I recently started watching a Nat Geo show, “Scam City,” with my wife. In this show, economist and author Conor Woodman seeks out thieves and con artists in some of the world’s greatest cities, armed with an undercover team and hidden cameras.
So far, I haven’t seen any episodes of Scam City shot in Manila, but it is really insightful watching Conor get scammed, robbed and conned so we don’t. I watched this one episode where a person sold him a fake Persian rug or something, and it was wild. I was so concerned they would beat him up or something when he went back to confront them!
And the gall of these thieves! They tried to ask for more money!
But you know, I was scammed myself once. Paid Php800 for a pearl jewelry set that I saw later in Palawan was being sold for maybe about Php200. Ultimately, that’s why we need to be careful, and aware of people’s modus operandi, so we don’t fall victim next time. Great show!
