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Q: Has anyone been victim to this Chinese scam?
Last 3 month i went to the embassy in Beijing for renewing my passport witch they told me it will take a couple of days before it will be done,
anyway i said to my self this is my first time in Beijing and there is a lot of exciting things to see, so at first i went The Tiananmen Square and i was taking pictures and looking like a tourist that he just arrived from Europe or somewhere else.
anyway, a 2 couples (a guy and his sister as he claimed) came to me and say
(Hi you are so handsome, and the girl said wow i like your hair it's so beautiful can i take a picture with u )
i was like thank u, yeah sure no problem,
so after taking a couple of pictures with the girl they start asking me where aim from and how long i have been here and what aim doing in china... ETE.
i was nice to them all the time by answering all the questions that they asked me (anyway i was along and kind of boring, so it was ok with me)
after a while the guy asked me to have a cup of tea with them in the nearest tea house that we will find
(they claimed that they also their first time in Beijing),
i was like ok sure, coz i was kind of tired and need some rest too, so we went to this tiny little tea house around the The Tiananmen Square and the guy start saying how he is a great fan of tea,
and how is the tea is great for health,
and how is the tea in his hometown,
and how is the good tea is expensive...
i was tired of this, and want to change the subject, so i asked him about his sister (as he claimed) and how not they look the same,
so he said that she is his sister from another mom (i was like what the F)
so we sat for while talking then my friend called me asking to come over to his place (my friend studying Chinese in Beijing university and having part time job) i said i have to go now to catch up my friend to spend the night at his place, the guy said "yeah we need to go too we kind of tired too" and he asked about 买单, and then he asked me if it's ok to share 买单 with him (i would like to say no coz you invited me at first place, but i didn't want to look cheap so i said ok no problem), at first i was looking for some change in my wallet like 50 Yuan or something, didn't thought that it will be more than 50 Yuan, it's fair enough for a cup of tea right?
but it was not,
u know how much the 买单 was? 985 Yuan (i was like what the F, and why they don't have a list of prices on the table or something to make the customers aware about the prices and stuff)
instead of bring me a prove about the price they start telling me this
(the tea is very height quality.... blablabla
and the tea is imported from outside the country.blablabla.)
and then i realized that the couples are working with same shop, and there work is to bring them the stupid customers like myself
oh dude u don't know how i was feeling that moment, coz i know all what they said is not true and i know they cheating me, but i have no way out of this,
so i just gave them my bank card and pay for it
never trust like this kind of people anymore
i hope u don't get in this kind of situation after reading this
but i believe in this (fool me once shame on you fool me twice shame on me)
11 years 34 weeks ago in Transport & Travel - China
You got tea scammed, on top of which you were stupid enough to pay. I would have turned the tables and said all you had was 50, why did they take you here. When I was in Beijing I lost count of how many tried that on me. I made some of them walk with me and just kept saying that the restaurant was not suitable for me, lets look for another, until they gave up. After walking with me back to my hotel and back downtown, one girl demanded 100 just for walking with me. I told her if she wants money then she should *** my ***. I left her standing in the street yelling foreigner get out of China. I guess thats how we get bad reps.
You went to Beijing, you knew about scams, and you fell into this trap anyway? You should be smarter next time.
similar thing happened to a mate of mine, you are lucky they didnt charge you more, by the way all kind of people in china stop foreigners on the street, but im sure majority of them are just curious or just want to chat, as for someone asking me to a go to a tea house i wouldnt go, i would suggest we go starbucks lol, if this kind of thing hapens to anyone make sure you say we split the bill between all and if he says she is a girl then you suggest he pays her share
I got caught on this scam, they demanded 2500. One minute I was sitting with two really f*cking boring girls thinking "Why did I choose to be nice to these boring bitches?" and the next minute I was surrounded by 7 employees, one of which was some big dude who'd appeared out of nowhere. I went ape-shit nuts. I would've ripped that big dude's nose off with my teeth, pulled those dumb bitches tits off, grabbed some testicles while I was at it. You didn't say but from your writing I got the feel that you're a girl. Maybe i'm wrong and you're a real sweet bloke. Either way I can understand you getting scared. So tough shit, you got stung. Gonna remember next time I guess. Not the end of the world.
Mother DID tell us to never talk to strangers nor accept invitations from people we dont know...
On more serious note, many of us have fallen for a scam (or two). Yes, it sucks big time, but that is how we learn. Dont feel too bad about it, you are not the only one.
And, judging by the title of your post, you have already gotten the hang of it...
The 3 big scams I have been hit with repeatedly in China are:
1) The lost girl scam.
You are approached by two decently dressed girls who tell you in broken English. "Hello big brother, we are lost. We came from X (insert other province name here). We are hungry. Can you give us money for food?"
I fell for this one the first time and gave them 20RMB. Since then I have seen the same scam in at least 6 different cities by over 20 sets of girls. I just laugh and tell them to learn a new story. They get the hint and go away pretty quickly.
2) The art show scam.
I first ran into this one in Beijing. A cute girl approached me and said that her school was having an art show nearby and she was out trying to find people to come and see it.
Thankfully, I had heard about this one before otherwise I would have fell for it. Basically, they take you to some art store they have a deal with and once you are inside several guys will block the doors and not let you out until you buy some over priced piece of trash. One of my friends was taken for 3k RMB. He reported it to the police and they literally laughed in his face and called him a fool.
3) The tea house scam.
This is the scam that our friend here (and many, many others) have fallen victim to. It is easy to fall for if you aren't aware of it beforehand.
4) The Seadoo scam. (This was in Thailand)
You are walking along a beach and you see water bikes (Seadoo's) for rent. You see others in the ocean having a blast and the prices are reasonable. So you rent the Seadoo and go have some fun for 30 minutes or so.
When you return, the scam begins. The people who rented it to you will start claiming you did all kinds of damage to their bike and will start pointing out dents and scratches that were there before, but they will claim you made them all. They will demand an outrageous amount to fix the damage and threaten to beat you if you don't pay up.
At this point, as if on cue, a cop will show up to see what the problem is. After hearing the story, the cop will take the side of the scammers, but will 'negotiate' a lower price for you. If you don't pay, you will be thrown in jail, then thrown out of the country and never be allowed to return. (At least this is the threat they use.) The cop is actually a real cop, but he gets a cut of the scam money so you are basically screwed and not amount of Tea Hulking will get you out of it.
mike695ca:
A few years ago I was in Beijing, I had heard about the art show scam, so when people approached me I was ...intrigued. So i went along all smiles, looking at the paintings and stuff. Found one i quite liked. I was waiting for the 3K and up... But they only wanted 200 kuai!!! I was sooo pissed. I think im the only one who was looking for the scam and couldnt find it. I paid the 200 ( i liked it!) and left. Yeah it was only worth 20... But they were all so nice! And not at all good at strong arming people.
chenhan:
The lost girl scam,haha!I was ripped off by two girls in this way when i was in university in Changchun.I bought them food in a shop nearby on the campus,then one of them came over to say they still had no place to stay for the night,and asked me whether i could give her some money,i was really a fool to give all the money i had to her,there were nearly 100 yuan in total.This was the first time this kind of thing happened to me,plus i was still a student and on the campus at the time,so i didn't even thought it would be a trick at all.Nearly two weeks later,i was on my way to a bookstore outside the campus after supper,then i was stopped by a man and woman,the man was about 50 years' old and the woman was about 30.They said they were from Henan province and was going to the train station to go home,but they had lost their wallet and were quite hungry but didn't have money left for supper .I took them into a restaurant ,ordering three dishes and two plates of noodles,then i went away.It cost me 80 yuan or so but they didn't even say thanks to me till i left.From then on,i swore to myself that i would never be in sympathy for any one unless i can make sure the person is really in need or it is old enough(70 or so at least).I think lots of Chinese have experienced things of these kind,there are so many f*cking shits around taking advantage of the others' kindness that we have learned to protect ourselves.Sometimes it is not that the we are cold to the others,especially strangers,but we have been cheated by too many assholes or have heard too many things like this.At last,i want to say some kind words to the cheaters,"GO to hell,You f*cking scums!"
MissA:
The Thailand scam you mentioned is one that happens with motorbikes as well. A lot of the more reputable companies will give you two pieces of paper with models of both sides of the bike, divided into segments. This works as your protection and theirs.
It's your job to go over the bike before you get the bike and note down every scratch and problem. You keep duplicate copies and when you return the bike, you can prove, using the duplicate copies, that you did not cause any damage.
crimochina:
are you pucking kidding me???????? i was approached by a "mother and daughter" claiming that the mother came to the city to look for work but could not find work and they were trying to get back home. i treated them to dinner and gave them a 100rmb. but on the bus ride home i felt bad because i was blessed and had just got a huge bonus so i felt i should have given them more. but thank you china! i now know to only look after myself in this country. someone whom i considered a friend tried to scam me (i knew them for 3 years) . i heard many stories about roommates pulling scams on each other. a roommate would claim that her mother or father is sick and her roommates pool together to loan her (she was supposed to pay it back). the next week she has a new ipad or iphone and never pays the roommates back. i will never give a pucking mao to anyone. if 2 girls come up to me asking for help i will point to the nearest hotel and tell them they need to earn my money.
god the situation was a bit weird to sya the truth...................awkward and i do not know what should i say at this moment..just do what i do........................get a policewoman as a girlfriend
Google 'tea scam'. Then do a wider search for "China potential scam' so you know all the other crap you might come up against.
I completely turned the tables on the Tea Scam!
I went to People's Square a group of 3 young Chinese ask me to take their picture, so I do so, and they start conversation with me. They say they're from Beijing, start asking about me, talking a bit, and one of them goes off, so I'm left with an early twenties, average looking girl, and this other guy early twenties. They say something about a performance, and if I'd like to join them.
I immediately think one of these silly street performances, which are in abundance, and I thought why not. We go so far, go into this building I find myself in a room, and they said tea performance, and then the penny dropped, "shit, I've walked into the tea house scam."
The tea house scam is normally where pretty women lure some guy to a tea house and leave them to foot a bill in the hundreds.
Realizing this, I take out my phone and pretend to receive a call, and I say something like "right, Renmin Square, just give me a few minutes and I'll be there."
I say that my room mate in my hostel is expecting me, and I have to be there, but they're saying, this won't take long, just a few minutes.
I then start saying, "how much will this cost, as I had seen the menu, and it was in the hundreds, it was ridiculously expensive, and they say "not much, not much."
I then realize I'm not going to get anywhere by being nice to these people, and they're not being nice to me, they're pretending to be nice thinking I'm a bit of easy money, so I get up and say I'm going now.
The guy starts blocking the way, saying I have to pay (what for, someone just poured a tiny cup of tea) and I say "pay, I forgot how."
I barge past him and get to the room door, and he's grabbed hold of me, and as I have both my camera and my kindle on my person, I headbutted him.
Would have preferred to punch him, but I had to safeguard my possessions, headbutt was the best available body weapon. I storm out, and they follow soon after, saying I have to pay or they'll get the police.
I make my way out, they follow me some of the way, but I get in a taxi and ask to go to the French Concession.
These people see a foreign face and think easy money. I'm proud to have given them a reason to think otherwise.
They should learn from history, they screwed with us before, and the Summer Palace went up in flames.
That guy screwed with me and got a broken nose.
When will these people learn that Laowai are not easy targets?
Laajine:
hhhh, that's good man. I regretted why i didn't do the same last time. i hope they stop this tea scum, i mean it's stupid to pay hundreds for a cup of water
