In Reply to: Now who's being naive? posted by nomadmac on Tuesday, 21. June 2005 at 23:27 Bali Time:
The plan is to make money, right?
They invited you to join them in ripping someone off. You said yes. Therefore, if you go to the police you have to admit that you were colluding in a crime.
Had you refused to take part in the scheme, they would have made some excuse to get rid of you quickly so they could go and look for another sucker.
Sure, theoretically they could kill you. But what's in it for them? It's much more trouble than they want, and there's nothing to be gained.
Yes, Indonesia is corupt. So you might need to pay extra to get your license processed within a week, or buy your way out of a traffic infringement. That doesn't mean that small-time crooks can go around killing tourists with impunity. Not all cops in Bali are corrupt. And even if they were, there would be investigations from Jakarta, as well as inquiries from the home country. What card-scammer wants that?
If the police are in cahoots with the Bali bombers, they have a funny way of showing it. About 40 people have been charged, and at least three are going to be shot. Who arrested them? Firemen?
I didn't really understand what you meant about the bank being involved. Were they giving you credit, or just letting you withdraw money from your account?
And the police aren't going to help you much. For starters, gambling is illegal. More seriously, you were planning to steal from someone else. What makes you any better than the crooks who ripped you off? You're lucky you're not sitting in a cell next to them.
There's probably lots of small gangs doing the same scam. They're more likely to be in competition than part of a major organisation.
The bottom line is that you got shafted because your own greed led you to dispense with whatever common sense you might have. A small group of people conned you. The whole island doesn't have to be involved. I think you just want it to be a huge thing because you'd feel better about being taken for a ride by a major organisation, rather than a few average joes who are proficient at a simple, yet profitable, con.
But it was good of you to take the time to explain how it all works.