Possibly Con Artists in Samana area. English couple with 2 children.

Hazel Lewry

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Aug 19, 2015
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Just a heads up.
About start of June I bumped into an English couple with 2 children in the marina at Puerto Bahia near Samana. They were very pleasant and personable and said they were scouting around the area for places to stay. They said they were staying in a chalet type accommodation out towards Las Galeras. I never thought much about the encounter.
On June 10th the guy turns up at the marina with a story of being robbed. Passports, credit cards, drivers licenses - the lot and about the terrible hassle he was having with the British Consulate in SD. I told him to come back the following day as my husband may have ideas about how to resolve the situation.
We discussed their problem between us and decided that if we were to help it would be minimal ie, sufficient to get one or both to SD to go through the processes needed to sort things out. In the end we parted with a little money - about ?30 - in the understanding that it would be returned. We had a feeling that it wouldn't, but if they were genuine, then at least we'd given them a chance of getting stuff fixed.
Needless to say, over a month has passed and the cash is still not here.
They were fairly nondescript the two of them. Around about 30, he's darker haired she's fairer. Medium height and build. The only thing that stands out in my mind is the daughter who is about 9 years old. Her front teeth were rotten. The other child is about a year old and still mostly in a stroller.
If they do turn up with the money, I will apologise to them and I will of course let you all know.
 
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SKY

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Apr 11, 2004
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There is a higher chance of snow coming to Samana than your money.
 

VJS

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Damn, I am just glad I don't hold a grudge for every 30 bucks I'll never see again...
 

AlterEgo

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Damn, I am just glad I don't hold a grudge for every 30 bucks I'll never see again...

It's not the $30 [actually 30 pounds, which is more], it's the possible scam. May be no different than the guy from Spain who's doing it around Puerto Plata or Sosua, I forget which.
 

SKY

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You need to tell them you are going to the Capital tomorrow and will take them. Make a meeting place and a time. When they do not show you will feel good about saving your money. This is an old scam by the way.
 

SKY

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This reminds me of a time in Miami many years ago. Myself and a friend were stopped at a light and the usual vagrant with will "Work for Food" sign showed up. My friend told him to get in the car as we had some work for him. He ran away like Jesse Owens.
 

VJS

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Sep 19, 2010
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It's not the $30 [actually 30 pounds, which is more], it's the possible scam. May be no different than the guy from Spain who's doing it around Puerto Plata or Sosua, I forget which.

Maybe it was a scam, maybe it wasn't. Young couple with 2 small kids though? - just doesn't strike me as a great setup for a deliberate con, - most likely they were dead broke and needed some cash, and there is still 10% chance their docs were really stolen. I probably wouldn't even give money in the same situation, at least not until I was pretty sure the case is legit (like show me police report etc), but if I did, I wouldn't lose sleep over it not being returned.
 

Jeepito

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Dec 22, 2011
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The real con artists in Samana are the ones stealing expats' home with fake deslindes; and cheating people out of hundreds of thousands. Now that's a real con!
 

Matilda

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Sep 13, 2006
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This was just posted in the North Coast Crimestoppers FB page:

Yesterday we were tipped off on a foreigner trying a new scam at one of our local hotels. The person behind the desk was smart enough to call me right away. The scam was, he was traveling country to country and now his wife and 2 kids were at the airport in Santo Domingo wanting to go home, and stuck because the bank in their home country froze the bank account due to too many withdrawals in different countries. (THE SCAM) He asked the person at the hotel if he could borrow $12000 pesos and would leave his credit card as collateral and stay at the hotel until his bank freed up the funds. At this time the police and I were on route to the hotel, but we arrived 30 seconds late, as the clerk said " the man knew something was wrong and took off". Well today he tried it again but this time we got him. After a system search we found that he was already wanted by authorities in Samana, so the police shipped him off to face justice in Samana.
 

Celt202

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May 22, 2004
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Just a heads up.
About start of June I bumped into an English couple with 2 children in the marina at Puerto Bahia near Samana. They were very pleasant and personable and said they were scouting around the area for places to stay. They said they were staying in a chalet type accommodation out towards Las Galeras. I never thought much about the encounter.
On June 10th the guy turns up at the marina with a story of being robbed. Passports, credit cards, drivers licenses - the lot and about the terrible hassle he was having with the British Consulate in SD. I told him to come back the following day as my husband may have ideas about how to resolve the situation.
We discussed their problem between us and decided that if we were to help it would be minimal ie, sufficient to get one or both to SD to go through the processes needed to sort things out. In the end we parted with a little money - about ?30 - in the understanding that it would be returned. We had a feeling that it wouldn't, but if they were genuine, then at least we'd given them a chance of getting stuff fixed.
Needless to say, over a month has passed and the cash is still not here.
They were fairly nondescript the two of them. Around about 30, he's darker haired she's fairer. Medium height and build. The only thing that stands out in my mind is the daughter who is about 9 years old. Her front teeth were rotten. The other child is about a year old and still mostly in a stroller.
If they do turn up with the money, I will apologise to them and I will of course let you all know.

Did he call himself Chris Turner?

He's a scam artist.
 

jd426

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Dec 12, 2009
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Wow,,, Looks like the OP of this Thread deserves some PRAISE.. and was 100% correct ... this is a real Career Scammer, not just Small time beggar... Great heads up... thanks
 

drstock

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Oct 29, 2010
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I believe the arrested conman was South African, not English. Brits would NEVER do anything bad like that! ;)
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Wow,,, Looks like the OP of this Thread deserves some PRAISE.. and was 100% correct ... this is a real Career Scammer, not just Small time beggar... Great heads up... thanks

How so? Who says this is the same guy? The OP reports a couple and two children, this guy was alone and is claiming to have a wife and two children in the airport in SD.

It seems more logical to me that the couple in OP post was a real situation. They might have had it solved at the consulate and left, forgetting about the 30 pounds borrowed (maybe conveniently). I wouldn't dare to call out for a scam when someone borrowed 30 pounds and didn't give it back.
 

jd426

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Dec 12, 2009
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How so? Who says this is the same guy? The OP reports a couple and two children, this guy was alone and is claiming to have a wife and two children in the airport in SD.

It seems more logical to me that the couple in OP post was a real situation. They might have had it solved at the consulate and left, forgetting about the 30 pounds borrowed (maybe conveniently). I wouldn't dare to call out for a scam when someone borrowed 30 pounds and didn't give it back.

you may be right..
However
When a legit person borrows money, they go out of their WAY usually to make sure to get it back to you.. Its a matter of huge PRIDE with most "decent" people..
Sure some may forget, its certainly possible..
But you are also CORRECT, it may be a different set of people, to be 100% honest, I did not go back and RE READ the Details, I just assumed the Descriptions MATCHED up..
 

Hazel Lewry

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Aug 19, 2015
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you may be right..
However
When a legit person borrows money, they go out of their WAY usually to make sure to get it back to you.. Its a matter of huge PRIDE with most "decent" people..
Sure some may forget, its certainly possible..
But you are also CORRECT, it may be a different set of people, to be 100% honest, I did not go back and RE READ the Details, I just assumed the Descriptions MATCHED up..

The thing that rang our bell as SCAM was the fact he was reluctant to share his phone number - even though I gave him mine and said call any time ......