Beware of a new scam in Siem Reap. Target are foreigners only that eat in street side restaurants.

Two versions are known:
a) the harmless version (costs you just between $ 20 and $ 30)
b) the nasty “3rd man” version – here you get really fucked.


How does it work:

a) harmless version

1. a group of foreigners (2 or 3 –the more the better) sit in a street side restaurant
2. a young girl (22 to 25 years old), nicely dressed approaches foreigners and begs for money.
3. Whether they give her money or not is irrelevant – she wants more than just the usual 100 or 200 Riels.
4. She will collapse in front of the group. Foam and bubbles coming from her mouth, the limbs are jerking.
5. Group is worried and tries to take care of her. 5 minutes later she feels better and tells a story about her sickness, that she’s poor and cannot afford medicine, doctor or hospital……….she needs $ 20, $ 30…..whatever. The group makes a collection of a couple of Dollars each. Her day is saved.

b) the “3rd man” version

No. 1 to 4 as above
- group didn’t see the third man hidden in the street
- as soon foreigners try to help the girl the 3rd man appears, waits in front of the restaurant, watching the situation
- other bystanders will get informed by the 3rd man what happened and that the foreigners have caused the situation.
- 10 minutes later police arrives, the “witnesses” tell them what they have “seen” and the group is literally fucked and a couple of hundred bucks poorer.

If this should happen to you, DO NOT TOUCH the girl. Inform staff or owner of restaurant, pay and leave as quickly as possible.

Um, I'm gonna call bullshit on this. I don't think the short version would work more than a couple of times, and the long version? Lay off the crack pipe!

What you think is irrelevant. Take it or leave it, and you take back that crack pipe thing you lousy 3rd class idiot.

Who informed you of this? How often had it been witnessed? Police are generally on top of scams there.

I'm curious for the background of AD's report, what has he heard, what has he seen, how many reports, same girl or different girls, etc.

There have been two independent reports of the first scam on the Siem Reap Expats page recently. I don't know the people reporting this - so I can't comment on the veracity. Though, they all came to the conclusion that lemon juice cures epilepsy (it doesn't - something that as an epileptic I can testify to); so there's definitely some sort of scam involved.

Not heard anything about the latter and I'm not sure I'd believe it. I know a lot of senior coppers here and by and large they have nothing to do with petty scams at all...

I've seen nothing. I'm not living in Cambodia anymore. Info comes from a friend living in Siem Reap who has witnessed this scam twice within the last 2 weeks.

TheGrinchSR wrote:I know a lot of senior coppers here and by and large they have nothing to do with petty scams at all...

Possible. But on the other hand it's rainy season, no tourists, no money. Cops could get some crazy ideas.

rick_o'shea wrote:Um, I'm gonna call bullshit on this. I don't think the short version would work more than a couple of times, and the long version? Lay off the crack pipe!

I do not know how often it has happened but I do know that this (the harmless version) has happened to a friend of mine. She is not prone to talking BS.

Might as well give her a good beating if you have to pay off cops anyway. See how funny it is to fake a seizure with a broken jaw.