[agabrielle]

This is a warning to anyone who may be approached by this guy. The name that he is using at the moment is Sunny, but his real name is ___________________________
He will be with one other guy who is using the name Bharat at the moment, and they will claim to have been friends since 'playing together since chadi'(playing in underwear).
They will also claim to have an elephant farm in Jaipur, this is a lie, they just live near it.
Sunny is charming and his way of working will be to try to woo the girls. Do not believe any girl that may be with him that claims to have done the work, she will be working for him, under his influence. Anil's mother will also support his work and his lies.
'Bharat', real name ________________, may also claim to be a photographer and he also lives in Amer, Jaipur. He hates foreigners and takes great pleasure in cheating them.
For the rest it is a case of the typical story of export taxes and simply meeting a parcel. The parcel will not be sent, and you will loose all the money from your credit card.
They have recently been working in Manali, Rishikish and Pushkar, but are now in Goa.
Beware.
Photo will be uploaded soon.

Moderator Note:

Sorry, we are not prepared to carry names, addresses and phone
numbers of alleged criminals on the site, and no thanks,
no photos.

[edwardseco]

An oldie but still working scam. It catches dishonest fools (marks) all the time..

[Nick-H]

It doesn't matter what the names are, it is the nature of the scam, and it should be obvious that it is a scam (if it sounds too good to be true it probably is?).

There have been threads on this before, and people can check out the details.

We are not the police. If you think you have names, addresses and telephone numbers of criminals, tell the police; do not post it here.

[zoltan]

I concur with others above, report them to the police (esp. if you have photos of them).

Gem (and carpet; etc.) scams are decades old and as long as people continue to fall prey to greed (the hope of making a quick buck (or rupee) for doing almost nothing), they will continue to prevail.

I've been approached first hand in Agra and having done a lot of homework pre-travel, was and savvy enough to know it was a scam.

I got 2 longnecks of kingfisher from them, while they spun their wonderous tale and in the back of my mind, the little voice was screaming "don't fall for these suckers".

I hope you didn't.

Cheers
Zoltan

[GoanCanuck]

Originally Posted by agabrielle

The name that he is using at the moment is Sunny,[/i]

Does this guy hang around Tito's in Baga?

[AverageJo]

Can you send the photos in private?

[machadinha]

Not to you they can't, you can't even receive private messages yet.

Guys, gals, all this stuff is well-covered indeed if you search this site for a combo of +gems +scams, or "gems scams" or whatever (try leaving out an s here or there). It should also be adequately covered in any travel guidebook you might remotely hope to get a hold of.

Try our very classic stickies to that effect:
Agra gem scam
Manali Jewellery/Gem Scam

They're the oldest tricks in the book really.

[PeakXV]

These Gem Scams threads always have the same format of a first time poster, who joins to leave very similar, overly detailed, articulate information on the topic with names, locations, and other specifics of the tactic .... only never to be heard from again, at least with 'that' user name.

Always good to be reminded of these scams, mind you, but I can't help but wonder about the original poster's specfic MO and seemingly lengthy time put into the pursuit of these peoples.

[capt_mahajan]

only never to be heard from again, at least with 'that' user name.

(Belgian accent) - Aha. Ze plot, monsieur, it thickens

[fromUKaroundTheWorld]

I met Ram (Praveen _____)in Pink City in Jaipur, he stopped me and said "WHY ALL THE TOURISTS DON`T TALK TO INDIANS?", than we had nice chat. Ram introduced to me his girlfriend Laura ____,he said that they have been together for 2 years and they will get married soon.They both were very helpful and friendly, she was even too friendly, she tried to flirt with me when we were alone,she is really bad looking,unpleasant! When Ram was sure that I trust him he offered me to do business with him, she said 'You can trust him I did It also 3 times'.I realized that It is a famous Gem Scam!!!
I knew that there are a lot of cheaters in India, but why UK girl is with them??? what kind of person she is? really low trick! So please be aware of them!!!

[GoanCanuck]

Originally Posted by fromUKaroundTheWorld

I knew that there are a lot of cheaters in India, but why UK girl is with them??? what kind of person she is? really low trick! So please be aware of them!!! [/color][/b]

That is standard operating procedure as far as these scammers are concerned. They employ usually a European female to win the confidence of the European man or woman whom they want to swindle.

[capt_mahajan]

I knew that there are a lot of cheaters in India, but why UK girl is with them

for the money?

[RWeHavingFunYet]

Originally Posted by fromUKaroundTheWorld

I knew that there are a lot of cheaters in India, but why UK girl is with them???

Because, swindler's come in all colors

[Nick-H]

I certainly hadn't noticed any inherent decency or honesty in my fellow Brits, even though most of the ones I know are very decent and honest. Same thing goes for most of the Indians that I know too.

[Cayle]

The best thing about these gem scams is that the victims are perfectly willing to break the law to make some black market money; and then complain about having been scammed. The only thing needed to complete the story is the scammer giving a kickback to the friendly neighborhood police tout... errr... inspector to ignore the complaint.

Wait! I'm starting to sound like the Nigerian trade minister.