A gay newfie couple got bilked out of $6500 by flim flam artists at a DR casino in Punta Cana.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...wing-1.5100278
Cliffs:
-couple goes into casino
-offered $25 "complimentary" casino chips to play a specific game that looks like complicated roulette
-after playing a while they are told they are one point away from winning a big jackpot
-they continue to play (unbeknownst to them they are now playing on credit)
-they don't hit jackpot (which is actually impossible to win) and they are told by security they owe $1000 (which somehow converts to $6500 CND)
-they are led to ATM by security who bully them into making multiple withdrawals and calls to their bank until they transfer/pay a total of $6500
-they go back to their hotel and complain; hotel manager says they have no recourse because the hotel isn't affiliated with casino; kicks them out of hotel!
-Sunwing (travel company) relocates them to different hotel
-they try going to police station but this is such a common scam it's basically useless
This is a very common gambling scam. As far as I can tell it is a variant of an old con job called "Razzle" (AKA: Razzle-Dazzle, Football, Ten Points Win, Baseball, Mo-Co, Indian Poker, Cajun Bingo)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzle_(game)
After getting scammed the couple researched it and found many stories about this scam dating back over 10 years. TripAdvisor has tons of stories about it. Here's one thread: https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserR..._Republic.html
Someone snapped a photo of the game itself. As you can see it's incredibly complicated which allows for the scam to take place. It's set up so you can never win but it feels like you're close to winning.
On the one hand, they are rubes. On the other hand, you need more people to be open about getting scammed so that stories like these make the news and fewer people will get taken going forward. In fact, Sunwing and other travel companies should advise all travelers in advance about these scams.
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