Is this a Scam?

I was walking along a side street behind a subway yesterday when a man pulled up beside me in his car and started asking me where I was from, etc.

A bus came up the road, he pulled over, got out and came over to me.

His pitch was he's the "president of a company" and wants me to visit him at his office to "exchange business ideas."

I ask him if he's looking for someone to practice English with but he said no, that he wanted to "exchange business ideas." He starts asking  me personal questions, wants to know my phone number, etc.

When I told him my phone was broken he gave up, got in his car and drove off?

Completely bizarre.

 

 

Re: Is this a Scam?

Yes sounds like  scam, especially if asking personal questions.   Ask for a business card.  Similar things have happened several times in my 16 years in Busan, usually harmless but sometimes strange or dangerous.   I always ask for a business card and never ever ever give mine.

Re: Is this a Scam?

Its not a scam. You were being "hit on" by a gay Korean man.  

 

 

 

Re: Is this a Scam?

You  seem to be meeting some freaks . I read your problem at the market . I wonder what were you wearing ? A business suit ? Did you look like a businessman . I guess you were right he was just looking for an English speaking friend . A lot of Koreans still do not know how to make friends with a westerners . They dont understand asking someone how old you are ?  How much you weigh > ? How tall you are is really strange .  Also dont stare at a person . If you want to

talk to some just talk right away . At a bar just ask someone Can I buy you a drink ? Dont just stare . As I mentioned most likely he just wanted to make a friend with you .

   However there are crazy people everywhere . In my country has them Korea too . With the racist propaganda mbc aired on tv  there always is a chance of a hate crime . What i mean is just someone hits you because of your race . Or he could of wanted to rob you . If you let your imagination run wild you can think of alot of things . Perhaps he wanted to drug you and steal some body organs . Some Koreans told me to be careful since I was alone in Korea some one could try to do this . I have heard of this happening in China and in Las Vegas . /But this chance is very remote .

   Korea is generally a safe country except for the rude recklace dangerous drunken drivers .  Almost no one in Korea has a gun  so I think Korea is really safe  . However dont do anything in Korea you wouldnt do in your country . I for sure would not talk to a guy who was driving . Asking for a name card is a good method but people make fake name cards too .     

    

Re: Is this a Scam?

Talking of scams be careful of phishing, at which Korea leads the world, a stat they probably ain't so proud of.

I got called from a guy claiming to be Incheon Police. Now if it was Busan police I would have been more co-operative, but I couldn't think of any reason whatsover Incheon Police would call me. We communicated for a while in my limited Korean and his broken English and I told him to either call my Korean friend or send me a text or e-mail which I would find easier to decipher. He kept trying to elicit personal information out of me, and I may have revealed too much, but fortunately did not give him any ARC numbers or bank details. When I asked my Korean friend to call him she said immediately it was phishing. It seems Koreans get this regularly. Actually in hindsight I thought the guy had balls for phoning a foreigner, as he did know my name.

Of course it could have actually been Incheon Police and the warrant is still out for my arrest.

Re: Is this a Scam?

Above post was me btw! I would never want to be anonymous...

Re: Is this a Scam?

Adding to some of the questions above, the guy was old, well dressed and driving a nice car with his wife in the passenger seat.

I asked for his business card when he kept bragging how he was a company president but instead he started asking me for my phone number saying he wanted to exchange "business ideas" at his office. That's when I told him my phone was broken, he insisted I fix it, and after a while he gave up.

I have to learn to say "no" more quickly. Being too nice can have its drawbacks.

I had another really scary experience recently in an open market with a store owner accusing me of stealing pants, calling police and then ending up having to apologize. She had real problems.

I was wondering why I'm getting hassled by all the "freaks" lately as someone mentioned above.

I think it's because I'm on break right now and have been out and about much more often than when I was working (split shifts, weekends) and there was little time to interact with Koreans.

Someone imaginative wondered if I'm doing something to attract people's attention. Quite the opposite. I'm middle aged, always dress nice and have taken to wearing a ball cap most of the time hoping people not really looking won't notice I'm a foreigner.

Maybe this is what it is like to actually live in Korea as a foreigner.

I'm really getting quite uncomfortable going out now and prefer staying indoors most of the time. It feels safer. I was thinking of teaching again but now think it's better to leave. It's become too stressful staying in Korea.

Re: Is this a Scam?

Its not what its like "living in Korea" but it is certainly my experience of living in Busan. I have lived in and visited other parts of Korea and have never experienced such xenophobia / racism or just out and out weirdness as I do here. I also have taken to going out less. There is not a week goes by when I don't feel uncomfortable in the presence of a Korean man who has engaged me in conversation, or asked for my telephone number or was just plain creepy. Whether it be cornering me in the Foreign book section of Shinsegae, waiting to go into a closed Emart on a Monday morning, following me and my dog along the street with his dog, or taxi driver after taxi driver asking me personal questions (or telling me I look like some obscure French actress!). All wanting my telephone number! The age range of men is from 20 - 60 (fyi - I am an 'ajuma'! / expat wife and very western in appearance). Now, I know you get nutters and perverts eveywhere but come on! Its disproportionate!!& then of course there are the filthy looks I get and the stares not of "ooo look a foreigner" but "ugh whats that"! I am not sure which is worse some old adoshi with his cocker spaniel wanting my telephone number and some agashi with her knock off Prada bag looking me up and down! We have been harrassed and singled out in our apartment building on more than one occasion. & recently I was told that the main perpetrator (& she is on the tenant board) doesn't think foriegners should be living in her building. There have been other more horrific events since we moved to Busan which I don't feel like going into right now as they involved my children. Suffice to say, in my opinion, and with vast experience of life in Korea, as a foreign wife and mother (my husband is also western) I say that there is something screwed up in Busan. It does not represent Korea as a whole. & god alone knows what the husband and wife team wanted! "Business ideas"?!

Re: Is this a Scam?

"the guy was old, well dressed and driving a nice car with his wife in the passenger seat... saying he wanted to exchange "business ideas".

Sounds like the classic swingers ruse to me!

Re: Is this a Scam?

Okay, who's the wise guy?

I just got an email from "Fiona Cheng"

"I have business proposal to share with you. reply me more details."

Re: Is this a Scam?

If for any reason any does end up meeting someone similar to this guy in order to 'exchange business ideas', do not sign or agree to anything.  I've heard of Koreans that will pressure a foreigner to sign documents that obviously the foreigner does not comprehend...later to find that it was some sort of purchase agreement for cosmetics, vitamins, etc.  I've actually had a friend who was led into a van in order to do a 'skin test' and wasn't allowed to leave until she had made a purchase.  Strange ways....but stranger is the fact that these tactics actually work. 

Long story short...just don't engage anything.

Re: Is this a Scam?

When  I was in Vietnam and Phillipines I learned never look in a beggars eye . If you dont make eye contact with people they usually dont talk to you . You just got bad luck     most Koreans are not that bad .