sleight-of-hand warning

[sid]

A friend had a recent and rather bad experience in Manila. He went to a money change booth in the Robinson Mall in Ermita to change some money. The fellow counted it out carefully. My friend counted it also. Then the fellow 'remembered' to add the few odd pesos that hadn't been included in the stack of hundreds. When my friend got back to his room and counted it again he was P 2000 short. The trickster slipped the bills out of the pile slick as snake snot and left him short.

Moral of the story is: Count again the very last thing before you pull your money back, because once you move away from that window you have no recourse. And these guys are GOOD!

[greg]

... in response to sleight-of-hand warning, posted by sid on Mar 9, 2001

Yeah, even the Lonely Planet travel book warn us to watch out for those thieving money changers, it happen all the time. In the RP we better not let our guard down. greg

[The Mog]

... in response to Re: sleight-of-hand warning, posted by greg on Mar 10, 2001

Must be the new game in town, exactly what happened to me along Mabini St. , I was walking by with a friend, asked what the rate was and she responded 49 1/2, walked in and the other girl at the door started asking my friend about her necklace, kept her occupied, while this money changer lady counted out my $200 all in 100 peso notes. Then she had me count it back to her, and laid her hand down for me to set the money in which I thought was odd at the time , but since I was watching the money VERY closely I thought nothing of it at the time. The following day I realized her slight of hand had shorted me 5000 peso's ($100 approx), one of my friends had a friend who's boyfriend was a police officer but I figured it was a waste of time and chalked it up to a travelers lesson. Best to stick with ATM's or have a friend present and watching and triple or quadruple count the money away from their hands but still by the money window before you leave. Also their is a lot of counterfeit money, get in the habit of looking at the big notes closely.

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: Re: sleight-of-hand warning, posted by The Mog on Mar 10, 2001

It was mentioned in the past on PL, about ATM problems in the Philippines. I remember reading that sometimes the transaction with the overseas bank takes too long or isn't completed for some reason. The money often still gets deducted from your account and you get nothing from the ATM. I have no personal experience with ATM use in the Philippines.

They had a neat (if you didn't get taken) scam going on in my area. Some people set up fake portable teller machines at various locations. After you inserted your card and typed your PIN#, the machine would say it was unable to complete the transaction. The thieves would come by later and retrieve the data. Then they would collect their rewards from your account.

The latest scam (again) in South Florida (probably the country)is check washing. A person obtains a uncashed check that you have written. Some thieves drive around looking for mailboxes with the red flag sticking up. Then they steal your outgoing mail and look for a check you have written to pay a bill. They make a copy of the check to save your signature. Then they submerge the check into easily obtained chemicals and wash away all of the written info. After the "clean" check is dried, they fill in a new payee, dollar amount and trace your signature back onto the check. The new payee, often recruited from the street, cashes the check for a percentage.

No country has the monopoly on thieves. Whatever country you find yourself in, the key is to be aware of the scams and be prepared.

Dave H.

[greg]

... in response to Re: Re: sleight-of-hand warning, posted by The Mog on Mar 10, 2001

Crook, I'm gonna report you to the Tourist Police, that should work. :-)

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: sleight-of-hand warning, posted by greg on Mar 10, 2001

I actually had no problems with the money changer that I used. I found him to an honest and likable guy.

I had heard the warnings about money changers and planned to exchange my US currency only at banks. When I arrived in Butuan City and I needed to get more Philippine currency. My fiancee suggested that I use a money changer, located inside a video store. She told me that his exchange rate was much better than the banks. I said sure...but is he honest. She laughed and assured me that he was reputable. Her family had used him for some time and never had a problem. I used him 5 times, exchanging $1000 on one occasion and was never cheated. I went to him with my fiancee the first three times and alone the last two. He always counted the money onto the desk in front of me and allowed me time to recount it. I never felt that I was being rushed. I used my calculator to verify the exchange rate. Once I forgot it and he allowed me to use his calculator.

At a large grocery store, I had received a questionable P500 note as change. I hadn't noticed it until I got back to the hotel. It was taped together and several serial numbers were missing. When I returned to the store several days later to purchase more groceries, I tried to use the bill. The store wouldn't accept it. I had thought of going to a bank, but quickly decided against it. I had no idea if the bill was real or a counterfeit attempt to construct a P500 bill. I decided to write it off as a loss, thankful it was only P500. My fiancee suggested that I try the money changer. The next time I visited, I showed him the P500 bill. He looked at it and exchanged it without batting an eye.

I won't argue that there aren't some real crooks out there. I just happened to use one that treated me and my fiancee's family honestly.

Dave H.

[Tom]

... in response to The Flip Side, posted by Dave H on Mar 10, 2001

Dave
I got one better than that, it seems i got a 1,000 peso note from (somewhere) i tryed to spend it and all the bells went of in the mall in Cebu they said it was not real ,i got pissed and sold it to the hotel manager where i stayed for 1,000 peso.
Well it turned out all the bill # where 00000000 it was the original bill to make ALL the rest of them and was stolen  no telling how much it was really worth to a collector maybe 1 or 2 mill peso
tneal

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: The Flip Side, posted by Tom on Mar 10, 2001

Tom,

I hope the hotel manager gives you a free room every time you visit. ROFLMAO A Kano with a stolen P1000 note. The original P1000 bill, no less. I wonder how many years you could have got for that one? 8o0

Dave H.

[humabdos]

... in response to The Flip Side, posted by Dave H on Mar 10, 2001

I've had good luck with money changers have used them many times.  When in Manila I always use a money changer on Del pilar in ermita its right across from The Iseya hotel I think its La flicea or somthing like that. They demand you count your money before you leave the counter.  
BTW the Iseya Hotel is a fairly inexpensive (p1200) place to stay and you can walk to the embassy it does take a while to get use to the smell of bug spray!  PS get a room on the back side Del pilar gets very noise! LOL  Humabdos

[Tom]

... in response to Re: The Flip Side, posted by humabdos on Mar 10, 2001

Why not just go to a bank to exchange your money you get a better rate
tneal

[humabdos]

... in response to Re: Re: The Flip Side, posted by Tom on Mar 10, 2001

Sorry Tneal but no you don't.

[Tom]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: The Flip Side, posted by humabdos on Mar 10, 2001

I did it so can you.Learn how to bargin

[greg]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: The Flip Side, posted by Tom on Mar 10, 2001

Teach us your bargaining skills so we can get good rates from these money changers. greg

[humabdos]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: The Flip Side, posted by Tom on Mar 10, 2001

You can not bargan at a bank Tom! lol

[Dave H]

... in response to Re: The Flip Side, posted by humabdos on Mar 10, 2001

N/T