Beware of This Possible Scam

We are in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas on a normal seasonal sojourn to Chiapas and this morning received a telephone call from our housekeeper in Ajijic warning us that Telecable in Riberas del Pilar had just called our Ajijic residence and stated to her that we were seriously behind in paying our monthly television cable bill, owed them some 400 Pesos and that if we did not send them a payment for $400 Pesos immediately they would report our default on our monthly cable TV obligation to them and report us to the local credit bureau, whoever that may be, thereby destroying our credit and would then by God, sue us for, now get this, $400 Pesos for back cable TV service.

Now guffaw at this at your liesure but she is poor beyond belief and never had credit in her life so she was in a state of panic and had she not been able to contact us she may have fallen for this scam.

Well, we told her that we always paid the cable television bill both in Ajijic and here in Chiapas one year in advance every year without fail and that since we have no credit to destroy since we always pay all vendors in cash and have not used any credit of any kind in the twelve years we have lived here and had not even one credit card to our names, these clowns had nothing such as a credit rating to destroy.

We then hung up and called Telecable in Riberas who confirmed that our account was current and that they had never called us.

Be aware of these creeps lurking about out there at Lakeside ready to rip you or your staff off with a simple phone call.

Wrong number???

Stupid is as stupid does, granted, but why would anyone try to extort someone for 400 pesos. . .

Maybe who knows..

Trailrunner wrote:Wrong number???

Stupid is as stupid does, granted, but why would anyone try to extort someone for 400 pesos. . .

Because they don't have 400 pesos and they need or want it. From our perspective yes it does look stupid.

Z

Zedinmexico wrote:

Trailrunner wrote:Wrong number???

Stupid is as stupid does, granted, but why would anyone try to extort someone for 400 pesos. . .

Because they don't have 400 pesos and they need or want it. From our perspective yes it does look stupid.

Z

Or they may have much more and don't need it, just want it.

Who knows but they scared the heck out of the housesitter. By the way is there a place where bad debts are reported? What does Telecable do when they want to collect besides cutting the service off?

brigitte wrote:Who knows but they scared the heck out of the housesitter. By the way is there a place where bad debts are reported? What does Telecable do when they want to collect besides cutting the service off?

They turn over the account to a debt collector. And they are known to use lies and scare tactics.

How would they refer to the debt collectors.? The housesitters mentioned something about credito which sounded fishy to me but I do not know the term for the debt collector, just got the jest of it.
Sounded like a US threat rather than a Mexican one.

http://contralinea.info/archivo-revista/index.php/2012/07/01/empresas-de-cobranza-expertos-en-el-acoso/

Thanks you for the link. I am going to ask our house sitter to check the phone number and see if I can call back an find out who these people are. I may have to give them some of the same treatement...Thanks a lot.

By the way, we first moved to the Lake Chapala area in 2001 and started spending part of each year in Chiapas in 2005. This seems to be a good opportunity to note how things have changed at Lakeside over the 12 years we have lived here in Mexico. During the first years we started splitting time between residences, we thought nothing of leaving our house at Lakeside empty and unalarmed with only the gardener and housekeeper attending to their normal recurring duties on premise. Then, a few years ago when things started going awry at Lakeside, we fully alarmed the entire property with a constantly monitored, movement sensitive alarm system and hired a full time housesitter to stay in and protect our Lakeside home when we were in Chiapas.

Ironically, in Chiapas, while we have alarmed our house there, our all Mexican neighbors are constantly vigilant in in support of ourselves and each other on our block and in our barrio in general so, while Chiapas is the poorest state in Mexico with a serious crime problem, we feel more comfortable with home security there in the midst of urban overcrowding than we do at Lakeside.

A couple of years ago, some thieves decided to steal some newly installed kitchen appliances from a house being constructed in our neighborhood in San Cristobal and made the mistake of dropping some silverware on the street which made a loud clattering sound. The neighbors descended on them like a ton of bricks and assaulted them, forcing them to the ground and detaining them until the cops arrived. The happiest people in that crowd to see the local cops arrive were the thieves who feared for their lives.

It is a great irony that, here in Chiapas, with its Zapatistas and recurring civil disorders, we feel more secure than at Lakeswide. We would never have believed that when we moved part time to San Cristobal in 2005. I guess it is because Southern Mexicans know the official law is a joke and they must fend for themselves and look out for one another. At Lakeside we have to pay someone to do that.

It is standard procedure for residents in our barrio in San Cristobal to employ noise making panic alarms in the event of a breakin and to come together as a commuunity to help each other in the event of an emergency. Southern Mexicans understand that they are on their own and the need for neighborhood vigilence.

I would comment, Dawg, that if someone dropped stolen silverware on the block where you live at Lakeside, it is very unlikely your neighbors would even hear the sound.[b]

[quote="LaChula"]I would comment, Dawg, that if someone dropped stolen silverware on the block where you live at Lakeside, it is very unlikely your neighbors would even hear the sound.[b][/quote]

A good point La Chula. Here in San Cristobal we live in closer proximity to our alert neighbors committed to helping each other. I might add that, about 14 years ago the previous owner of our home in West Ajijic. an elderly lady, was assaulted and murdered and her car stolen at about three in the morning. The next door extranjero neighbor heard the car crank up and drive off at that time of the morning, thought that event was odd, rolled over and went back to sleep. In San Cristobal people watch out for each other, in West Ajijic you have to pay someone to watch out for you. Different community values.

too bad about that[west ajijic],but in barrio lourdes[chapala] we look out for each other just like you claim in san cristobal.

Pedro wrote:too bad about that[west ajijic],but in barrio lourdes[chapala] we look out for each other just like you claim in san cristobal.

Of course. pedro lives there.

hound dog wrote:[quote="LaChula"]I would comment, Dawg, that if someone dropped stolen silverware on the block where you live at Lakeside, it is very unlikely your neighbors would even hear the sound.[b]

A good point La Chula. Here in San Cristobal we live in closer proximity to our alert neighbors committed to helping each other. I might add that, about 14 years ago the previous owner of our home in West Ajijic. an elderly lady, was assaulted and murdered and her car stolen at about three in the morning. The next door extranjero neighbor heard the car crank up and drive off at that time of the morning, thought that event was odd, rolled over and went back to sleep. In San Cristobal people watch out for each other, in West Ajijic you have to pay someone to watch out for you. Different community values. [/quote]

Yess, where I live in centro Ajijic we are in close proximity to our neighbors and if something odd was happening, it would not go unnoticed.

Well La Chula considering that a couple of neighbors are pretty deaf and that the sounds travel in a very odd manner on that street not even the dogs would hear it and we have lots of those.

We have a redux of Joec/Los Arroyos...

seisdedos wrote:

Pedro wrote:too bad about that[west ajijic],but in barrio lourdes[chapala] we look out for each other just like you claim in san cristobal.

Of course. pedro lives there.

there are only 2 ferner households here and maybe 4 up the hill. got nuthin' ta do with me,6 fingers.

Quien le gana a pedrito? Nadie.

brigitte wrote:We have a redux of Joec/Los Arroyos...

you are admitting that you and husband are the same as that guy then, by your constant denigration of this lake region and praising on highest, san cristobal? yes i can see the similarity now.

seisdedos wrote:Quien le gana a pedrito? Nadie.

well, you have on occasion, aincha?

Pedro wrote:

seisdedos wrote:Quien le gana a pedrito? Nadie.

well, you have on occasion, aincha?

On occasion?

brigitte wrote:Well La Chula considering that a couple of neighbors are pretty deaf and that the sounds travel in a very odd manner on that street not even the dogs would hear it and we have lots of those.

It is a very pretty street, though, Brigitte.

Yes it is very pretty and pretty quiet so no complaint.