"Charged 2.3 Million Won for Two Drinks"... Surge in Overcharging and Scams at Colombian Resorts

Excessive Prices Without Showing Menu... Device Manipulation Too
"Precautions Needed as Livelihood Crimes Increase Due to Economic Downturn"

In the famous South American resort area of Colombia, cases of overcharging or fraud targeting foreigners are on the rise. In response, the Korean Embassy in Colombia has also issued a warning.

On the 31st (local time), Colombian daily El Tiempo and Latin American media Infobae reported that in Cartagena, a seaside resort city on the northern Caribbean coast of Colombia, there have been recent incidents of excessive charges or unauthorized large payments made against foreign tourists.

Not directly related to the article. Stock photo [Image source=Pixabay]

El Tiempo introduced a recent fraud case involving a Canadian tourist, describing it as "the most egregious case causing the largest scale of damage in a single incident among known fraud crimes in the Cartagena area."

The Canadian tourist experienced a carriage tour around various tourist spots and paid 100,000 Colombian pesos (about 33,000 KRW) by credit card, but later discovered that a whopping 18 million pesos (about 6 million KRW) had been charged and reported it to the police. At the time, the carriage driver reportedly said, "The card terminal is not approving the transaction," and attempted several payments using the tourist's four credit cards.

The coastal resort city of Cartagena in the northern Caribbean Sea of Colombia
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Canadian tourist testified to the police, "The carriage driver excused himself by saying the internet connection was unstable," and "After the payment went through, he welcomed me to Cartagena and returned the cards."

Additionally, Infobae reported that "two German tourists visited Playa Blanca in the nearby Baru area, ordered rice dishes with vegetables and two glasses of juice, and were charged 2 million pesos (about 670,000 KRW)." They claimed they were threatened by the restaurant owner who demanded an outrageous price after serving the food without showing a menu.

Furthermore, two tourists from Argentina were charged 7 million pesos (about 2.3 million KRW) for two glasses of lemonade. This case was confirmed to be a scam involving manipulation of the seller’s payment terminal.

Natalia Borges, Director of the Cartagena Tourism Office, advised, "To avoid becoming a target of scammers, do not allow sellers to take your credit card elsewhere." She also added, "When purchasing food or services, always request an accurate price list."

Ana Maria Gonzalez, former Minister of the Interior of Cartagena, told El Tiempo, "Along with strong crackdowns, the government should strengthen requirements for issuing tourism business registration certificates," and emphasized, "Strict penalties are also necessary for unauthorized manipulation of card terminals."

The Korean Embassy in Colombia recently introduced various types of incidents and accidents in its overseas safety travel guidebook and urged caution. The embassy stated, "Due to the worsening economic downturn, livelihood-related crimes are rapidly increasing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.