Tabiji.ai Travel Safety Series · Book 19

Don’t lose $3,000 to a “paseo millonario” taxi in Bogotá.

58 documented tourist scams across 10 Colombian destinations — drawn from Colombian press (El Tiempo, Semana, El Espectador, El Colombiano), the US State Department Colombia advisory, and Policía Nacional de Turismo records. You’ll learn the exact Bogotá paseo millonario taxi script, the Medellín Tinder scopolamine setup, the Cartagena walled-city USD-pricing trap, and the Colombian Spanish phrases that shut them down on the spot.

📖 258 pages paperback / ~220 Kindle 📱 Kindle eBook + 6×9 paperback 🌍 10 Colombian destinations ⚠️ 58 scams
Buy on Amazon → $4.99 on Kindle 5.0 · 1 review
Colombia: Tourist Scams book cover — watercolor scene of a yellow taxi on a colourful colonial Bogotá street, two men in fedora hats lurking under a balcony, an elderly tourist reaching for the cab door — title COLOMBIA, 58 documented scams, 10 destinations, 2026 edition

Inside this book

A preview of what’s documented — scripts, red flags, and the moves that shut each scam down.

58 scams 10 destinations Colombian press & Policía de Turismo records Updated annually
Excerpt · Bogotá

The Paseo Millonario Express Kidnapping

You hail a yellow taxi on the street near Plaza de Bolívar — a completely ordinary-looking licensed cab, license plate visible, meter running. After a few minutes the driver stops to “pick up a cousin.” A second man climbs in and, within seconds, produces a short folding knife held at waist level. For the next four to six hours you are driven from ATM to ATM withdrawing your daily maximum. The 2025 US State Department advisory names Bogotá’s paseo millonario as the leading cause of financial loss affecting American citizens in Colombia…

Red flag: Hailing a yellow taxi on the street in Bogotá after dark. Use DiDi, InDrive, Uber, or Cabify only.
Full pattern, the five CAI Turísticos closest to La Candelaria & the Sijín kidnapping-desk protocol — inside.
Excerpt · Medellín

The Parque Lleras Scopolamine Tinder Setup

A foreign man, 25 to 45, matches with an attractive local on Tinder or Bumble. The date proceeds normally at a Parque Lleras bar in El Poblado. At some point the woman insists on ordering a round of aguardiente — and hands it to the man directly. The drink contains scopolamine, the plant-derived drug nicknamed burundanga, which renders the victim fully conscious but entirely compliant and amnesic. The rest of the night is spent emptying his bank accounts via ATM withdrawals. Reports tripled between 2023 and 2025…

Red flag: Any drink handed to you by a dating-app match rather than poured by a bartender in front of you.
Full pattern, the toxicology-first recovery playbook & the Hospital Pablo Tobón Uribe protocol — inside.
Excerpt · Cartagena

The Walled-City USD-Pricing Gambit

A seafood restaurant on Plaza Santo Domingo quotes you a USD 45 platter. The bill arrives in pesos at COP 200,000 — calculated at a tourist-unfriendly internal exchange rate 15 to 30 percent worse than the interbank rate. Add a 10 percent auto-added propina voluntaria and an unlisted 8 percent cubierto, and a party of four walks out paying USD 200 in fees and currency markup alone on top of the actual food. Three streets inside Getsemaní, the same platter at a peso-menu restaurant costs COP 85,000–110,000…

Red flag: A menu printed in US dollars at a walled-city restaurant. Always ask for la carta en pesos.
Full pattern, the seven peso-menu restaurants we recommend & the Visa/Mastercard rate defense — inside.

A look inside

Every scam in the book gets a four-panel comic. A sneak peek of two of the 58:

The Bogotá Scopolamine Drink-Spiking — comic illustration
Bogotá · The Bogotá Scopolamine Drink-Spiking
The El Poblado Scopolamine Setup — comic illustration
Medellín · The El Poblado Scopolamine Setup

10 Colombian destinations covered

From the Bogotá paseo millonario yellow-taxi kidnapping to Medellín’s Parque Lleras scopolamine ecosystem to Cartagena’s walled-city USD-pricing trap, the Tayrona park-fee “guide” rackets, the San Andrés diving-school upcharge, the Salento coffee-tour clone listings, and the Guatapé boat-tour bait-and-switch — full coverage of where travelers actually get caught out across the Andean capitals, the Caribbean coast, and the coffee axis.

🏛️ Bogotá
🚡 Medellín
🏰 Cartagena
💃 Cali
🏖️ Santa Marta
☕ Salento
🛶 Guatapé
🌴 Tayrona
🏝️ San Andrés
🏘️ Villa de Leyva

Why tabiji.ai writes these books

Volumes 1 (Japan) through 18 (Australia) set the series structure. Colombia (Volume 19) covers the ten most-visited Colombian destinations — the Andean capital (Bogotá), the paisa hub (Medellín), the Caribbean walled city (Cartagena), the salsa capital (Cali), the Caribbean gateway (Santa Marta), the coffee-axis village (Salento), the reservoir town (Guatapé), the national-park gateway (Tayrona), the offshore island (San Andrés), and the colonial highland town (Villa de Leyva) — ordered so the flagship Bogotá and Medellín chapters are first and the regional anchors last.

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Colombian-press sourced, not Reddit-only

Every scam is documented against Colombian news coverage — El Tiempo, Semana, El Espectador, El Colombiano, El Universal, El País — plus Policía Nacional de Turismo, the US State Department Colombia advisory, and Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio records, and firsthand traveler accounts. Named operators and dated incidents where we have them.

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Colombian Spanish, not vague warnings

A full appendix of Colombian Spanish exit phrases — “no, gracias,” “el taxímetro, por favor,” “voy a llamar a la policía” — with pronunciation guides and when to use them. Plus the 6 universal scam patterns that let you spot variations we haven’t documented yet.

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Updated annually

Scams evolve. Paseo millonario taxi tactics evolve. Scopolamine-setup scripts mutate. Emerald-counterfeit operations rotate addresses. We re-research and update each book every year. Buy once, re-download future editions from your Amazon library.

TABIJI · TRAVEL SAFETY What the guidebooks won’t tell you. Bogotá yellow taxis run the “paseo millonario” express kidnapping. Medellín Tinder matches arrive with scopolamine in the glass. Cartagena rose sellers demand \$50 for a flower placed in your hand. This book documents 58 specific scams across 10 Colombian destinations — drawn from El Tiempo, Semana, El Espectador, and Policía Nacional de Turismo records. You’ll learn the exact scripts scammers use, the red flags that give them away, and the Colombian phrases that shut them down on the spot. INSIDE 58 scams with exact Spanish scripts and peso / dollar amounts Six universal red-flag patterns covering every scam in Colombia A four-panel watercolor comic for every scam entry Bogotá, Medellín, Cartagena, Cali, Santa Marta & 5 more Colombian Spanish phrases with regional pronunciation cues PLUS A Colombian exit-phrase card you can screenshot to your phone A post-scam recovery playbook (first 15 min, first hour, first day) Emergency contacts: 123 & 165 plus every Policía de Turismo office KINDLE & PAPERBACK · 2026

“What the guidebooks won’t tell you.”

Part of the Travel Safety Series

Colombia is Volume 19 of the series. Japan (Volume 1), Italy (2), France (3), Thailand (4), Greece (5), Vietnam (6), Spain (7), Indonesia (8), China (9), Canada (10), Mexico (11), Turkey (12), Germany (13), Brazil (14), Portugal (15), United Kingdom (16), Morocco (17), and Australia (18) are live. Each country gets the same treatment — real traveler stories, local-press sourced, annual updates.

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Japan →

Volume 1 · Live
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Italy →

Volume 2 · Live
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France →

Volume 3 · Live
🇹🇭

Thailand →

Volume 4 · Live
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Morocco →

Volume 17 · Live
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Australia →

Volume 18 · Live
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Colombia

Volume 19 · Featured

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See the full series →

All upcoming titles

Frequently asked

Quick answers about the book, pricing, and updates.

What format is this book?

Kindle eBook and 258-page 6×9 paperback — readable on any phone, tablet, or computer with the free Kindle app, on any Kindle device, or as a cream-stock paperback for offline reference in-country.

How long is it?

258 pages in paperback (6×9 cream stock), approximately 220 pages on Kindle — written to be read on the flight down and referenced on your phone in-country.

How much does it cost?

$4.99 USD on Amazon Kindle. Price varies slightly by Amazon region.

Will the book be updated?

Yes — we re-research and update each book annually as scams evolve. Buy once, re-download future editions from your Amazon library at no extra cost.

Can I get a refund?

Yes. Amazon’s standard Kindle refund policy applies — you have 7 days from purchase to return for a full refund, no questions asked.

Readers

★ 5.0 from 1 verified review.

From a verified Amazon reader of Colombia: Tourist Scams 2026.

★★★★★

"This book is incredibly useful! It breaks down real scams in a clear, practical way and gives exact phrases to stay safe. A must-read before visiting Colombia."

Margie Kennedy
Kindle edition

Available now on Amazon Kindle

58 scams, 10 Colombian destinations, the exact scripts and Colombian Spanish phrases you need. $4.99 — read it on the flight down.

Buy on Amazon →
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