How To Avoid Getting Scammed in Colombia
Colombia has been on the top of the list of the most dangerous countries in the world, but it is quite safe. The government has been working to make the country safer for tourists. It is safe to travel to Colombia. I love Colombia because the food and drinks are so cheap, Colombian women are not only gorgeous but they are also nice and sweet, and I can get around in a taxi at any time. This doesn’t mean that everything is peaches and ice cream. What foreigners need to know is there are a few scams out there that if you’re not careful, you can fall victim to. Here are some of them.
Bar Tab Scam
This one I’ve heard about and witnessed twice while I was with a group around Lleras Park in Medellin, Colombia. The first time I witness this was when a local guy approached my friend. The Colombian resident was being friendly. He said that he was going to buy my friend a shot and then proceeded to invite the bartenders to share a shot with him. When my friend was done, the Colombian/Venezuelan guy tried to push the tab to my friend, it was a bill of 200,000 COP.
The next time this happened was also in Medellin around Lleras Park. There was an American I met in Cartagena who wanted to catch up in Medellin. A Venezuelan guy was being very friendly with my friend and my friend offered to buy him a shot of whatever he wanted. I warned him to be careful with his tab and close it out. The Venezuelan guy seemed to order more shots periodically after the first invitation, but my colleague was under the influence at this time and forgot. Needless to say, when the bartenders brought the bill, he was furious. How to avoid this?
For starters, avoid very popular bars when you’re in Lleras Park (Medellin). There are cheaper bars nearby and the music plays throughout the area so you’ll be fine.
Make sure you carry your drinks with you because you might not know who might be tampering with your drink.
Not everyone in the bar is your friend. Some of the locals will look to take advantage of you.
CLOSEOUT YOUR TAB! Sometimes the bartenders may be in on it and because you’re the foreigner, they’re not going to confront the locals who know are trying to scam you, they’ll by default give you the bill.
The bartenders oftentimes don’t put your tab on a computer system so they’ll try to do it by the head and jot it down on paper. Be sure to keep track of whatever food or drink you order.
Scopolamine
Though this can happen to anyone, this scam often happens when a woman victimizes a man. I hear so many stories of the dangerous drug, scopolamine, where those infected are under a strong, hypnotic trance where they obey every command of the predator. This drug was once used as a truth serum back in the day and now it’s a very common drug found in Colombia; often carried by sex workers. Why this drug is dangerous is because you have no recollection of what happened before being intoxicated. This drug could cause brain damage or even death. A small dose is enough to put you under their spell and when you wake up you can find yourself on some random street with your bank liquidated, hotel rooms ransacked, and/or worst-case scenario, missing something on your body. How does one avoid this? Well it can happen to any innocent person but while you're there:
Avoid “prepagos”. “Prepagos” translates to prepaid and it is used to describe women who are paid for their escort services. Oftentimes, they put the scopolamine powder on their bodies, or in the alcoholic beverages of their victims. A common red flag should be when they pressure you to drink alcohol or they are hasty to see you when you barely had time to screen and vet them. Make sure you get as much information from them as possible. Also, practice safety measures and both of you should shower before doing anything.
Make sure that you let the security know in your building to keep an eye on things and make sure you tip him. Make sure that you do the same with the hotel concierge.
Like in the bar, keep an eye on your drink. The predator may be looking for an opportunity to strike when you least expect it. When you go to the restroom, carry your drink with you.
Don’t get drunk while you’re in the public by yourself. You might also want to limit the amount of alcohol you consume to avoid falling victim to this.
If someone seems to blow something in your face, rinse your face immediately and go back to your place. This could even happen while walking down the street. Try not to inhale, rinse your face, find the closest police station or go back to your place immediately and wait things out.
If you’re on a date and this happens, end the date and leave. Go home, shower, and wait it out.
If your date brings a friend, practice caution and make sure that you watch your things. If you start to feel something is off and you’re not feeling too good, get a cab and leave. Your safety is what’s important.
Taxi Scam
Taxi in Colombia are cheap and you can travel great distances for well under 10.00 USD. Some taxi drivers are aware that people aren’t familiar with the price of things and they’ll try to take advantage of you by charging more than what they normally would charge the locals. In my case, I think my inability to speak proper Spanish gave the taxi guy an incentive to try to get a little more money from me. He tried to scam me by resetting the taximeter. How does one avoid scams involving transportation? Well check this out:
Use Rideshare apps. The apps that I’ve used are Cabify, Uber, and inDriver. There are more apps like DiDi but I could never get it to work for me. There you can get flat, low-cost rates on getting around.
Ride Buses. Buses offer low-cost wallet-friendly trips throughout the cities. Tarifa translates to “rate” and that’s usually the flat rate to ride the bus. It’s normally on the front or side of the bus.
Make sure you confirm who your driver is. Look to see if the license plate matches and ask your driver for his/her name. You don’t want to accidentally end up in a kidnapping situation.
Negotiate with the taxi drivers. If you think the prices are too high, try to negotiate for a good price, make sure you do this before you hop in the cab.
You can also use the rideshare apps to get a census of how much it cost to get from Point A to Point B and use this as a bargaining tactic. This is important because cities like Cartagena have no taxis with taximeters and you’re going to have to trust them.
Keep an eye on the taximeters. You may enter a city where there aren't any rideshare apps like Uber or DiDi, make sure you pay attention to the meters
Try to carry smaller bills. There is a scam that some of the taxi drivers do is they will use sleight of hand to tell you that the bill you gave them is fake. If you give them 50,000 COP to pay for a trip they can scam you and give you a fake 50,000 bill and say you gave them a fake bill be mindful.
Conclusion
Various scams can happen not only in Colombia but also in the world. There is a saying that is used in Colombia called “No Dar Papaya”. What this translates to is “Don’t give papaya” which means don’t put yourself in a situation where you could become a victim of something. In my case, I was scammed in the city of Manizales, probably because of my English accent and unpolished Spanish. In other cases, it could be flaunting money in a club with a lot of women who seek to take advantage of you, or people who choose to take you kindness as a weakness in the club. Overall, you must exercise caution and always be aware of your surroundings. Want to see a video of when I got scammed in Colombia? The video is right here. Also if you know any other scams that may occur here in Colombia, share them in the comments below. Let’s help keep everyone safe.
