In Reply to: Gullible posted by bluey on Tuesday, 21. June 2005 at 14:22 Bali Time:
Look, I posted as a service to others to watch out, not to be insulted. What do your comments do to educate anybody?
I gave specifics of what to watch out for, the approach and what the scam is.
I've lived for eight years in Japan and never ran across any scams, nor have I ever been involved in any timeshares in my home country, the US.
Obviously, if there are two teams that I ran across, in the course of four days, there are enough gullible people like myself to make this scam profitable as they continue to do it.
I'm not complaining. I saw the underside of Bali on this trip. And I still had a fantastic time, will go back there and most likely will be doing business there (with an old friend from Tokyo as my agent).
I travel with a sense of serendipity and adventure. I got what I was looking for.
I was lucky I didn't end up in a ditch with a bullet in the back of my head. I didn't challenge them, didn't walk into the bank and ask them to call the police (as I know how corrupt the police are and the bank was in on it), didn't give them all my cash, and got to a safer public place.
I was taken to a house in an area that I was unfamiliar with and no idea how to get out to a safe place. I don't gamble. I don't cheat people. Was I caught up in the moment? Yes.
I have mounted on my wall a commendation from the FBI and the San Mateo County Sheriff for the capture of a wanted fugitive without regard to personal safety.
I'm 48, have two kids and have been married to a Japanese national for 11 years, this Wednesday.
Don't sit and condemn if you haven't been in the exact situation.
What was I doing near the memorial? Looking for the Six Widows of the Bali Bombing. Why? Because I want to give them employment making jewelry for export to the US.
Where was I coming from? An Internet cafe where I had agreed to help an ex-pat the day before with his Apple laptop at no charge (the taxi fare from my hotel was at my expense).
My honest ambition was to help people with my posting, not condemn Bali.
How do your posts help anybody?