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Everest hiking guides poisoning hikers to get kickbacks from helicopter rescue companies which get paid by insurance


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2019 Feb 3, 9:34am   1,657 views  13 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/world/asia/nepal-everest-insurers-fraud.html

NEW DELHI — International insurance companies on Friday threatened to end travel coverage to Nepal if the government did not crack down on elaborate helicopter rescue scams that target foreigners trekking near Mount Everest and other high-altitude peaks.

Last year, investigations by the Nepali government and Traveller Assist, a medical assistance company based in Ireland, found that some trek operators, guides, helicopter companies and even doctors and hospitals had conspired to bilk millions of dollars from insurance companies by pushing for emergency mountainside evacuations for minor illnesses, or when simpler treatment options were available.

The guides preyed on trekkers when they were most vulnerable — trudging up remote trails, cold, wet, sick, confused and miles from any well-serviced towns.

The Nepali government found evidence that some guides went as far as intentionally making hikers ill by spiking their food with large amounts of baking soda, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments, and then calling for an emergency helicopter evacuation.

These evacuations can cost as much as $40,000 each, depending on how many trekkers are on board, and insurance companies are often stuck with the bill. ...

Trekkers are dissuaded from exploring other options, like taking medicine, going to clinics along the hiking route or simply descending a few thousand feet, which solves many cases of altitude sickness. As a scare tactic, the common cold or fatigue are sometimes purposefully mischaracterized as acute mountain sickness, which can be deadly in an advanced stage. ...

In another version of the scam, healthy hikers agree to a helicopter rescue in exchange for a cut of money or a free ride off the trail. When bills are submitted for insurance claims, helicopter companies and hospitals inflate prices for their services. Multiple insurance claims are submitted for a single helicopter ride when more than one trekker is on board.

Some trekking operators, which act as brokers and take a percentage of rescue fees from helicopter companies, make more money through evacuations than they do charging for hikes. The typical profit margin for each hiker heading to Everest might be just a few hundred dollars. Participating in the scam could net operators thousands of dollars in kickbacks.

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1   Ceffer   2019 Feb 3, 9:52am  

#ThirdWorldAssFuck
2   Patrick   2019 Feb 3, 10:55am  

The third world is in my experience much scammier than here in the US. Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.

An Indian friend told me that if you go to a marketplace and see lovely fruit laid out and just ask for some, they will pull the crappy fruit from under the table and put it in a bag and hand it to you. If you pay without choosing your own, or closely examining what they put in the bag, it's considered your own fault for being an idiot.

Not the least concern for the customer.
3   RWSGFY   2019 Feb 3, 11:41am  

Patrick says
The third world is in my experience much scammier than here in the US. Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.

An Indian friend told me that if you go to a marketplace and see lovely fruit laid out and just ask for some, they will pull the crappy fruit from under the table and put it in a bag and hand it to you. If you pay without choosing your own, or closely examining what they put in the bag, it's considered your own fault for being an idiot.

Not the least concern for the customer.


Why do you hate diversity?
4   anonymous   2019 Feb 3, 11:46am  

Patrick says
If you pay without choosing your own, or closely examining what they put in the bag, it's considered your own fault for being an idiot.


Caveat emptor - works the same way here.

Not a lot of concern for the customer here either when it comes to the airlines, car companies, consumer electronics - you name it.
5   RWSGFY   2019 Feb 3, 12:22pm  

Kakistocracy says
Patrick says
If you pay without choosing your own, or closely examining what they put in the bag, it's considered your own fault for being an idiot.


Caveat emptor - works the same way here.

Not a lot of concern for the customer here either when it comes to the airlines, car companies, consumer electronics - you name it.


Yep, Russia IS a shithole full of scammers.
6   Tenpoundbass   2019 Feb 3, 12:32pm  

Patrick says
The third world is in my experience much scammier than here in the US. Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.


When I first went to Lima Peru I noticed you got to tip the guy that tips the guy. There are middle men for tips.

I don't see any purpose of scaling Mt. Everest. After the first man and first woman scaled it, it proved it can be done. It's a worthless endeavor that is polluting the mountain.

Each year tons of waste and camping equipment is left behind on the mountain.
7   Automan Empire   2019 Feb 3, 4:33pm  

The "market" is paying better for this scam than for legit hiking guide work. Of course this kind of corruption is going to flourish in this environment. Just like Wells Fargo.
8   Patrick   2019 Feb 3, 5:45pm  

Hugolas_Madurez says
Why do you hate diversity?


Hate is too strong a word, but beyond a certain rather small level, I object because diversity is harmful.

People just don't give a shit about the country, the government, each other, etc in very diverse societies.

And yet we have the SJW religion constantly praising the diversity that divides us and makes us weak. They get paid to do it by people who want to destroy all nations so the global corporations can rule us all instead.

http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/
9   Bd6r   2019 Feb 3, 5:54pm  

Patrick says
The third world is in my experience much scammier than here in the US. Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.

consequence of being dirt poor
10   Reality   2019 Feb 3, 6:28pm  

d6rB says
Patrick says
The third world is in my experience much scammier than here in the US. Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.

consequence of being dirt poor


Consequence of bureaucratic society.

The Western Culture (primarily English-speaking Five-Eye countries, Dutch before WWII, then France, Germany and Italy to a lesser degree) of good-faith and contractual obligation is the result of market-place diversity: both buyers and sellers can find alternative counter-parties easily, so someone who conducts business in bad faith would be shit out of luck very quickly. Whereas in bureaucratic societies, all the vendors are effectively bureaucratically enforced monopolies, so they can rip off customers (and have to rip off customers in order to purchase bureaucratic licenses / pay bribes).
11   NDrLoR   2019 Feb 3, 9:39pm  

Patrick says
Everyone constantly seems to be trying to cheat everyone else.
Exactly the reason they're Third World, everyone's working an angle.

Tenpoundbass says
Each year tons of waste and camping equipment is left behind on the mountain.
Along with many of their owners--viewer discretion advised:

www.youtube.com/embed/ea9voMN4pAM
12   anonymous   2019 Feb 4, 5:04am  

Hugolas_Madurez says
Yep, Russia IS a shithole full of scammers.


No shortage here either - Facebook is a great example....

In Mother Russia we have vodka, pickled beets,pickled eggs, year round resort at Lubyanka !

You have been yet Lubyanka ? Ahhh - the fun and good times. Must see, must see, maybe I can arrange private visit for you - yes ? You would like ?

Many fine resort out in Eastern Part of country as well.

Come comrade - sit, drink, talk - we make travel plan for you to take tour - eastern resorts - yes ?

You have family comrade? Oh- never mind, we find and send to you later after interview - you can enjoy yourself sometime alone - yes ?
13   anonymous   2019 Feb 4, 5:06am  

d6rB says
consequence of being dirt poor


Also a consequence of greed and the crab mentality (ask a Filipino about this if you don't know what it is)

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