Pretty sure I ran into the classic tea shop scam yesterday in Shanghai, but certainly didn't expect to find it on Tinder. For those that don't know, this scam usually involves a pretty young girl attracting naive foreigners visiting usually at tourist locations. The girl will coax the guy to hang out, bring them to a tea shop or bar, and run up the bill filled with hidden costs, expensive drinks, etc. and the poor guy will end up paying for it and the girl will get a cut from the establishment. I've heard the stories, seen the girls around but thought it would be safe on something like Tinder.

Anyway, I matched with a pretty good looking and young girl on Tinder recently, exchanged wechats, chatting was quite flirtatious and we decided to meet up yesterday evening around People's Square. She arrived and we were just chatting and walking around. Then she mentioned a place she knows nearby where we could have some drinks claiming she was out for dinner with her friends a few nights ago and found this awesome bar. So I say sure having no reason to suspect anything and she leads me to a shit hole bar in an alleyway somewhere. We go inside, completely empty except for staff and she orders a glass of whiskey and two shots right away, all priced at 100 RMB each. Immediately red flag comes to mind but decide to see how it goes. Waiter also brings up a plate of watermelon, some nuts, and I'm thinking, yup, this is total bullshit. So I start making excuses that we should go somewhere else. I was pretty forceful about it so she agrees and only got charged for those 3 drinks plus some service charge, total around 500 RMB.

So after leaving, we walk around some more and she's being very touchy and feely, even with some LFK in public, not what you would expect from a Chinese girl on a first date. We walk by a small Chinese barbecue place and she says we should have some dinner. I look in and it looks alright, about 80% full with regular diners, some couples, some groups of friends so i figure its safe. We go in, look at the menu and all the prices seem reasonable except for some barbecued oysters and some drinks that are super expensive. Of course that's what she orders and the dinner is close to 2k RMB. Whatever, I just decide to cut my losses and try to enjoy the food. I'm happy to pay 2k for a dinner but definitely not a shitty Chinese bbq place like that. After dinner, we walk around some more, and she's now pushing me to go with her to a KTV. At this time, I'm pretty sure I know what I've gotten myself into so politely decline saying I have an early meeting the next day.

Funny thing is the girl is quite hot and wouldn't mind seeing her again, but only if we go to places I know well and won't try to rip me off. Or I'm thinking I'll just offer her 2k next time to spend the night with me if money is what she's after...