IALT: Write about the incident that occurred in Bali, with a man being kidnapped and stripped of more than 2,000 NZD.
A Kiwi father was kidnapped on his family holiday for more than four hours and forced to pay a card game which scammed him out of $2000. The victim, whose wife spoke to NZ Herald said he was too traumatised to talk, he was alone on the streets of the resort island when a local man sat down on a bench beside him. The pair started chatting and the local man said his sister was moving to Auckland to be a nurse, and asked the Kiwi to talk to her about what it's like in New Zealand.
"My husband just thought about being a nice guy, that was fine" his wife claimed.
He got into a car with the Balinese man to speak to the women. "The doors shut close and he got locked in and then he was driven away" the wife said. "They drove him into a property where they locked the gate. They took him inside and sat him down, they wouldn't let him leave. The house was really little. People seemed to come and go within the room" The Kiwi started to get terrified because he had no idea on what they were capable of.
"He tried to do what he was told because he was obviously scared by that stage" his wife said.
"He had no idea what was coming. He didn't think he was going to get out of it alive. He thought it was going to be over. They didn't say anything like that, but there was just too much that was going on." Inside the house another man was playing a card game with a Balinese woman. The local man forced the New Zealander to play a round before telling him he had to "up the stakes" by betting your money.
They kept telling him that he was winning, and that he would have to continue playing for a little longer. When the man ran out of cash the the scammers drove him to a shop and forced him to swipe his card and enter his pin, his wife said.
He was frightened at that stage and he knew he couldn't escape as there was a man standing at the entrance. He swiped his card and they took every bit of money he had left.
They money they took from his account along with his cash totalled more than NZD $2000, his wife said. Fter the four-hour-long ordeal the scammers finally put the man in a taxi and sent him back to his hotel. Before the car drove away they gave the man a cellphone, they they said "We'll be in touch" When the man arrived at his hotel, he handed the phone into reception and told them and his family what had happened.
The Embassy got the man to file a report with the local police and advised the family to return to New Zealand immediately, the wife said.
"It was like, 'we're not safe here'."
They cut their holiday a week short, forking out $2000 to change their flights because their insurance refused to pay despite them having comprehensive cover.
The wife said the experience had been "really terrifying" and wanted to warn other Kiwi travellers of the scam.
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) spokesman confirmed the family of a New Zealander contacted the New Zealand Embassy in Jakarta for consular assistance.
Travellers should check the Mfat website Safe Travel if they were concerned about being scammed while overseas and report any scams they are the victim of to the local police, the spokesman said.
The Safe Travel website warns of scams similar to the one that the family described."Many countries on the tourist beat have their own special scams that target the overseas traveller," it states.
"There are familiar tales of travellers... meeting someone on the street who wants to practice their English and then becoming an unwitting player in a 'high stakes' poker game..."Things turn serious when you are unable to pay. You may be forced to the nearest ATM to settle your debt."In 2011 an Australian couple who were holidaying in Bali were conned in similar circumstances.
Click HERE to read the original article.
This article makes me think about the decision people are making around the world. If I was the man, of course I would try to help, but I would be extremely cautious as I've never been at that country before. Hearing about kidnapping in Bali doesn't sound like a true story because Bali is a very magical island from their beaches to their resorts. If I went on a vacation to a country, I wouldn't go out by myself as people might scam you, like in this article where the man was stripped from all his money.
It's sad to hear that a Kiwi man has had all his money stripped, but the thing that scares me is that they gave the man a phone, saying "We'll keep in touch" I would do exactly the same as the man and turn in the phone to Police and show evidence that there are people that are not "so-good" If I were kidnapped I wouldn't follow instructions where money is included because it's a family vacation it's meant to be fun and amazing. I would fight to get out and report it to the Police immediately!
This goes for anyone who is reading this article, if you're going on a holiday make sure your read the background of the country just in case, you never know you might be the victim of a kidnapping as well.
What are your thoughts on this article?
Leave your thoughts in the comment section below :)
Happy Sabbath and Many thanks :) :)
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