Have you or your family ever had any run-ins with the cartels?
Nope.
But these days people call your home crying: "Mom, it's me. Some guys forced me into a car and... " blah blah blah. Basically they ask you for money and pretend to be kidnapped. Some people actually fall for it. As far as we know actual low profile criminals are the ones behind this.
That's why as rule you never give your name to anyone who calls.
As for being confused for Filipino:
Mexicans are clueless when it comes to identify Asians (like many people around the world, I guess). Personally unless I hear them speak in other language or unless they are tourists, all people I see around me I always consider them Mexicans. But what about the other way around? well, I've only been in the US and Japan. I studied in Japan for about 2 years and a half and when I was there I was asked several times if I was American, amusingly I was asked if I was Asian, and more than one of my Japanese teachers asked me if was Nikkei (Basically they believed my parents were Japanese and I grew up in Mexico). Once, I met a Mexican from another VG forums in Tokyo and the dude couldn't find me because "Oh, I thought you were one of the locals". So, not Filipino. Why do some people think I'm Japanese? Well, apparently my eyes are small... or at least that's what some people say.