Travel Scams: The "friend" buying you drinks

This one is global and you hear about it in variations that exist all around the world. To me, this happened to me in Nicaragua and my mind has been a bit different ever since that day.

The sad thing is that this experience kind of taught me to be very apprehensive about strangers speaking English in places with tourism and while I perhaps have prevented myself from getting scammed a few times, I also likely shot down some innocent bystanders as well. Blame the cons I suppose.

The scam works like this

You are walking around looking like a confused tourist and some helpful person that is already sat down at a cafe or little put asks if you need any help because they know the area pretty well.

You go and sit down, then they will normally change the subject about where you are going and instead talk to you about where you are from and they tend to know quite a few things about everyone's homeland be it favorite sports, some celebrities, or something that is well-known about your country. They don't really make any advancements about what it is that you were looking for and for me anyway, when I pressed about it he gave me the information but asked if I wanted to stick around for a beer and a chat first.. "my treat" he said.

And he wasn't lying about that either.

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The place we were in had a few people in it but it didn't appear touristy, it had mostly locals in it and the dude started telling but not pushing the information on me, about insider local tricks of the trade to get better rates etc.

We laughed, we talked about family and our past travels. He seemed genuinely interested in talking and he order a few rounds of beers and paid for all of them as we went along and if I reached for my wallet he would insist that it just him being hospitable. I believed him too.

When it came time for us to go he didn't try to deter me from going to the place that I was originally looking for but asked "before you go to (I don't remember what it was) how about we go and have some lunch then you go. You can dodge the crowds at the location by arriving at 2pm instead of 11am and I know a great place just around the corner."

Everything seemed just like a normal new friendship so I said ok and the next thing I know I am inside a restaurant that really did look like a hidden gem. He had a menu handed to him and seemed to know the staff somewhat as they all exchanged pleasantries with me and since I didn't really know what the items on the menu were, he said "you want me to just order for both of us?"

This is where I made my big mistake but he had done such a good job of encouraging my confidence that I had no reason to think this was a scam, but it was.

Plate after plate of nice and tasty, but not terribly expensive looking food turned up at our table served by very friendly people. We ate, we talked, we ordered more beers and then after about halfway through the main course my host said he needed to use the men's room and he would be right back.

he was gone to the toilet for a very long time and after about 30 minutes or so, which is a ridiculous amount of time for someone who didn't die to be in the bathroom, I went to go look for him. He was not back there and there was a back entrance to the place that was now locked.

I went back out to my seat and inquired with the staff who all of a sudden had zero ability to speak English. Their friendly demeanor was also gone. I eventually asked for the check thinking naively at the time that "well this guy paid for all our drinks earlier, I can get this lunch." Then the bill arrived and it was for something like $150. Keep in mine that a lunch, even a rather elaborate one like the one we just have, would never cost more than say $20 in Nicaragua at the time.

When I protested he brought out the menu which now had English and prices on it. It definitely was not the same one I had seen before but when I pointed this out the guy lied and said "this is our only menu."

I never mentioned police or running out on the bill but I did notice that a few "heavies" were now near my table. They hadn't yet spoken to me but the waiter who now could speak English again told me that I have to pay. I did pay because I didn't like the prospect of trying to fight my way out and then being subjected to Nicaraguan police officers that are almost certainly on the payroll of places like this. Plus, what evidence did I have. The menu is there, the plates are still on the table as were the empty bottles. All the evidence worked against me and my accomplice was nowhere to be found.

I paid it and left that restaurant with a bad taste in my mouth about strangers from that point forward. I have been dismissive of "friendly stranger" almost all the time since that day.

So a tip I would offer you when you meet new people isn't to tell them to "Fuck off scammer" but rather just insist that everyone pay for their own stuff and just be a bit aware that sometimes, especially in tourist areas, there are hawks like this that are trying to pull something like this on a lot of people. I felt ashamed that one of those people was me.

There are far worse stories about this sort of scam that I have heard of involving nightclubs with hundreds or even thousands of dollars ending up on the bill but I think a good rule of thumb is that if something seems too good to be true, it probably isn't true.

I got taken for $150, and after the split happened between all the actors involved they probably got like $40 each out of me and it took them several hours to pull this off.

It would end up almost happening to me again in the future as this sort of thing evolves as the general population becomes more aware of them. It's a sad but real part of traveling to foreign countries. Hell, this sort of scam exists in my country as well. It's one of the oldest cons in the book as I have learned over the years.

But while I wouldn't suggest just being seriously rude to all strangers you also need to keep your guard up a bit and if you ever encounter a place that has menus without prices, get up and leave right away.