my campervan Betty with it only starting 50% of the time, breaking down half a dozen times and having to change out the entire engine.  Then there was India…well what to say about India, being stuck in the country for 3½ years due to being caught with $20 of hash.  And now for my Central/South American chapter, there’s this, getting suckered out of 800 some dollars for just trying to help someone out.  In a way this one seems the least of my troubles.  Yet it still blows big time and will play on my mind.  But live and learn.  I’m a bit poorer now, but a bit wiser.

No comments:

Post a Comment