<prompt> Human: Preface:My girlfriend and I got scammed big time in Thailand to the tune of 850 USD. Below is the story of how the events unfolded throughout the day. I understand that when viewed out of context, the scam seems blatantly obvious; I have included factors and descriptions that seemed harmless at the time. I am a law graduate and my girlfriend is a business graduate. We are not unintelligent by any means. We did our research and thought we were well prepared to handle Bangkok. We were sadly mistaken. I am writing this for several reasons: after the fact, the story is quite entertaining; we have kept this story secret to everyone who knows us; and perhaps most importantly, to heed warning for those who think they are too smart to get scammed in a foreign country.12pm Day of the Scam:My girlfriend and I finish visiting a well-known tourist attraction in Bangkok. It is our first full day in Thailand and we are ecstatic. We begin to tour the local market outside of the attraction, ever vigilant of tourist traps and pickpockets. To try to take in the local culture and get out of the tourist-centered area, we begin to walk away from the market. About 3 minutes later we are stopped by a Thai police officer. She is dressed in a polo with a Thailand Police Department logo and slacks. I find this odd, but assume she works a desk job of sorts. She quickly warns us that this is not a good area for tourists to be, as crime is very high in the area and asks us where we are headed. After a brief conversation, she recommends local stops to visit to really take in all Bangkok has to offer. She lists the three main stops and even leaves us her cellphone number should we encounter any problems. I ask her for a recommendation on how to get to the first stop, and she recommends a tuk tuk. I tell her of my apprehension of tuk tuk drivers because I have read they are very untrustworthy. She hails a driver from across the street and they begin to speak in Thai. She speaks very firmly to him, shows him the list, and negotiates a fair price for him to drive us to all three locations. When they conclude, she tells us the price which we are willing to accept, and that she told the driver she had his information and would cite him for violations should we call her with any problems. At this point, we couldnt be more excited and feel very safe.1pm:We arrive at our first destination, a local temple. We spend the next half hour viewing the temple and walking around while the driver waits. Overall, it is an incredible experience being on the other side of the world and we are both grinning ear to ear.130pm:We finish at the temple and meet back with the driver who is waiting out front for us. He informs us that he needs to use the restroom but waited so we wouldnt miss him and get lost. He points to his tuk tuk, down the road, and says we can go wait in it and he will be right back. We happily comply and walk over to the tuk tuk. As soon as we arrive, we notice that it is double parked, blocking in another vehicle. The owner of that vehicle then walks up about a minute later, asking if we can move the tuk tuk. We explain that our driver is using the restroom and he should be right out to move it. The man does not seem upset and says he is not in a rush. He then strikes up a conversation with us to kill the time, asking where we are from, how our holiday is going, and so on. When I mention I recently graduated law school, he seems very happy. He explains how he too was a lawyer in the United States that used to work for a well-known firm in New York City. I know the firm and begin to ask about his profession, but he seems uninterested in talking about it. He explains how he had to leave the firm to take care of his dying father back in Thailand. By no means does he look like a corporate tax lawyer from NYC, but I tell myself to stop being judgmental this man is doing an amazing thing for his family. He then asks where we are headed, and we show him the list prepared by the police officer. He explains how lucky we are to have spoken to her, as these are lesser-known but amazingly cultural stops. The man is particularly keen on our next stop, which is illegible to us on the paper. He explains that this shop is normally only open to Thai residents, but recently opened to tourists to increase tourism. He continues on about how he had all of his suits made by this tailoring shop, our next stop, and how high quality and cheap they are. He says to take advantage of this opportunity and purchase suits while I have the chance. Before long, our driver arrives, apologizes to the stranger he was blocking in, and asks if we are ready to go. We leave for the second stop.2pm:We arrive at the tailoring shop. At this point, I begin to question why a police officer would recommend a having suits made in Thailand instead of all the amazing sites to see. However, the sales people move us quickly and are great at what they domaking sales. Before long, both my girlfriend and I are measured and being talked into suits. We ultimately agree to 3 suits, 2 for me and one for her, for what amounts to 850 USD. The suits are to be custom made, with a fitting later that night, and delivered to our hotel the next morning. The salesman informs me that I must pay upfront for them to begin to work on the suits. He asks for cash, and points me to an ATM conveniently located right outside of the store. At this point I am very skeptical. I tell him I do not have cash to cover the suits, and must pay by credit card knowing if I pay in cash I will have no recourse. We go back and forth, but when I say we will leave if we cannot pay by credit card, he budges and lets me pay in plastic probably the only smart thing I did that day. We arrange to have the shop send a driver to pick us up for our first fitting at 6pm providing all of our contact information, including hotel name and room number. We go on our way.3pm:We leave the shop and go to another temple. I feel uneasy and my girlfriend keeps asking what is wrong. But we are still happy, and trying to enjoy our holiday and continue with our tour. We view the temple, and the tuk tuk driver brings us to a riverboat to find our way back to the hotel. We leave and make our way back to the hotel.4pm:We arrive back at our hotel and I immediately get on the Internet to research the shop, as I feel incredibly uneasy about the situation. Low and behold, I discover story after story of tourists being scammed by this shop. Several make mention that this shop is connected to the Thai mafia, and I read numerous stories of customers who paid cash, were physically threatened, products that never arrived, and even instances of those who went to the police and were laughed at. I tell my girlfriend and she realizes the way I have been acting and it all makes sense. We realize that the driver is scheduled to pick us up, from our room at 6pm. I begin to think of all the worst-case scenarios: mainly that with knowledge our room and knowing we will both be gone, someone may break into our room and steal everything. This scam was incredibly well thought out and involved many seemingly unrelated parties, what was to stop a hotel employee from being in on it and offering a keycard to our room? I have the front desk call the shop and explain we had an emergency occur and would not be available for a fitting tonight and would be leaving the country in the morning. If the suits could not be cancelled, just leave them at the front and do not contact us. We immediately returned to the room, dead bolted the door, and sat quietly, feeling sick to our stomachs.6pm:At exactly 6pm, there is a heavy knock on the door. We sit motionless in bed. A few more knocks and the man eventually goes away. I can only assume the shop knew we were on to them and were trying to do everything at this point to cover themselves.10pm-2am:At 10pm, another knock on our door. I know it is the man trying to fit us again and drop off the suits. We do not answer and pretend to be gone with the lights off. My girlfriend is terrified. From that point on, our hotel phone rang loudly, every twenty minutes, until 2am when the calls finally ceased. I know it was them calling because no hotel desk, after being explained the situation, would call a guests room so persistently, so late at night. We never answered the phone. I sat awake in bed, all night, scared of what may happen. My mind races.6am the following morning:We quietly pack our bags and make our way out of the hotel, foregoing the expensive breakfast we prepaid. We do not want to be seen or heard, we just want to get to the airport and out of this hotel. As we make our way out, a bellman whom we have never seen stops us, and hands us a garment bag with the suits. We do not open it and proceed to the airport. Later that day, we arrive in a different city and breathe a collective sigh of relief.The aftermath:After a day or two of feeling physically and mentally ill, we relax and enjoy the rest of our vacation. The suits do not fit, are terribly made with pieces ironed together with sticky tape, and are so thin they are virtually see through. My girlfriend and I will never wear them, although when this is resolved I plan to donate them to a shelter. When we return home to the States, I immediately contact the credit card company and explain the entire story, in detail, pleading that they reverse the charge. The analyst I spoke to explained how terribly she felt for me, but it is unlikely the charges will be reversed because I paid in person and signed the receipt. She suggested my best course of action was to file legal charges against the company. However, being legally trained, I understand that it will cost far more than 800 to litigate in Thailand, and even if I were to win, a flight would cost more than that. It is simply not worth the effort. A US court would almost certainly not hear the case for jurisdictional reasons, and even if they did, I would have no way to enforce a judgment against the company and get my money back. So I proceeded to fill out the dispute and am anxiously awaiting the result. I just figured I would share my story of how someone who is aware of scams and skeptical got taken for so much money.TL;DR: Was scammed by numerous, seemingly unrelated people into buying 850 worth of suits and when I tried to back out was harassed.edited: formatting.edit 2 I appreciate all of the input. I wasnt trying to say I was smart, Im simply trying to tell a story and warn others. I will have succeeded if one of the many of you who wrote me saying thanks for the advice are able to avoid being scammed in Thailand. Yes, I am aware there is a lot of literature discussing this scam online, but I did not think it would run so deep the three unrelated people. Also, many have asked why I would buy suits in Thailand and why I didnt research more. Though I dont expect many to understand, I literally just finished sitting for the bar exam and the next day went on my trip insert more jokes about lawyers being dumb, I get it. I did not have time to do thorough research as I was studying 8-12 hours a day for the past 3 months for the exam. I read that SE Asia is a good place to have suits made my a reputable tailor. Because I began working for a law firm as soon as I returned, I had plans to purchase myself a custom suit or two during my trip. When I was told by unrelated strangers about this great shop, I fell for it. Lesson learned.Assistant: Wow Im sorry this happened to you. I can definitely see how I would have also fallen for that. Im planning on doing an Asia trip in a year so Ill for sure have to ask reddit about their experiences is certain countries. I really appreciate you sharing this!Human: The thing is, I thought I was well versed on many of the scams that take place in Thailand. The best advice I can give is to not be greedy like I was. If it seems like it is too good to be true, it is. Im convinced now that no matter how much you prepare, someone will use a tactic you have not seen or heard-- this was an all day operation involving impersonating police, meeting strangers, etc. Just trust your instinct. Aside from this debacle we had an amazing time, so enjoy your trip!!Assistant: Which cc did you pay with?Edit: Plenty of people jumped ahead on the path I was leading with this. Just for future reference people - Almost always use an AmEx when traveling - their customer service is top-notch!Human: VisaAssistant: Visa processes the payments, but your card provider is the one who initiates chargebacks or not. I think the question was more along the lines of who your provider is Capital One, Citibank, etc. Moreso because a big bank will handle this differently than a small one or credit union.Services not rendered is usually a valid reason to get a charge back. The suits clearly werent worth 850 so even with a signed receipt, you should have a process to dispute the charge back restrictions. A few photographs of the product received should clear things up. You may have to file a very useless as you said police report, but going through the motions may be what it takes to get you that money back from your card provider.Human: Sorry, the provider is Capital One. They told me they supported me but since Visa processed, they would need Visa to initiate the chargeback. I have already taken the steps call, contact seller, pictures you and others have recommended. I guess we will just have to wait and see.  <response>: Yep, well good luck then! Sorry you had to go through this. Hopefully it works out. Capital One being a big bank, Id say your chances are pretty decent at getting a refund if you raise enough hell. 