Foreign con men

Foreign con men

From Kompas

The following experience of mine may be useful for other women
to ward off hoaxes by foreigners.

On the afternoon of Jan.9, 1996, I was waiting for public
transport on Jl. Warung Buncit, South Jakarta in front of
Madrasah Fatahillah.

Suddenly, a well-dressed man materialized on my right side. He
asked me in Malay what direction to take to go to Glodok in
downtown Jakarta. He told me he had been dropped off by a taxi on
Warung Buncit against a payment of Rp 100,000.

When I was explaining to him how to proceed to his
destination, I remembered the case of a friend who had been
hoaxed by people saying they came from Malaysia and Brunei. She
parted with Rp 8,000,000.

The situation became rather critical when two other well-
dressed men surrounded me. I hurriedly left the place. At some
distance I glanced back.

The three men got into a black BMW, not a taxi. So, I escaped
from whatever the threesome had in store for me.

I would advise people, especially women, to be watchful when
they are waiting for transport on quiet stretches of a street. It
is interesting that my friend met her con men on Jl. Warung
Buncit also.

Y. WIDYASTUTI

Jakarta