A heated session of the Chapala city council was underway when I bailed out of the room to answer my cellphone.

It was call from an elderly lady who had fallen for the con man who has preyed on the expatriate community since early this year. 

She launched into a rambling account of how a pair of imposters posing as her estranged son and a local acquaintance took her for about 500 bucks.  

In summary, the fake son had called to say he was in Guadalajara and would be coming here to visit her.  In a second call his pal said they’d been involved in a minor traffic accident and needed fast cash to stay out of jail.  She went to the nearest OXXO twice to send money. When sonny failed to show up as promised, she realized she’d been hoodwinked.

I confess I was less than sympathetic to the woeful tale. As soon she paused for breath, I snapped back, “Do you ever read our newspaper? Because we’ve published several warnings about this scam.” 

 “Oh yes, I’ve read the stories,” she replied. “But it didn’t click when it happened to me.”  

“Well, what can I do about it? Have you reported this to the police?”

“I don’t speak Spanish,” she answered meekly.

“They have English-speaking officers. The number is 765-4444. But I’ll see what I can do,” I responded tersely.”  Back inside the political hotbed, I fired off messages to the police chief and my connection at the D.A.’s office. 

Later on guilt rose over my exasperation and hostile attitude towards the hapless victim. I called her to apologize and ask if the authorities had followed up. The cops did show up at her home, swooping down like a swat team to come to her rescue.  She was embarrassed that her neighbors found out what had happened

Foreigners seem to be easy targets for telephone and email extortions, mustard bandits, tire slashers and pickpockets.  They can be hit be by unscrupulous types who overcharge for services, run bogus investment schemes, or talk them into signing disadvantageous contracts, powers of attorney and wills written in a language they don’t understand.  

If it’s any consolation, our Mexican neighbors and people all over the globe fall for similar ploys.  

Neither crack police nor a small community newspaper can protect folks from their gullibility and a lack of common sense.  Sadly, in today’s world the best shield is a perpetually suspicious mindset.