Got Ripped For $10K Usd But Its My Fault For Being Stupid

[kenn]

My dumb story which is all my fault….. feel free to laugh at how stupid I was….Scene and History:From USA, wife is Filipino.Met her in China, while I was employed there for 3.5 years.We saved $140k USD cash there from my employment.I quit my job there.Went to the US with the cash.Accepted a job in Qatar. I needed cash to rent an apartment and purchase a car here upon arrival.Took $35k USD cash with me to Philippines for a few days before forwarding to QatarWhile I was in the US I forgot to get some documents scanned for my new employer in QatarWent to the closest place in the Philippines, SM in Bacoor.Went to the mallWell leaving the car, did not feel safe with the cash in the car.Placed it in the side pocket of my cargo shorts.Went and made the scans.Went to the second floor to get DonutsGot on the escalator to go back downSurrounded by several people on the escalatorRight at the bottom, people in front dropped something and stopped there ON THE ESCALATOR to pick it up. This caused me and the ones behind me to pile up.Well to finish the story. The whole group was a gang. They reached into my shorts and went away with $10k USD. Yeah I was stupid and it has taken me 3 months to get the courage to admit I was a very stupid foreigner in the Philippines!!!!BEWARE OF THE ESCALATORS!!!We are targets and WE stand out

Edited December 7, 2011 by kenn

[Mr Lee]

Nothing to laugh about, thank you for sharing. I am very sorry that happened to you. A lesson learned for many of us.I had always worn a money belt under my clothing when in the past carrying a lot of cash, makes it much harder for someone to steal from that way. I now deposit checks and wait for them to clear and mostly use the ATM machines in the malls and rarely carry much cash. Thank you for the post because often we forget we stand out, so even when using ATM machines, we should not stay on a schedule. I know of quite a few people who hit the same machine on the first to third of each month, so when doing that in a big city and at a different machine all the time, we do not stand out as much, but when doing it in the provinces or small cities, people take notice. I had been followed around in the past in CDO because I kept using the same banks ATM, so while I may be more aware than many, we all need to learn from posts such as this, that we do stand out and even more so in places where we are few.

[Art2ro]

I'm not laughing kenn, but pissed off it happened to you! A friend of ours last week was at the SM Supermarket in Sta. Rosa grocery shopping and her hand bag was pick pocketed of her expensive cellphone and car keys to her new Mazda 3, but didn't get any cash. She was just lightly bumped by a passerby! Fortunately her car keys were recovered a few hours later, the thief just threw them on the sidewalk and was picked up by an SM employee and dropped off at the lost & found. Her cellphone was replaced by her Globe customer service department at the mall. Yeah, one has to be more careful, because these gang of pick pockets are everywhere! Me, personally, I've been lucky and never ever been a victim of a pick pocket expert! I'm usually causally dressed, wear no jewelry other than a wrist watch I've worn for ages and nothing bulging in my pockets of money! I wear a belly bag around my waist which only consists of enough money for my purpose for the day we're out shopping, a cheap China brand P5,800 Nokia cellphone and have two identical sets of keys, one in my belly bag and the other set in my pants front pocket or my wife has a set in her bag! So, I don't have much to loose if I ever get targeted by a sneaky pick pocket gang!

Edited December 7, 2011 by Art2ro

[FlyAway]

10K USD lost..... Ouch! that had to sting! Expensive lesson to learn. Pretty sad when you think about the sophistication and coordination of a group of people pulling off such a crime.

[Bruce]

I also wear cargo pants and keep money in shirt pocket and cargo pockets to break it up. I was in the department store in Colon and staning at the counter for the money exchange when I felt something touch my let. I reached down and grabbed a 'hand' that was working money out of the pocket. The 'hand' was attached (permanently) to a wrist and then to a forearm and then upper arm where I found a girl, maybe 15 with several other girls all in school uniforms who started to move away when I grabbed that 'hand'. Not wanting to cause a large incident, I let her go and she ran for the escalator. I did not pay attention at first, but then as I walked over to the escalator, an older Brit or Aussie (not sure) was standing there and then he said to me... "Can you believe that, she was reaching right into your pocket!'. So...... there I was face to face with Mr. Fagen! Decision time... I am a (damn) foreigner in a country where cash is the controling factor in criminal justice... so I just laughed at him and said....Yes, imagine that.He then started walking off as he knew that I knew he was Fagen when he admitted by commenting to me about the actions of the girl.End of story. I have been back there 2 or 3 times since but never saw him again.

[softail]

Nothing funny or stupid about what happened to you, I’m really sorry your hard earned money was stolen.By sharing your story you just may help someone else avoid the same fate. These groups seem to be very well skilled in there trade and its always good to get an update on some of there tactics. Thanks for the heads up.Doug

[MikeB]

Well leaving the car, did not feel safe with the cash in the car.Placed it in the side pocket of my cargo shorts.

Thanks for sharing your story. I wonder if you were spotted putting it in the cargo pocket. I have heard those things are a golden opportunity for pickpockets.

[Garpo]

I always let my wife carry the money.

[Call me bubba]

10K USD lost..... Ouch! that had to sting! Expensive lesson to learn. Pretty sad when you think about the sophistication and coordination of a group of people pulling off such a crime.

Now I know why at certain times of the day the guards at some malls & stores observe the escalators,

[kenn]

I was in the parking lot, inside of the car and the door was open, when I place it into my pocket. Now that I think about it. There could be security people watching the cameras with the ability to notify people on the inside. Just guessing here on this one. Many good people in the Philippines but there are also many people that are not as good. After they took the money, I realized it after about 5 seconds. The group split up so I had to make a choice on which ones I was going to stop. I chose two of them but they were not the ones carrying my cash. I started screaming for them to stop as they headed for the exit doors. The security there were not very helpful. They did nothing until I grabbed the lady by the arm and told her she was not leaving. I told security to search her but they refused. The lady did open her bag for me to inspect and after I did not see my cash, I let her and her gay pal leave the mall. Things could have been worse. My wife (8 months pregnant) was with me. On the escalator, one of the women in the group made the comment to her “Oh your pregnant”. My thinking is that was a form of intimidation to make my wife think about that, in the event she saw them reaching into my pocket. They could have pushed my wife to the floor to get my attention off. Also, there was a family friend there we saw entering the mall as we were leaving. We told her what happened and she went also to get some donuts. She was talking to her friend about it. The girl that was selling the donuts (outside the shop from a table) heard them. The donut girl said she saw the group following us around the mall. She saw them watching us as we purchased the donuts. The donut girl said she could not warn us because she would then fear for her own safety. I do hope the money helped some people in a good way. I hope it provided food and shelter for some good people. Also there was a large sale at SM that day. Large Sale = Large Crowed = People Blended in that are on the take, looking for people like you and I. Well a good lesson learned……. I never trust anyone from the security to the donut girls. You just never know what people are up too. We all stand out and become targets. I am over cautious now, like I should have been in the first place. I recommend people here to not get caught up with trusting everyone. I now only trust my Philippine family. I am more aware of my surroundings. I don’t travel to the local market to pick up small I items that I cannot ask someone else to do for me. I don’t carry cash or anything of value. Anyway I hope this serves as a reminder to you guys to always keep your guard up because we stand out and we can and WILL be targets for the bad people.