Episode Summary
In this episode, Johnny Mueller explores the growing issue of extortion scams targeting young Latinos in Latin America, particularly in Mexico. He explains that these scams are often orchestrated by prison gangs and drug cartels using stolen data from the dark web. These calls typically involve threats of violence and demands for money, with the caller providing personal details about the victim. According to Interpol, most of these calls originate from Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico. Johnny also touches on credit card fraud in the region, citing a 2022 study by Insight Crime and NordVPN, which highlights the high risk of credit card theft in countries like Puerto Rico, Brazil, and Mexico. He attributes the ease of these crimes to a combination of factors, including the widespread use of credit cards in the region and a general lack of awareness or caution among users.
Johnny then discusses the limited use of credit cards in Latin America, noting that it's a relatively new phenomenon. He explains that most people use debit cards, which are less attractive to thieves due to their low balances. He also highlights the cultural context of payday, which leads to long lines at banks, and how the introduction of ATMs has changed this dynamic. Johnny warns about the risks of using ATMs, especially in isolated locations, and shares insights on how banks and law enforcement handle theft cases, including the use of polygraphs and the challenges of identifying guilty parties.
In another segment, Johnny discusses the use of polygraphs in detecting dishonesty, highlighting common questions and the general fear of polygraph tests in Latin America. He also touches on the prevalence of social media extortion schemes and the role of dating sites in facilitating these scams. Additionally, he provides a detailed account of the economic situation in Venezuela, including the devaluation of the Bolivar and the limited spending power of credit cards. Johnny also comments on the perception of U.S. media coverage of Venezuela, noting the disconnect between the views of Venezuelans who have fled the country and the narratives presented by progressive media.
Johnny then discusses his recent experiences and observations about Venezuela, highlighting the challenges expats face there, including bribery, corruption, and the impact of socialist policies. He critiques American media for not adequately representing the perspectives of Venezuelans and other Latin Americans. He also touches on the expat experience in general, discussing the failure rate of expats and the reasons why some return to their home countries, often due to missing family and friends or feeling overwhelmed by the stress and excess of first-world life.
In the final segment, Johnny discusses his recent experiences and observations about Venezuela, highlighting the challenges expats face there, including bribery, corruption, and the impact of socialist policies. He critiques American media for not adequately representing the perspectives of Venezuelans and other Latin Americans. He also touches on the expat experience in general, discussing the failure rate of expats and the reasons why some return to their home countries, often due to missing family and friends or feeling overwhelmed by the stress and excess of first-world life.
In the final segment, Johnny shares a story about a couple in their 70s who moved from Maryland to Guatemala, only to feel homesick and eventually return to the U.S. He reflects on the emotional journey of expats, including the initial honeymoon period and the eventual doubts that may arise. He also mentions his own experience moving to Latin America, the support system he had, and the challenges he faced, such as language barriers and lack of internet access. Johnny concludes by promoting an upcoming expat seminar in the Dominican Republic, emphasizing the value of the event and the success of previous seminars.
Episode Notes
Johnny Mueller unpacks the prevalence of extortion scams in Latin America, the role of prison gangs and drug cartels, and the risks of credit card fraud. He also shares insights on polygraph use, the economic situation in Venezuela, and the emotional and practical challenges of expat life.
For more episodes, seminar information, resources, and the full archive, visit ExpatPlanB.com.
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Related guides: Moving to Guatemala · Cost of Living in Latin America · Residency in Latin America · Safety and Scams
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Topics
Extortion scams in Latin America, Credit card fraud in Latin America, Role of prison gangs and drug cartels in extortion, Dark web and stolen credit card data, Credit card usage in Latin America, Debit card security and usage, Payday culture in Latin America, ATM security and risks, Bank staff collusion with thieves, Law enforcement response to theft, Polygraph use and perception, Social media extortion schemes
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:01:24 The Extortion Scam Process and Gang Involvement 00:04:11 Credit Card Fraud in Latin America 00:05:58 Credit Card Usage in Latin America is New and Limited 00:06:58 Payday Culture and Its Impact on Banking in Latin America 00:09:14 Insights on Bank Staff Collusion with Thieves 00:11:22 Polygraph Questions and Fear in Latin America 00:14:10 Economic Situation in Venezuela 00:15:58 Perception of U.S. Media Coverage of Venezuela 00:18:09 The Corruption of Government in Venezuela and Its Impact on Expats 00:21:22 University of Toronto Study on Expat Regret and Return to Home Countries 00:22:38 The Treadmill of Retired People and the Question of Return 00:23:30 The Realization of the Difficulty of an International Move 00:26:10 The Best Decision and the Upcoming Expat Seminar
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:00] South of the border down Mexico way That's where I fell in love when the stars above came out to play and now as I wonder Hello there all you expat wannabes. I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to the expat files living in Latin America The show that tells you just what it's like to live work play and or retire down here in Latin America It's a mix of the good the bad the ugly and the great and it's all right here. So let's get started I think I've mentioned this before but not in great detail Latinos yes most exclusively young Latinos are getting targeted left and right in their stupid social media apps With extortion calls from no goodniks and gang members and such
[00:45] There'll be a phone call voice or text message with the proposition pay me or I'll kill you or your family That would scare the hell out of you, right? Now so far and I know lots and lots of gringos and expats I've never heard it once happen to any gringo and expat except in Mexico so on the bright side at least it's only happening in Mexico and in the rest of Latin America only to Latinos Stupidly addicted to social media thing is most of those threatening calls are false alarms It appears that most of those calls are actually fishing expeditions And the callers who identify themselves as drug cartels or prison gang members. They'll make multiple calls They have huge lists that they roll through making multiple calls in the hopes that someone will pay and some do in fact
[01:31] There are certain groups of gang members in prisons. That's their job Extorting people by phone. They're in gangs are controlled by gangs and they have a job to do every day And that's sort of a call center extortion line. Now, of course, they have to have lists of data What's up, instant crap and fake book numbers regular cell phone numbers and or email addresses, too And according to Interpol most all of those phone calls come from prisons through what's up or telegram Originating in Colombia, Venezuela and in Mexico According to Interpol the scam will go something like this. You'll get a call that'll say I'm singing in English Of course, I've been instructed by so-and-so cartel or gang to kill you or your parents or loved ones However, there is option number two instead if you pay me two thousand bucks or whatever
[02:19] By the way, two thousand bucks seems to be the common baseline figure anyway, the caller will give you a dollar amount and say if you pay it he'll ignore the order to kill you and your family and To double down a bit most times the caller will provide details about your schedule the house where you live the school You go to your room. He'll describe pictures of you having fun that a family get-together or with friends All of that stuff called from the internet photos that you took and posted Then the caller or texter will provide bank account numbers for you to make a deposit with a deadline usually 24 to 48 hours Or else you'll say Now when this happens many times a person will not go to the police and when they do by the time the lazy ass cops Get on it probably a day or two later pass the deadline
[03:06] They contact the bank the bank starts investigating they find out most often the bank accounts spend closed The money extracted with a debit card from an ATM and when the account owner actually exists It's usually a little old lady from a bad neighborhood that gang members roped into opening an account now if you're ever a victim of this kind of scam and you probably never will be unless you're living in Mexico and Have kids addicted to social media and posting stuff on fake book dick a cock and Instagram Anyway, according to Interpol the best way to eliminate the threat is to cancel your social media accounts Yeah, right like that's gonna happen for most adolescents and young adults Social media is a huge part of their whole hollow lives They're always posting stuff photos videos trying to get likes by one upping their buddies and phantom friends
[03:57] The way kids and young adults revealed their personal lives is a goldmine for extortionists By the way, spokesman for Interpol says we are not aware of anyone Without a social media presence who's ever been threatened Makes sense. The another big problem in Latin America is credit card fraud according to insight crime Latin America a 2022 study of credit card cloning around the world revealed some startling discrepancies in the risks Customers face across Latin America in the casual trusting way. They use credit cards They talk about the ease of availability on the dark web of stolen credit card information All right. Now in this report carried out by Nord VPN leading virtual private network company. They found that at present
[04:45] Right now you can get on a dark web and find about 4 million credit card details for sale Hmm. I wonder if you could pay for a stolen credit card information with a stolen credit card Hmm I wonder if you could really go dark by using a stolen credit card to buy a stolen credit card to buy another stolen credit Try to trace that why don't yeah Anyway, it's reported that about a third of those stolen cards and their information Come from stolen and cloned US credit cards and another third coming from stolen or cloned Latin American credit cards now according to insight crime credit card users in Puerto Rico Brazil and Mexico were found to be at the very highest risk of having their details stolen and sold So why is credit card theft and cloning so prevalent in Latin America are the people just stupid or careless?
[05:34] Some of that is true If you're old enough to remember how credit cards first came into existence in the 70s and 80s in the states Americans were nonchalant and stupidly trusting too I remember friends and acquaintances handing their credit card to waiters and bartenders and they Disappear in the back room with it for a couple of minutes and bring it back That was normal didn't take long for the bad guys to figure out what to do in that missing time period The fact is ubiquitous use of credit cards in Latin America is a pretty new thing In fact when I first arrived in Latin America I met almost no Latino locals who had a credit card except people who went back and forth to the United States You know businessmen and lawyers Professionals and gringo expats who still live part of the time up in the states and the credit cards I see way back when were those issued from US banks or international banks?
[06:21] In fact, even now most people don't have credit cards. They have debit cards But you knew that already and crooks and no-goodniks don't much like stealing or cloning Debit cards because they're well aware most people have tiny balances on those things in Latin America Anyway, the only time they get topped off is once a month or every 15 days when people get paid Then and probably only then for a small period of time, maybe just a day or two It'll be three to five hundred bucks in that card But then bills are paid shopping is done and most debit card balances are down to ten or fifteen bucks And they stay that way till next payday, by the way Let me remind you that in Latin America about 95 even 98 percent of people get paid either monthly or every Consent that means every 15 days. I know it seems strange to gringos and expats when they first come down
[07:10] It seems strange to me too, but that's the way it is I remember when I first came down was just feeling out the place Driving around Costa Rica Colombia Panama Honduras and every once in a while I'd see huge lines of people sometimes a block long front of a bank at first. I thought something's wrong I thought the worst after all Latin American instabilities and the propaganda we hear up in the states I thought must be a bank run. Oh, no, this is not good. Nobody I mean no one wants to see a huge line in front of a bank Come on. If you ever saw a block long line at an American bank, you'd say holy crap. What's happening? So anyway when I saw those lines it was unsettling till some guy a bilingual guy cuz I spoke no Spanish said Don't worry. It's just payday. Oh and way back when there are hardly any ATM machines at all
[07:58] Pretty much just in the gringo tourist areas then eventually as ATM machines start popping up all over the place They call them cajeros automático's here cajeros automático's The appearance of those things cut way down on the payday lines at the bank Though the appearance of ATM machines cost another problem because bad guys know when you go into a bank You might not be taking money out. You might be depositing or paying bills So unless a bad guy intent on robbing you has a scout in the bank or an inside man Chances are a person walking out won't have any money on him at all But when you go to an ATM a cajero automático Every person walking away has some cash dough on him That's why I don't recommend using lone wolf ATM machines unless they're in a shopping center or attached to a bank
[08:44] Though sometimes you hear of inside jobs at banks where the teller passing text info via cell phone to a bad guy accomplice outside Across the street somewhere on a motorcycle. Remember how motorcycle thieves operate to on a bike There have been lots of reported cases where a teller or even the rent a cop inside a bank Will be in cahoots with some thieves on the street By the way over the years, I've had some banker friends, you know The middle management and executive types and they tell me when those crooked tellers get caught 95% of the time they are males. No, not gay. Not gender-fluid. Not LGB GT WTF types pure 100% Latino males and that 5% of women tellers who are doing the dirty deed They're almost always coerced or forced into it by a bad guy boyfriend
[09:30] That tells us if you're gonna withdraw a lot of dough go to a female teller Now here's the thing this is interesting one banker buddy of mine told me when there's been a robbery like that and it's small time only 100 or even a couple hundred bucks has been stolen from someone who just walked out the bank and got jacked a couple of blocks away though Sometimes a couple of bad boy Motorcyclists will follow a guy all the way home or to wherever he's going and jack him in his own neighborhood as he's pulling into His driveway hint him you should be practicing situational awareness Worst thing you could do is go to an ATM pull out some dough and get on a bus or public transportation You've heard me say this before every middle-class girl I've ever known has had a cell phone or a wallet or some dough stolen while she was on the bus Oh, but gringo tourists have to ride that colorful chicken bus at least once right? Hey
[10:19] I did it when I first came down years ago No one ever bothered me, but that's you know the place a lot of people get robbed Anyway, my banker buddy says if a lot of money gets stolen Let's say some businessman withdraws two three four or five grand if he walks out and gets Jack The cops will show up at the bank pretty quickly to a call to the cop shop from you or me forget about it But a call from a bank. They're there pretty fast Here's the thing if it was an important client that got jacked or a large amount of money Oftentimes they'll have a little meeting announced. They're gonna give a polygraph to the rent of cops and the tellers But there's a problem with this. He says when the polygraph is scheduled a day or two later Occasionally one of the tellers or rent of cops just won't show up. Sometimes more than one won't show up
[11:05] They'll have disappeared certainly that would be an indication of guilt, right? Not necessarily sometimes people won't show up for a polygraph They'll disappear quit or fade away because they've got other things to hide that they think might be revealed in the polygraph Like what you might ask Well, one of the questions of the polygraph might reveal an illicit affair a bank employees having with someone else at the bank Or could be an overly nervous bank teller or rent a cop has other secrets. He's concealed For example, two very common polygraph questions are number one. Do you drink to excess number two? Do you take illegal drugs? Those are incriminating questions if answered incorrectly will cast suspicion or even get you fired In general here in Latin America. Anyway, average people are terrified of taking a polygraph test
[11:54] They're terrified of Rottweilers and Dobermans to file that for future reference Anyway, even if they've got nothing to hide sometimes they feel they'll get so nervous. They think that in itself could be incriminating funny thing too I know a bit about polygraphs because I had to polygraph a couple of workers when some money went missing on a construction job Even the polygraph administrator told me the average Latin American believes they're spot-on 100% accurate fact is they've seen too many competency a size shows. Isn't it funny? It seems the more Intelligent a person is the more highly educated the less faith he has in polygraphs After all if you know anything about human nature and polygraphs at all, you know that a sociopath could fool the machine every time That's why when accused of malfeasance a politician will always scream from the rooftops. I'm innocent. Give me a polygraph
[12:43] I'll prove it. Of course anyone with a half a brain knows if one is elected to state or federal government in any capacity whatsoever You're already dealing with a narcissistic sociopathic crook But I digress. Where were we? Oh, yeah Now if you recall like we said much earlier bad guys like to extort much larger So I'm starting with the number two grand as in those social media extortion schemes The thing is if you're in prison those social media and what's up extortion scams in a lot of ways are Faster and more convenient than going on the dark web and buying stolen credit card information By the way police and detective agencies have discovered that the second most likely way idiots addicted to social media give up their personal information is by hooking up with bad actors mostly women or
[13:32] con men pretending to be women on those dating sites Think of how easy it is a bad guy bad girl or bad actor Signs up on a dating site put some very suggestive hot sexy pictures up there and soon enough There's a hundred idiot slobbering lonely hard guys dying to make contact. Yep Sexy girls real or not can get susceptible men to give up all kinds of personal information What kind of work they do how much they make kind of car they drive of course a lot of it's Exaggeration and outright lies still that info is very valuable to bad guys and extortionists you get the picture on a related theme Here's a fun fact Did you know that Venezuelans even though their country's an absolute economic disaster? Most adults still have credit and debit cards and even though all the transactions on the street and markets etc are done in dollars
[14:22] Not supposed to be legal, but the government looks the other way because it's the only way to get commerce done Of course, they take funny money dollars in the local funny money Bolivar, too At least I thought they did till one of my Venezuelan friends showed me a video of a guy trying to pay with Bolivars at a big shopping center. They demanded dollars some places won't even take the national currency anymore The thing is though most adults have credit and debit cards, but those cards can only be denominated in Bolivars Alright now for that fun fact on October 2021 Venezuela's central bank set a new ceiling for credit cards and that new ceiling or spending limit is one Bolivar or 24 US cents Nope, that's not a typo and since the dollar is king there though officially illegal or at least gray market that
[15:10] 24 cents or one Bolivar will allow users to buy the equivalent of one kilogram of ground beef or one kilogram of powdered milk By the way, I want to say this one more time. I am friends with at least 10 Venezuelans who've escaped their country Most who were middle class and some who were wealthy and had businesses taken or nationalized by the government So they got the hell out and so when we get together and they're hanging around talking about the old country Projecting when the regime will fall and they'll be able to go back there again They all want to go back thing is though None of them understands or can believe what's coming out of the US media that is coming out of their woke liberal So-called progressive media though. You have to admit the word progressive has been stained by the walksters. They call themselves progressive Yeah, they're progressing right into a state of permanent mental retardation
[15:58] Anyway, every single Venezuelan I know thinks those idiot woke liberals and progressives that keep saying Maduro Venezuela's dictator is being undermined by the US and US allies But what real Venezuelans who have escaped are saying is that the socialist progressive US Wokesters and commentators are totally wrong when they say that he was a legitimately elected president Not the completely corrupted dictator that he really is crazier yet Wokester progressive talking heads say Maduro would have accomplished all of his socialist goals if the US would just stop Interfering and my Venezuelan friends are just astounded when they hear this They say none of those woke stir progressive so-called American journalists who continuously praised Maduro have ever stepped foot in Venezuela
[16:44] And if they did like Oliver Stone did back in the Chavez days You're only allowed to see what they let you see and only allowed to talk to people they let you talk to people they've coached It's the same treatment American dignitaries and diplomats got when they visited the Soviet Union in the Cold War days The whole thing was theater completely staged to make the impression they want to make they lead you around by the nose So why am I bringing this up again? I know I spoke about this a couple of times in past shows because just a couple of days ago I was listening to a blowhard self-described progressive woke liberal podcaster talking about how Chavez and Maduro's utopia has been upset and Derailed by American imperialism my Venezuelan buddies get furious when they hear claptrap like that
[17:31] They want to drag the guy by the hair put him on a plane to Caracas just to watch him get harassed Hasseled and extorted by none other than the government officials at the airport That's right You can't even make it out of the airport into the parking lot without bribing a government official and they're not Specifically picking on gringos and expats either everyone except vagrants who look like they don't have any dough gets shaken down Oh and Venezuelan ladies have become expert in the ways of hiding money and valuables on their person when passing through the airport They tell me every single government person's on the take for example government buildings have huge lines and in order to get to the front of the line or even close you got to pay a Government official and they do it right out in the open. That's the way it is. It was never like that till Chavez came in My Venezuelan buddies have told countless examples how government officials have become expert thieves
[18:21] For example, what normally would take six months or a year Filing through government lines takes one or two days if you've got fifty or a hundred bucks to grease a bureaucrat To which my Venezuelan buddies will say sarcastically. It's the u.s. It's their fault They're the reason why you got to pay off government officials to get anything done Till Chavez and the corrupt socialist came in they made all their foreign income on oil now. It's drugs Personally, I'm just sick of American media hacks who think they know what's happening in Venezuela and Latin America in general yet They never interview the real guy on the street Never talked candidly anywhere with him and the ones that do get boots on the ground They remain in the tourist areas They rarely venture out and if they do it's with a tour guide and most of them don't know enough Spanish to be able to Do so anyway, so for my Venezuelan buddies, it's pretty disheartening
[19:10] They always had this idea that the United States was some kind of bastion of freedom that they had high journalistic Standards that American journalists and talking heads were dedicated to honesty and truth-seeking boy Were they wrong funny thing most of the Venezuelan di Spora that I meet in other countries in Latin America They all had one thing on their mind to get to the US But as time wears on and they see the woke ism and the creeping socialism that's pervading the US Many are having second thoughts about that. They watched socialism and its inherent corruption kill their country But no woke liberal journalists want to interview them. It's not the correct narrative All right moving on, you know, lots of gringos and expats come down Get going on their plan B throwing the towel and high tail it back home Not everyone's cut out for the expat life
[19:56] You know even if you come down here for all the right reasons sometimes you're drawn back to Cleveland because of family issues or Possibly just because you were such a social butterfly. You miss being engaged with all your friends and relatives So then what do you think the expat failure rate is? I'd say maybe 20% of people who came down with a permanent plan B In other words, they only planned on going back to the states for an emergency or Christmas or holiday thing and it didn't work out Now there are quite a few expat gringos and gringos with a plan B that entails having a foot in the states or Canada and a Foot in Latin America, you know an escape plane part-time in the states part-time in Latin America Now when it comes to people who have that kind of plan They were rarely throwing the towel because they consider it the best of both worlds
[20:42] They can hang with their families and buddies up in the states Till they're bored stiff and then come back down the rest of the year for the expat life Which leaves us with that 20% of expats and gringos who had a permanent plan B who end up going back Oddly enough though when I asked people for the reasons why they want to go back It's almost never because they ran out of money makes sense because it's so much cheaper to live down here than anywhere up in the states The exceptions being the gringo tourist trail where prices could be first world all the way sometimes approaching ridiculous But you knew that already, right? Anyway, I just came across this new University of Toronto expat study that shows 75% a healthy majority of the people who gave up expat life and returned home after a couple of years of trying to stick with it
[21:30] Ended up regretting that decision In other words about three quarters of the people who were expats and then turned tail and went back to the states or Canada Wish they'd have stuck with their plan B In fact the researchers from the University of Toronto study said it was a real surprise for them They thought those who'd had given overseas life a try and gone back would be satisfied with their decisions But most were not the study goes on to say most people gave up on their plan B and moved back to the states Or Canada because they missed things about the first world mostly their friends and family But almost as soon as they moved back home and they started realizing why they left the first world in the first place All that stress aggravation and anxiety crept back into their lives The people who regretted their decision said they'd seen how people lived overseas and learned how much more sensible and simple life is
[22:21] How families stay together and take care of each other unlike ever disintegrating first-world family units Turns out the former expats who regretted their decisions once back in the land of waste over consumption and excess Practically everything they became slightly depressed all over again Even the retired people found themselves on sort of a treadmill again of their own making which begs the question How many of the people who returned to the states in Canada? Returned once again to Latin America because they just didn't give the plan B move enough of a chance now I don't know for sure but I've done many many phone call Consults and some of them have been with people stuck in that very circumstance I remember one couple an older guy and gal. I'd say mid 70s. They were in pretty good condition though
[23:08] They were ready and willing to come back All right, but after selling everything they had in Maryland moving down to Guatemala getting homesick selling everything in Guatemala Moving back to Maryland renting a place re-buying a house full of furniture They just didn't think they had the energy to pull it off again So we ended the phone call with the realization that they had the will but not the fortitude an international move at 75 Is a pretty big undertaking. So for now, they're up in Maryland feeling bad about it They regret not having given it a little more time They said returning to Maryland was a stupid mistake which begs the following question Once you get down here and get that plan be going certainly You're gonna feel like a fish out of water for some time along will the doubts last how much time will it take? To know whether you've made the right decision or not
[23:54] The thing is, you know, it's almost inevitable when you land you have a kind of a honeymoon period the air is fresher It's greener. The light is brighter. Like when you go to a new destination on vacation and that honeymoon period of course it varies I'd say mine lasted about three months It would have stretched out a lot longer had I known Spanish and since I was mostly way off the gringo tourist trail world But no one spoke English even trying to negotiate things at the supermarket was kind of an adventure Obviously, there was a certain amount of stress to know you really can't compare what it was like when I first landed down here Since there was no internet cell phones. That means no online translating or internet banking. None of that I do remember in the early days after my honeymoon period was over six months or so after I'd landed I'd be looking over a central park for my second story balcony in a little hotel. I'd say to myself
[24:42] What am I doing here? My family thinks I'm nuts that I make the right move or not The thing is I came down here without a complete support system have very little support system. I knew one crooked lawyer However, he was my crook he wouldn't cross me because he was married to a good friend of mine a British girl a girl with a heart of gold whose dad Was a gold mining executive a very proper English family. In fact, her dad once told me at a party He had watched his son-in-law the lawyer in action and actually refused to give his son-in-law any work at the gold mining company Of which he was the manager. He didn't trust his own new Latino lawyer son-in-law. How about that? Yeah, he was slick All right. He was one of those guys who wanted to get rich and important way too fast So anyway, I had this sleazy Latin lawyer friend as my support system his British wife and her family
[25:30] So for everything else, I pretty much had to fend for myself Though I do remember the times in the early days when I'd sit and ponder did I do the right thing? Man, I'm just so glad I stuck it out And those were the days that first year or two when I'd call back to the states You know a bucket to a minute My family was not at all on board with my decision to get the hell out of Dodge Because back then 30 some years ago, it was a completely different kind of Dodge There were certainly signs things were fraying around the edges But nothing like the toxic woke big brother disaster state were witnessing today for my money The first world including Europe became undone with 9-11 by then I was well established I'd been down about eight or nine years Anyway moving to Latin America the best decision I ever made oh and before I forget remember I'm putting together another expat insider seminar this time
[26:17] It'll be in the DR the Dominican Republic. It'll be in late October and early November I'll have the signup page ready I think in about a week at expat plan B comm join me and drink from the fire hose You'll get to meet my nice little network of like-minded people will hit on everything You need to know to get your plan B underway You'll learn about doctors lawyers dentists health insurance buying building renting dealing with the cops in government We'll talk about driving guns permits utility hookups cell phone internet and IT services Online shopping like Amazon and eBay even mating dating and romance So just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com if you want to get on my early bird discount waiting list This seminar promises to be a little bit different, but we're gonna have tons of fun. That's for sure stay tuned more to come
[27:06] Oh and one last thing some of you might be wondering if it's worth it Well, you don't have to take my word for it I guess you could say the most solid proof of all is the fact that at every single seminar I've ever had except the very first one cuz it wouldn't qualify I've had multiple repeat offenders people who've been at previous seminars and liked it so much They came back once again. In fact, I've had some repeaters come back two three even four times. I rest my case You've been listening to the expat files living in Latin America If you need some help with your own plan B We can schedule a one-on-one phone or Skype consult Just send me an email the expat files at gmail.com And if you want to get on the waiting list for my next week long expat insider seminar in Central America Where you're guaranteed to get a two to five year head start on your plan B
[27:54] Send me an email the expat files at gmail.com