Did not declare jewelry from Aruba

7/14/2014 3:02:56 AM

This is definitely a scam. They suckered you into compromising yourself and are now blackmailing you for $3500. Most cons involve playing the subject’s greed. Given what you already know they’re doing, I would get the rings appraised locally because odds are they’re actually glass or flawed and otherwise worthless. Why take someone for a small amount when you can take them for a large one? That will be how they’re thinking.

It’s not clear how compromised you actually are, you could talk to a lawyer about that. They’re most unlikely to go through with their threat though (they don’t want the police attention) and in any case, there isn’t even that much proof of wrongdoing. The odds of the paperwork being in-order are low and I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for it to even arrive. Does it have your signature? What turns up, if anything turns up, may not be genuine anyway, they’re clearly already pretty fraudulent.

If you pay them anything at all, they’ll probably come up with some new ‘fee’ that you need to pay or they’ll go to customs etc. Once they sense weakness, expect them to keep digging until you eventually call their bluff and then they put you in the ‘done’ pile and look at the next victim.

7/14/2014 12:49:41 AM

You may need legal advice, just a few hints: According to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customs_duties_in_the_United_States goods must be declared within 15 days of arrival, so you might be fine. I personally would think that if you aren’t caught but declare things yourself as soon as possible, you might be fine, but as I said, get legal advice.

You will have to pay some import duty. I would declare the facts that I know (that I bought what was I thought was a $6,200 ring, paid $6,200, and they claim it is $9,700) and let the customs people decide.

The other problem is the $3,500. Again, you might want legal advice. I would base my decisions on the facts that

  1. You had no intention of buying a $9700 ring
  2. You left the shop with what you thought was a $6200 ring that you paid for
  3. It was their mistake
  4. Jewellery has high profit margins, so they will survive their loss
  5. They are trying to force you to buy goods that you don’t want by unethical means (they advised you not to declare the ring at customs and used this to try to blackmail you)
  6. there’s probably not much they can do

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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