Aussie Drugged And Robbed In The Philippines

[bootleultras]

Another naive tourist lets their guard down.......

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/2013/05/01/17/11/aussie-retiree-drugged-robbed-in-the-philippines

A 73-year-old Darwin resident was delighted when he met a flirtatious younger woman while on holiday in the Philippines.

But the next morning, he woke up stranded, feeling groggy and $3400 poorer.

Retiree Keith Sauerwald told ninemsn he met the woman in a shady part of Manila on Friday, February 1.

She said her name was Linda and she was going to visit Mount Pinatubo, a volcano he was also hoping to see on his trip.

They decided to catch a bus together, along with three of her friends, and "Linda" became increasingly provocative as they drank, took photos and sang together at a karaoke bar.

"Had I known what was about to happen, I would have left immediately," Mr Sauerwald said.

But despite drinking less than one glass of beer, he soon started to feel very drunk.

"I remember staggering out of the karaoke bar in what can only be described as an intoxicated state," Mr Sauerwald said.

"I couldn't walk straight, but how could I be drunk? … I didn't even have one glass."

He said the group helped hold him up as he staggered across the road and checked him into a nearby hotel.

"The absolute last thing I recall is being helped up the stairs," he said.

"I do not remember reaching my room, nor do I remember being put on the bed."

He woke at 9.30am the next day and soon began to suspect he had been drugged.

"There was no one in the room except me and the bed had not been slept in," he said.

"I started to become more than a little worried.

"I checked my wallet and the first thing I noticed was my credit card was upside down."

Still feeling under the weather, he staggered to the lobby to see the thieves leaving but wasn't able to follow them.

He managed to make it back to Manila and checked his bank account.

"My account showed that six consecutive withdrawals were made from my credit card," he said.

"They left me with just $1.23 on my credit card."

Also missing was much of the cash from his wallet and his Sony camera.

At the time he was one month into a three-month trip through Asia, which was cut short after the theft.

After returning to Australia, Mr Sauerwald said Manila police told him they were still investigating the incident and were sifting through CCTV footage from the ATM machines used.

"My hopes for the outcome (of this story) is that they'll catch them," he said.

"I don't give a damn about the money because thankfully NAB has paid back every cent that I lost (on the credit card)."

A police report into the incident said Mr Sauerwald may have fallen victim to the "dreaded Ativan Gang", which preys upon solo tourists by gaining their trust and lacing their drink with the sedative Ativan.

The report said the matter had been referred to the Angelos City Police Station for investigation.

Source: Keith Sauerwald, Manila Police District

Author: Alexandra Pleffer, Approving editor: Nick Pearson

[Jollygoodfellow]

How do you use a ATM without a pin number for a credit card?

 

Retiree Keith Sauerwald told ninemsn he met the woman in a shady part of Manila on Friday, February 1.

 

Should be compulsory to join a Philippines Expat Forum for 3 months prior to vacation.

 

:bash:

[Call me bubba]

after reading this story and others like this over the years,

1.never met or pick up any women

2.never keep all your cards/passport/id in one place,

3.NEVER accept a drink from"NEWLY MADE FRIENDS" watch your food/beverages never leave UNATTENDED

4. if possible try to travel with a friend,,

5. if the "new" friend suggests or decides to invite his/her friends to come along, leave, dont even think about staying,, this is a sure sign that something is NOT RIGHT

 

 i am sure others can offer more suggestions.

Hope that the news reaches other men that are considering to travel here, to RETHINK

and make better plans for their personal safety

Edited May 2, 2013 by Pittman apartments Sgn

[Mike S]

"My account showed that six consecutive withdrawals were made from my credit card," he said.

 

How were they able to do this with out his pin number ???????????????? :cheersty:

[samatm]

 

"My account showed that six consecutive withdrawals were made from my credit card," he said.

 

How were they able to do this with out his pin number ???????????????? :cheersty:

 

Could be the ol fella is scamming us all.    Hey give your card to someone else on vacation,  split the cash,  make up a wild story about a bimbo and laced drinks,  and then get reimbursed from the issuing bank...???

[Thomas]

Should be compulsory to join a Philippines Expat Forum for 3 months prior to vacation.

Yes. Or at least bring their brain when they travel  :)

Could be the ol fella is scamming us all.    Hey give your card to someone else on vacation,  split the cash,  make up a wild story about a bimbo and laced drinks,  and then get reimbursed from the issuing bank...???

Yes, possible. Or perhaps have used up all his money on bar girls or such and don't want to admit it   :)

 

(But I believe it's true he got robbed/scamed, but odd with the emptied credit cards...)

[Old55]

 

 

"My account showed that six consecutive withdrawals were made from my credit card," he said.

 

How were they able to do this with out his pin number ???????????????? :cheersty:

 

Could be the ol fella is scamming us all.    Hey give your card to someone else on vacation,  split the cash,  make up a wild story about a bimbo and laced drinks,  and then get reimbursed from the issuing bank...???

 

It could be true, that way his wife would never know.

[northtoalaska]

"1.never met or pick up any women"

Well, be as careful as possible. Be a pretty dull world otherwise.

As doped up as he was I'm sure he wouldn't remember telling them his pin.

All in all he got away lightly, he's lucky he woke up at all. And the rest of his bank's / credit card's customers paid for his stupidity.

[Adventurer]

the world is changing, when I was a kid we were told not to be friendly to strange old men. Now it's be careful of strange friendly women lol...

[OnMyWay]

Click on the story and scroll down to the comments. All the readers there are suspicious, as I was. For some reason, I can't paste here without the HTML pasting, even when I say "paste as text".

Edited May 3, 2013 by OnMyWay