Was in Tops today buying some bread, and an 'obvious' tourist comes up with the line 'How much is this in US dollars, pointing to a 29baht cake or something'..... I said about 80cents. 'Oh' he says 'I'm from Dubai I don't know about Thai money, do they take US dollars here' ' No I don't think so' He pulls out his wallet which has a fair wad of bills in it, including Japanese Yen and some Baht. The guy proceeds to ask about the colors of all the notes, purple 500 etc.. I said well its written in English too, pointing to the 500 on the note. He says what color is the 1000, and after telling him it was white, he asks to see one. Now I might look like I'm fresh off the boat, but I could tell something was fishy. 'Sorry, I don't have one of those' He lost interest real quick, made some sort of hand gesture and left without a bye you or leave!!

So just wondering if anyone has heard of a scam like this, what the heck did he expect to get out of me, the location of my wallet??? Case me to see if I was worth mugging later?? Be interested if TV members have come across this one! At any rate its dodgy to say the least, be warned!

something like this happened to a mate of mine they asked for a 1000 note then they want to offer change for it like 2x 500 fakes (maybe) at that time my mate didnt want to change it and same sort of thing the dodgy geezer turned around and walked away

Similar thing happened to me years ago in my shop in the UK.

Using slight of hand he managed to get 60 quid from my till by claiming to look at various bills and then handing them back to me - but not all of them.

I completely fell for it and was fuming.

Bet he was from the Phillipines, it is a common shakedown trick there.

I thought it may have been a slight of hand attempt. He was not Philippino for sure, short and tan, quite young, and I think he also had a straight man standing around, the one I think he signalled to when the con wasn't going to happen.

Yep, same scenario reported on one of the Pattaya boards about a month ago.

-redwood

I thought it may have been a slight of hand attempt. He was not Philippino for sure, short and tan, quite young, and I think he also had a straight man standing around, the one I think he signalled to when the con wasn't going to happen.

how does a straight man look like ?

LaoPo

how does a straight man look like ?

Not crooked?

I thought it may have been a slight of hand attempt. He was not Philippino for sure, short and tan, quite young, and I think he also had a straight man standing around, the one I think he signalled to when the con wasn't going to happen.

Philippinos only stand around with gay men?

I thought it may have been a slight of hand attempt. He was not Philippino for sure, short and tan, quite young, and I think he also had a straight man standing around, the one I think he signalled to when the con wasn't going to happen.

Philippinos only stand around with gay men?

Filipino

This might be the same guy I wrote about back on April 14th. Text pasted from the Secrets Pattaya forums

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I was walking back to the Secrets Hotel after taking all those Songkran pics and this Middle-Eastern looking guy asks me if I know of a good sushi restaurant in town. I tell him no, but that he could try the Royal Garden mall for passable sushi.

Him – “I’m trying to find the best sushi in town. The best I’ve had was in Singapore.”

Me – “Don’t know sorry.. probably can’t find good sushi here.”

Him – “I’m from Dubai, where are you from?”

Me – “America”

Him – “What’s the exchange rate for dollars now?”

Me – “About 31 to 1”

He takes out his wallet… opens it up and it’s stuffed – three-quarters of an inch thick - with dollars and other currency.. but all small bills. One of the bills is a 100 baht note.

Him – “What is the highest bill in Thailand?”

Me – “I think it’s a 1000 baht… but I’m not sure”

Him – “What color is it? Is it like this one?” – points to the 100 baht note

Me – “Well the 500 is almost the same color as that one.”

Him – “Can you show me a 500 so I can compare?”

That’s when I told him no thanks and I walked away. My spider-senses were tingling the whole time… it just didn’t feel right, but maybe I’m being too paranoid. Maybe he truly didn’t have a clue … but I was thinking that someone was going to pickpocket me right there while I was focused on the wallet.

Anyone else ran into the guy? This happened at the corner of 2nd and South Pattaya Road.

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Was in Tops today buying some bread, and an 'obvious' tourist comes up with the line 'How much is this in US dollars, pointing to a 29baht cake or something'..... I said about 80cents. 'Oh' he says 'I'm from Dubai I don't know about Thai money, do they take US dollars here' ' No I don't think so' He pulls out his wallet which has a fair wad of bills in it, including Japanese Yen and some Baht. The guy proceeds to ask about the colors of all the notes, purple 500 etc.. I said well its written in English too, pointing to the 500 on the note. He says what color is the 1000, and after telling him it was white, he asks to see one. Now I might look like I'm fresh off the boat, but I could tell something was fishy. 'Sorry, I don't have one of those' He lost interest real quick, made some sort of hand gesture and left without a bye you or leave!!

So just wondering if anyone has heard of a scam like this, what the heck did he expect to get out of me, the location of my wallet??? Case me to see if I was worth mugging later?? Be interested if TV members have come across this one! At any rate its dodgy to say the least, be warned!

The guy is not smart at the end..to ask you for showing him the 1000 baht money...it's very obviously to know what he wants...but I'm happy you are more smart than him...

i was cheat when i just graduated from college..and i bought a very nice phone and it cost me a lot money i think on that time.. so i was walking in the street one day...and picked up a couple of phones from my classmates...then there is a old lady and a young lady come to me...they said they are in trouble and they are from other aisan country..and they really needed to car her father..as they don't have money to spend...so they want to borrow my phone to make a call..so i just give to her..then she said she found her father but he is in somewhere around 10 mins far way by taxi..and her battery is off...and she said she wants borrow my phone and will give me back after around 20mins when she back...so i gave them the taxi money and give my mobile phone to her ..and wait for them back....

after 20 mints..they are not coming...another 20 mins..they are still not back..i'm still waiting...on the street..because i belive they will back to me..they seem nice people...after 1 hour...my classmate found me there..after i told her the story i met then..my classmate told me i was cheated ...i still don't believe..and still wait for anther 30 mins to waiting for them back....at last..i believe they are cheater...and i was very very sad ..

anyway..i become more smart now..anyone who wants borrow money or my phone from me in the street..i will just ingore them to save trouble for me...

Talk about smart or smarter thing..

I'm curious what the guy will do if you showed him your note.

Talk about smart or smarter thing..

I'm curious what the guy will do if you showed him your note.

it would be worth a thousand baht to see how the scam plays out. If you expect it that is

Talk about smart or smarter thing..

I'm curious what the guy will do if you showed him your note.

it would be worth a thousand baht to see how the scam plays out. If you expect it that is

Chance's are that when you show him the 1000 baht note there will be a slight distraction and he will palm the real note a replace it with a fake .

Or when you take out your wallet someone runs by and snatches it.

The fact that this event is happening all the time and at several locations makes it smell like a scam. Strange that he never got B1000 note bills when he exchanged his cash at the money exchange.... Suspicious. Lets hope that no one gets scammed.

Having said that, it is quite common for large supermarkets in Dubai to accept major currencies at the till. I doubt that he is from Dubai (assuming he is arabic), as the UAE nationals are more than well looked after by the government which means that hustling people out of B1000 bills would just be a waste of time/effort.

But then again, Dubai sure has a very high concentration of stupid people too. And I mean really stupid....

Nothing - i repeat - nothing good can come from any exchange with starts with a complete stranger on the street saying to you: "Excuse me sir . . "

I was approached by one of those dodgy Sikhs in lower Sukhumvit a couple of years ago. He said I had a lucky face. I said thank you very much, it's worked for me so far.

He said he could tell my future just by looking into my face.

I said . . hey, that's pretty amazing, so that means you know without me telling you that I'm about to walk away and you're not gonna make a baht from me.

He smiled and turned his attention to someone else.

But then again, Dubai sure has a very high concentration of stupid people too. And I mean really stupid....

Despite this sign at Dubai immigration counter?

Nothing - i repeat - nothing good can come from any exchange with starts with a complete stranger on the street saying to you: "Excuse me sir . . "

Hear! Hear!

...ESPECIALLY in Thailand where the average Thai is much too shy to initiate conversation with a foreigner. Only had it happen twice in Bangkok, and both times it was a hustle-job (sex and a suit, in that order).

Edited May 17, 200818 yr by toptuan

...I'm curious what the guy will do if you showed him your note.

Like steves_the_1 said, he would probably offer you 2 notes of 500 Baht for it but these notes might be fake.

Nothing - i repeat - nothing good can come from any exchange with starts with a complete stranger on the street saying to you: "Excuse me sir . . "

I was approached by one of those dodgy Sikhs in lower Sukhumvit a couple of years ago. He said I had a lucky face. I said thank you very much, it's worked for me so far.

He said he could tell my future just by looking into my face.

I said . . hey, that's pretty amazing, so that means you know without me telling you that I'm about to walk away and you're not gonna make a baht from me.

He smiled and turned his attention to someone else.

He is still about. Badgering me this morning at Starbucks in the Ploenchit Center.

"Hello my lucky friend..." Must be his chat up line.

The 'straightman' refers to the 'unassumingly dressed' guy standing in the supermarket aisle 'browsing' for tampons, while the 'comedian' tries out his routine.

It has to be a switch or a grab, its all I can figure. I now want to know I am looking forward to the next one, I'd give a donation to expose the scam!