It happened again last week. Multiple calls from the same person, wanting to speak with me urgently, yet refusing to provide any information to our receptionist on the nature of his issue.
I eventually called this person back and here is pretty much what we discussed, which varied little from what I have heard from two other callers in the last six months:
Caller: I’ve never done this before and I feel terrible.
Me: Okay. But why are you calling me? Can we start at the beginning?
Caller: They took my passport and said I would never be able to enter the country again unless I paid them USD$4000. I didn’t have that money so I went to an ATM over the next few days and kept paying them and I had the rest sent to me by Western Union.
Me: Wait a second. Can we start at the beginning. I am confused.
Caller: I went to get a massage. I was tired and my back was hurting. I’m never going to do that again, I swear to you.
Me: Okay. Look, what you do is none of my business.
Caller: I know but what I did was wrong and it led to a lot more than that and I have never done that before and I am really ashamed.
Me: Okay.
Caller: And right after it all happened, the owner and two others burst into the room and one of them looked like a police officer. They told me that what I had done was illegal and they demanded my passport and I gave it to them.
Me: Okay.
Caller: They then told me they were going to hold my passport and press charges against me unless I paid the USD$4000 fine. I gave them all I had on me and told them I would need more time to get the rest.
Me: Did you pay them the rest?
Caller: Yes.
Me: Did they return your passport?
Caller: Yes.
Me: Are you now back in the United States?
Caller: Yes.
Me: Then why are you calling me so urgently now? When did this happen?
Caller: Three months ago, but my company is sending me back to China and I am worried I will get arrested for what I did. I swear I will never do anything like that again.
Me: That would be wise. But what do you want from me?
Caller: Do you think I’m going to get arrested?
Me: I do not know. Those guys are probably delighted to have made USD$4000 off you and don’t care about you any more. We have no idea if the person in the uniform was a police officer or not, but since what they did was illegal, I doubt they ever reported you to anyone, much less to border patrol, but I cannot be certain.
Caller: But should I go to China?
Me: That’s your call. We could spend all kinds of effort trying to find out if you are on any China police or border lists, but no matter what we do we’ll almost certainly never know for sure. You are the one who is going to need to make this decision. But if you do go, I would stay away from the neighborhood in which that massage parlor is located.
Caller: Thanks. Good-bye. And I was being serious when I said I would never do anything like that again. Me: I understand. Good-bye.
This scam is becoming common.
