Mystery Meats
What’s a Jewish dilemma? Pork at half price. That was one of the first jokes I heard during a visit...
Scams in the City
Taxi Troubles
New arrivals to Jakarta are often warned to be on the lookout for taxi scams. The truth is that cab...
Preying on Prostitutes
A churchgoing keyboardist posed as a playboy and robbed at least 24 high-class prostitutes in four cities, until he made...
Faking It on the Phone
A slow-witted colleague came to me with a request for help last week. He had telephoned a sex chat line...
Faking It
Advances in computer technology and printing are making it easier to forge money. One of the hardest details to fake...
This is an Ex-Tortoise & Other Abused Animals
Indonesian internet forums trading in exotic fauna are rife with complaints from people who feel scammed because the creatures they...
Small Change, Big Scam
In recent months I have been repeatedly short-changed at minimarts, mostly at Indomaret, which started business in 1988 and now...
ATM Transfer Traps
For some smooth-talking confidence artists, there?s no simpler way to make money than telephoning someone and tricking them into transferring...
Not-So-Real Estate
Renting a house, apartment or holiday accommodation can become a nightmare if you fall victim to a real estate scam....
Scams In The City: Degrees of Deception
Regulations on qualifications for expatriate English instructors have been tightened over the past decade, so some teachers are resorting to...
Can’t Eat, Busy Begging
It’s that time of year again, when beggars converge on Jakarta to make money during the fasting month of Ramadhan....
Scams In The City: Fake Concert Tickets, Please.
Jakarta is becoming an increasingly popular destination for international music acts. And for every big concert, scammers are ready to...
Feasting With Panthers
An Englishman living in Jakarta, never a fan of intimate female companionship, made the mistake of accepting an offer from...
Beware the Bule Conman
Scammers come in all shapes, nationalities and professions. Christopher Linn Shields (35) is a toad-like American expat who scammed his...
Crooks in Uniform
Heading home after a late night out, I was pulled up in West Jakarta by two apparent policemen. At such...
Drugged Drinks
An attractive woman in a Jakarta bar looks around for the drunkest and most clueless unaccompanied male foreigner – the...
Scams in the City – Internet Boyfriends
Nigerian Sweetheart Unlike most scams coming from Nigeria that rely on greed, the Sweetheart Scam preys on heart-strings to loosen...
Scams in the City
Being scammed by a confidence trickster is one of the most embarrassing things a person can admit to – apart...