Last Updated: 12/3/20 | December 3rd, 2020
On my first big trip abroad I got scammed twice on the same day.
My friend Scott and I had just arrived in Thailand. We were in Bangkok trying to find a boat cruise to take us up and down the Chao Phraya River. A taxi driver suggested this one company; we went there and found out that an hour-long tour was only $30 USD. Not even thinking about whether that was a deal or not, we agreed. To us — still thinking about prices back home — that offer seemed like a fair price. It was only as the boat tour ended early that we realized we might have been ripped off (later on, we found out that we paid double the price).
Then, after lunch, we wandered over to the Grand Palace. When we got there, we didn t see any crowds. We looked down the left side of the palace, then over to the right. 'Where is everyone?' I asked. An enterprising tuk-tuk driver came over to us and told us the palace was closed for lunch. Scott and I looked at each other. Maybe that was right. After all, many museums sometimes do that, plus we didn t see anyone around. It seemed feasible. He offered to take us to a few that were open.
'Sure,' we replied — and found ourselves visiting not only a few temples but also a suit shop, a gem shop, and a souvenir shop.
Afterward, as he took us to the palace (which was unsurprisingly open). It was then we realized that it had never been closed — we had just been on the wrong side of the building.
We had been scammed.
My life as a traveler was not off to a good start.
Travel scams are real — and they vary from country to country. If you are carrying a travel guidebook, it will list the most common scams in that specific country.
To help you stay safe, today, I want to give you a list of common travel scams to avoid.
Avoiding travel scams requires a lot of common sense and a healthy dose of suspicion. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!
Here are some of the more universal scams you’ll want to avoid:
1. The taxi overcharge
This is one of the most common travel scams out there. Either the driver will tell you the meter is broken and try to charge you a huge rate or you ll see the meter go higher and faster than usual
To avoid this scam, first, you need to know how much a ride should cost. I always ask the hostel or hotel staff what a ride should be so I have a frame of reference.
Next, if the cabbie tries to negotiate the rate with me, I offer him the correct rate. If he refuses, I find someone who will put the meter on. If the meter seems to be going up too quickly, I have them pull over and I get out. Many tourism boards let you report bad cab drivers so be sure to always make a mental note of their ID number when you get in the cab.
When in doubt, ask your hostel/hotel staff to call a cab for you. They will know which companies are reputable.
And never get in an unlicensed cab — no matter how amazing the deal is!
2. Your accommodation is 'closed'
This is another cab-driver related scam. In this scam, your driver will tell you your hotel or hostel is overbooked or even closed. It s not. I mean, you wouldn t have booked it if it was, right? Just ignore them and insist on going there. If they keep trying, continue to insist. They will usually shut up about it.
And while this seems like a scam no one could possibly fall for, people do. I ve been in many cabs where they insist my hostel has been closed for months.
A note on taxis: In this smartphone era, we have our power back. We re no longer helpless because we can look on a map and see the actual correct route. I like to look on Google Maps and see what the best route is. If it looks like they aren t taking it, I ll usually point to the map and insist they go that way. (I left a taxicab in Bangkok recently because he tried to pull a fast one on me by taking a longer route.)
If I m going to a country where I won t have phone access, I download the map onto my phone. Your phone s GPS will work even if you don t have a connection. Additionally, ride services like Uber place accountability on drivers, which greatly reduces the likelihood of you being cheated.
3. The shell game
I see this one all the time — how people fall for it I ll never know. It s such an old and obvious scam. It s in movies, for heaven s sake! You ll see people on the street playing a card game (sometimes known as three-card Monte) or hiding a ball in a cup and someone guessing where it is and winning money. Then you decide to play — and you win! Thinking this is great, you bet more money…and then you lose — and lose again and again.
Here’s a short video on how the trick works:
Don t get suckered into this con. Remember, the house always wins!
4. 'Come in for tea and help me write a letter!'
While in Morocco, someone tried this travel scam on me. I was walking out of a convenience store when a guy struck up a conversation. Finding out I was from NYC, he said he had a cousin who lived there (the first giveaway) and wanted to know if I could come to his shop to write a postcard for him (the second giveaway).
The goal here was to get me in the shop, maybe give me some tea, and then pressure me into buying something. This uses the psychological principle of reciprocity: he gave me tea, he was nice to me, so soon I ll feel socially obliged to buy something.
To avoid this, don t follow people to a second location or believe they suddenly have a cousin who happens to live exactly where you do!
5. Free bracelets/rosemary/anything they can put on you
In this scam, common in Europe, a friendly person will approach you for a quick chat, then place a bracelet around your wrist or hat on your head, or give you a little sprig of rosemary. Once you have it on your person, they will demand money. When you refuse, they will begin to cause a scene in the hopes you would rather give them some money than be embarrassed.
Don t allow anyone to put anything on your body, and be extremely wary of accepting anything for free. If they put something on you, simply take it off, give it back to them, and be firm about it. Then walk away and move on with your day. They won t chase you.
Another common variation on this scheme is the fake monk. You’ll find this one everywhere from NYC to Europe to Asia. The “monk” will put a Buddhist bracelet on your wrist and then ask for a “donation.” Real Buddhist monks don’t wander the streets hawking cheap bracelets, so always ignore any monks that look to be peddling trinkets.
6. The spill on your clothes
There you are, minding your own business, and someone spills something on you. Ruins your day, but accidents happen, right? They are profusely sorry and offer to clean it up, dabbing the stain, and apologizing. While you are all flustered, they are picking your pocket. By the time you realize what has happened, they are long gone.
This scam is also common in Europe. Beware of people encroaching on your person if it s not a crowded area already. If this happens, push people away and clean it up yourself.
Another variation on this is the “poo shoe.” Particularly common in India, this scam involves someone squirting animal poop on your shoe when you’re not looking. When you notice, they “help” you find someone to clean your shoe (or they do it themselves) for an exorbitant fee. Conversely, sometimes you will just get pickpocketed while looking down at your shoe to see what happened.
Either way, if you get poop on your shoe, be wary!
7. Motorbike scam
You rent a motorbike and spend the day exploring. When you bring it back, the owner demands an additional payment or expensive repairs because there is some damage you didn t know about.
I see this scam a lot in Southeast Asia and other developing regions of the world.
To avoid this, take photos of the bike first to document any previous damage. Go around it with the owner so they know what you are taking pictures of. Use your own lock, and keep the bike out of sight and off a main street when you park it. Sometimes an owner will send someone to mess with the bike or steal it so you have to pay!
Also, always make sure you buy travel insurance so you can make a claim if there is an issue.
(This scam is much less common with rental cars, but it can still happen so always take photos and video of your vehicle before you leave the parking lot — and make sure the company knows you’re doing so.
8. The flirtatious local
You arrive in a new country and head to a bar, where a beautiful local comes up to you for a chat. You can t believe your luck. You have some drinks and amazing conversation and go to a new bar or club that she suggested. However, after a wild night and lots of drinks, the woman disappears and you re forced to pay an overpriced bill with some really big guys bearing down on you to make sure you do. Or, worse, you get drugged and wake up completely robbed of everything on you.
The simple solution to this is to be wary of attractive locals who promise to take you to the world s best club, get you drinks, or are overly flirtatious — especially when you stand out like a sore thumb as a foreigner. Getting on a plane didn t increase your attractiveness by a factor of 10.
9. Your attraction is closed for lunch
As mentioned, this is what happened to me and I fell for it hook, line, and sinker! A friendly local approaches and informs you that the attraction you want to visit is closed for any number of reasons (religious ceremony, holiday, etc.). Then they ll guide you to a different attraction or shop, where you re pressured to purchase something or pay a lot for entry.
To avoid this, find the main entrance or ticket counter and see for yourself. Also, keep in mind that most attractions don t close for lunch — they close for the day. Even better, look up the open hours before you go, so you know what to expect — opening and closing times are almost always available online. Don t be like me!
10. The 'found' ring
An innocent-looking person picks up a ring on the ground and asks if you dropped it. When you say no, the person looks at the ring closely, then shows you a mark 'proving' that it s pure gold. He or she offers to sell it to you for a better price. They make some money, and you get some gold you can resell. It s win-win! You think it s a good deal, buy it find out it s fake when you try to sell it at home!
This is common in Europe. One of my tour members almost fell for it when we were in Paris, but I intervened in time and sent the person away. The best way to avoid this scam is to not buy the ring. If it sounds too good to be true, it definitely is.
11. The fake petition
You re at a popular sight and a woman or kid (often pretending to be deaf or a student) will try to get you to sign a petition. You don t know what they are saying, and to end the awkwardness, you sign the petition, hoping they will go away. But the petitioner then demands a cash donation. At best, anyone who falls for this scam is out some money; at worst, they re pickpocketed while fighting with the petitioner.
Another one of my tour members fell for this scam (even after I warned him specifically about it), but I saved him in time. To avoid this scam, just ignore people coming up to you to sign a petition, especially when they are in groups and try to surround you. Just keep on walking.
12. The drug deal gone bad
This scam is common in many developing countries — especially those with a lively party scene, like in Southeast Asia. You re in a popular tourist area and someone offers you drugs. You say yes, and before you know it, a (real) cop is on the scene! They threaten to arrest you unless you pay a fine right there (i.e., a bribe). Caught red-handed, you ll probably pay the bribe rather than go to jail.
To avoid this scam, don t buy illegal drugs in other countries!
13. The wrong change
This happens a lot in countries where the bills look similar to each other. People tend to look at colors first, so when you get a pile of change that is the same color, you think you got the right change — but they really gave you the wrong bills, hoping you won t notice until after you rush out.
To avoid getting taken, count your change carefully every time.
14. The switcheroo
This happens all over the world and mostly with shirts, carpets, rugs, and antiques. You re at a store and you see a designer item at a bargain price. Maybe they got it wholesale? After some haggling, the owner agrees to sell it to you. But while you aren t paying attention, he gives you a knockoff.
To avoid this scam, remember that no designer anything is going to be that cheap. Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it s not true.
Second, be sure to always watch what the seller is actually giving you to be sure it s the exact item you wanted.
15. The ATM scam
When you go to use an ATM, a “helpful” local will approach you to help you avoid the ATM fee. What they are really doing is using a card skimmer to steal your credit card information once they get close. Often there is a second person in line pretending to be a customer who will agree with the “helpful” person’s tips.
To avoid this one, always use indoor ATMs inside a bank branch. Additionally, always check the ATM itself for a card skimmer. Here’s a video on how to do that:
Lastly, never let anyone get close to you when you’re using an ATM. If people are acting suspicious, take your card and leave.
16. Child & injured beggars
This scam can be found pretty much everywhere. Usually, an injured person or young child (sometimes with their mother) will approach you and ask for money. This is a tough one because you’ll feel compelled to help. Unfortunately, a lot of children have been roped into gangs and collect the money on their behalf. And sometimes, an accomplice is waiting nearby to see where you keep your wallet so they can pickpocket you later.
Since it’s impossible to know who is legit and who is faking it, I never give money to injured beggars or children. Instead, I’ll make a donation to a helpful charity or offer them food.
17. Fake Wi-Fi hub
These days, everyone is always on the lookout for free Wi-Fi. One common scam hackers will do is create a free unlocked Wi-Fi hub and then, once you’ve logged onto it, they steal your data.
The solution? Never join any unsecured networks and always use a VPN when you’re abroad. It will keep your data secure. Additionally, don’t access any sensitive data while on an unsecured network, such as your online bank.
If you’re not sure what network to connect to, ask the staff. Better safe than sorry!
To avoid getting scammed when you travel, be wary when it comes to people offering you something in a touristy setting. Think of it this way: in your day-to-day life back home, would you go for it?
If the answer is no, then chances are 99% that it s a scam you need to avoid.
On the road, a little common sense goes a long way.
What travel scams have you encountered or fell for that aren t included here? Comment below!
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TH
I saw (but did not fall for) the “Vatican is closed” and “free bracelet” scams last week in Rome.
My dad fell for the “give change to a beggar who then thanks you and picks your pocket” scam in Rome 25 years ago.
Diane Walcher
In Istanbul, they offered me 4 t-shirts for a special bargain, then slipped one back out…and in the Caribbean, a bracelet was slipped on my wrist to “show support” for kids-then the money was demanded! And once in (former) Yugoslavia, a customs man offered to “protect” me from marauding rapists randomly coming on the night train by joining me when he got off at midnight…Um, no thanks!
Jacqueline
Another awkward and surprising scam that almost happened to me, while in Rome, after visiting the Vatican museum, was by a nearby subway station. Two “pregnant” ladies (with pillow/clothes stuffing inside of their dresses) were begging for money and one immediately came up to me as I was passing through, and stopped me. Complementing my sunglasses, that were hanging over my shirt neckline, and kept touching them while the other lady came to join in as well. So as the first lady kept distracting me with her compliments, her other hand had snuck into my bag. Now I wouldnt have noticed it, until the second lady beside her, dropped her eyes down towards my bag… And that’s when I too looked down as well, and voila`… A hand in my bag. I immediately, grabbed hold of her red-handed wrist, removing it from my bag. The look oh her face was priceless. She kept on apologizing, together with her friend (who had given it all away). I immediately pushed through them as they pleaded and I just kept walking, never looking back. I got away safe. But the pickpocket in Athens succeeded… He snuck out my wallet on a tram to the airport. Something inside of me kept saying move away from this guy, who had suddenly stood so close beside me, holding a black suit cover. But I figured since he was clean, properly dressed and not dodgy, there was nothing to be suspicious about. I was wrong. All I can say is I am grateful that he dropped my wallet nearby and even had the “decency” to tap me on the shoulder, to let me know that I had “dropped” my wallet. Being flabbergasted, I picked it up from the floor, looked inside of it to see if it we’re really mine. I found my cards and passport (thank God), and everything else except for the cash. By the time I looked up at him, he kept shaking his head, indicating that he knows nothing, and that he just saw it on the floor. And there he went, as we approached a tram station, to get off.
Mark Wood
Thanks for the tips. I am planning to go to Singapore this year. Hope these tips will help me.
Daniel
In Prague once a stranger approached me at 2:30 in the morning asking if he could use my phone to make a call. He even offered to put his own SIM card in so I won’t be charged. Drunken me on my first day in Prague, I agreed. He said he would go into a nearby restaurant to make the call. Like an idiot, I let him, only to wait and wait and wait. Upon questioning the restaurant staff 10 min later, no one had seen him. He ran away with my phone through the back entry of the restaurant.
Nat
Re the Wrong Change:
I find that they will try and convince you that you gave them X denomination instead of the Y that you know you gave. A way of heading this off at the pass is to really let the driver see you are looking at what you are giving them. It’s a way of communicating with them that you are really aware. We did this in Buenos Aires where they will try the change scam or try and claim you gave them a counterfeit bill. We would take a bill carefully out, hold it up to the light to show we were checking to make sure it wasn’t counterfeit, and then handed it to the driver while making eye contact. Worked really well!
Anne Mc
Also when changing currency. In Cuba at an official bureau de change was given 200 peso short but cashier was nasty and hurried me away before I could check. No chance of getting it back after we’d left. Don’t be rushed is a good tip.
Kartik
I got scammed with a taxi in Istanbul. I gave him a 50, and he quickly did a switch, saying, “Hey, this is only 5!” Like you say, showing the driver that you are alert is a good tactic.
Robert
I had the same problem in a taxi in Hurghada, two times, but the second time I was not fooled.
Julie
When handing over a big note, say out loud how much it is. Always say out loud 1000THB in Thailand.
On the taxi- most places now support uber or grab taxi
Chandan
Thankfully escaped all of these till now ?? Only time I scammed myself was in UAE when I had to give the taxi driver dirhams but in a hurry ended up giving Dinars (Kuwaiti). I checked my wallet when the taxi zoomed off at double the normal speed. To my horror found the dirhams still dancing in my wallet and the dinars gone ?? Have said that I lost my wallet 3 times in Vegas, South Africa and Mumbai but every time a stranger returned it.
Rosie
I didn’t fall for it, but when I visited Sacre Coeur a couple of years ago, groups of people were stood at the top of the stairs and were forcefully trying to put bracelets on people’s wrists. It was horrible and quite frightening really, because they were grabbing people’s wrists. I was surprised, though kinda not surprised, that the Police or whoever allowed them to get away with it.
Csaba & Bea
Sadly, we experienced the same frightening atmosphere around Sacre Coeur in Paris last year… Not the best start for our stay. But all the other super touristy places (even Eiffel Tower) were better.
Tye Roy
The Eiffel Tower is well known for the petition scam. A fellow traveler on a cruise tour lost ALL of his travel money that way.
Kendel
When my daughter was 6 years old she had someone grab her wrist to “give” her a bracelet near the Forum in Rome. I was holding her other hand, but the person thought we were alone and didn’t notice my husband several feet behind us. The man would not let go of my daughter’s arm, and I certainly was not going to walk away without her. When my husband arrived the man attempted to pick his pocket. He was being groomed by another man several feet away. It certainly taught me how much more vulnerable I am when travelling with my child.
Rachel
The bracelet scam was attempted on me at Sacre Coeur as well! Two men started to approach me from either side, but my husband grabbed my hand and we picked up our pace.
While we were near the Eiffel Tower, someone tried the ring scam on us, and while on strolling the Champs-Elysees, someone tried the petition scam.
Luckily we had read about all of these in advanced and avoided them all!
Tammy
While in Paris, we saw only saw the shell scam. we had fun watching it, especially the “plant” that would win big. A little while later they would be the one doing it and the former operator was then the plant. We did have a young boy try to pick pocket an iphone from one of our group at Sacre Couer, but another one of us was observant and quick. She grabbed the boys hand and he dropped it and ran.
Jenny
Yes that happened to me and my two younger children at Sacre Coeur, The scammers asked us where we were from and as soon as we said New Zealand they started going on about the All Blacks whilst putting the bracelets on, my older son was running from one of us to the other taking the bracelets off telling us to walk away.
Then at the Eiffel Tower some people with petitions tried to get us to sign and acted like they were deaf . We couldn’t understand what the petition was for and apologised & walked off. When we were far enough away they started gathering together & talking to each other!
Neeve
I was in Barcelona a few weeks ago to meet up with some friends who now.live in different countries. We spent a lot of time rambling around the streets at night and came across bucketloads of scams.
There are a lot of people selling beers on the streets for one fifty or two euro, if you don’t give them the exact change they will definitely give you much less change back than you’re owed.
Be careful who you ask in the street for directions as they will often give them to and then ask for payment.
Pickpocketing is crazy over there as well. My friend saved me from getting my passport and wallet stolen in a beer garden when a guy who been sitting with us leaned over and asked me for a cigarette, he had his hand in my bumbag and I did even notice!
Agness
The taxi scam is ridiculous, happened to me too many times before I found out I was being fooled! Thank you for all the other tips Matt, very important for every traveler!
Andrew DC
Be careful on busy metro systems! Just stop talking and try to blend in. In B.A, I rode the subway every day for 1 month. I clearly speak spoke spanish with a gringo accent so I just shut up. I was never bothered once. An australian couple came and started in my spanish class towards the end on my month. They were robbed the third day because they were loud on the subway. Guys surrounded them (fully knowing they were tourist) and made it impossible to move while a third guy stole the guys wallet. Don’t single yourself out as a tourist if possible.
Another thing I saw was in the DR. Kid came up and a sprayed liquid on my flip flop saying he was going to clean them. I repeatedly said no but he spayed it anyway. Well now my flip flop was so slippery I had to take them off. Kid then says pay me money to wash the soap off… That sucked.
Diana
Great tip about blending in, Andrew. We were in France 3 weeks and never got scammed or approached. I made sure we dressed like the French do, not as a tourist. Keep your voice down, yes. Loud foreigners are a dead giveaway. Walk around the city like you belong there. If you have to look at a map or phone, go some place, a discreet corner. I spoke French as much as I could. Most people thought we were expats. At the Eiffel tower, a guy selling magnets tried to over change me. I started to barter in French, which surprised him. He knew I was on to him. We agreed on a dollar per magnet and then he tried to change the price to two dollars. I made sure to tell him that If he didn’t sell me the magnets for the agreed upon price, then I would signal the police who were standing nearby. He gave them to me for a dollar.
Ellen
What are B.A. and DR?
Brenden
DR is likely Dominican Republic and I think B.A. might be Barcelona but I’m not sure.
Mike
Watch out for the Dropped Change diversion. If you are sitting near a train exit, someone may drop coins (or wallet etc). You bend to help and their accomplice takes your bag from the overhead rack, then walks out the exit unseen.
Francis
A common scam in some parts of Europe: some guy asks you for money because he was robbed an he doesn’t have a dime any more, no cards, nothing. Even gives you his address (false of course) and tells you to call one or even two different phone numbers to countercheck his story. People responding coroborate the story but they’re complices. Scammers often claim to be Irish and they have to take the ferry to get home and therefore need money.
NC
This one is actually popular in the U.S., as well! A young man once approached me while I was sitting at a train station in Boston (waiting for my train ride home). He said he was from New Hampshire and that he ended up in Boston and was now stuck in the city, penniless and currently jobless, and than he desperately needed to catch a bus ride home back to NH. He handed me his NH driver’s license and said that he could also give me phone numbers of people who could verify his identity. He was very apologetic and nice over all but the shpiel he gave me sound a bit rehearsed (because it most likely was). A philanthropist in me said, “Alright, how much do you need for the bus ride? ” He said, sighing, “$22… I know, I know, it sounds like a lot to most people…” I said, “OK, which window do you need to go to in order to buy your ticket?”, and he said, “Oh, they don’t actually sell bus tickets from here, I have to get to this other train station to catch a bus.” After I heard that, I was like, “Nope, sorry, can’t help you.” Besides, I already knew that buses don’t run to NH from the station we were at. It’s just I believed this young kid for a moment and wanted to help. But the kicker is, I saw this guy 4 days later, at the same exact station. He strolled in with a bottle of juice in one hand and a fresh newspaper in the other. I SO wanted to come up to him and say, “So! I guess, you’re REALLY stuck in Boston now, huh? and look what we have here – you’ve managed to find money to treat yourself to juice and an issue of the “Boston Globe”!” but of course, I didn’t ?? So this time of scam can happen at home, too, and scammers are more successful because when you’re in your home country, you’re not really a tourist and people seem to be more responsive when someone approaches them with a “cry for help”.
Michelle C
Ive seen something similar to this in Chicago. A guy walks out of a posh hotel or so it appeared. He approached my friend saying he was stranded after a fun weekend with friends from a local college. He just needed some money for the bus to get back. I just happened to be about 20 feet behind listening to the whole thing. Thankfully I’m pretty cautious or definitely more cautious than my friend. Who was pretty much opening her wallet before I ran up to stop it. I noticed the guys clothes were pretty dirty as well as his face and hands. Plus he was talking super fast and just overall sketchy. I made her put her money away and told the guy sorry bud we just can’t help.
Bri
I fell for this one in NYC when I first moved here. Some guy came up to me in Grand Central and tried to be friendly, saying I didn’t look like I was from here, and talking about how people here are mean but I’m from Ohio (I told him), so surely I understand the hard time he’s having. I gave him my last $15 instead of offering to buy him a ticket with my credit card, like a smart person would have done. I cried about it afterwards, because I was so broke and was so angry at myself for falling for his scam. Sigh.
CK
3 weeks ago in Managua, Nicaragua, a guy approached me and ask for money to travel to his home town on Corn Island. He told me in perfect US English that he just had been deported from the US because of a fellony and been dropped at a petol station close bye without money. I just told him to ask local people to help him and walked off without looking back. This happened 30 meters away from 2 police officers!
Amy Shurmer
Unfortunately been victim to a few scams over the years, the classic one in Europe where they start to plait a bracelet on to you so you can’t take it off and then ask you for money and the taxi driver charging us way too much in Krakow for not agreeing a price up front. However, the worst for scams we found was Egypt. We had been warned about agreeing everything up front and a man approached us asking if we would like a picture with his camel, we refused but he insisted so we made it very clear – only if it was free and he agreed. Once the picture was taken he asked for a ‘donation’ for the camels feed. When we argued and tried to walk away he held me until my partner agreed to give him some money, we only had a large bill but he said he had change. My partner reluctantly handed over the equivalent of ?20 and he ran off with the lot. We learnt the hard way!!
Anne Mc
Same in front of Colisseum in Rome. We were taking pictures when ‘gladiators’ got into the picture, offered to take pix with my camera then wouldn’t hand it over until we’d paid loads of dosh to get it back. Rubbish photos too.
Amanda
The one where a man buys you a tea and demands sex and if you refuse holds you down. . They think western women are so cheap accepting a tea means they are entitled to sex. The one where men say “/i love you, You have nice eyes” and expect that to mean you will have sex with them.
Maybe attractive women scenario does not happen to girls so much but putting something in your drink to rape you does happen to women.
Other than that I do not get scammed. I have done the bracelet one on purpose I
wanted a bracelet. I also was given bracelets and cheap gifts with the expectation that I would have sex with the man.
.
Janet
I will say, I can add to the attractive man one by stating an even more dangerous one that has happened to us twice with teenage daughters in the Caribbean (once on Grand Turk, and once on Grand Cayman.) Both times, I was standing nearby as these men came up to them and tried to flatter them away, telling them how beautiful they were and asking would they like to see some of the local sites or shops, and/or offering discounted merchandise right there.
Needless to say, they scrambled away when they could see an angry mother and father approaching quickly! I hate to think of all the possibilities that could have happened if we hadn’t been watching closely.
Bri
In Mexico, at the cruise port of Costa Maya, I was asked to be a merchant’s girlfriend when I was walking around by myself looking at souvenirs. I was 14 and super uncomfortable with the situation. He may have kissed my cheek. Him, or another merchant nearby, sold me a bracelet (which I actually happen to be wearing today, oddly enough) for $20. When we went to the official gift shop before getting back on the cruise ship, the bracelets were being sold there for $5. I learned at a young age not to trust the prices on things, and they definitely took advantage of my youth and unwillingness to haggle to scam me out of money.
Suzanne
I am always carefull at street performances (painters, dancers, singers, magicians). Love watching them, but I always make sure to hold my bag carefully as well as it seems to be the perfect place to be pickpocketed. Hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’ve heard many times it is one of the obvious moments for pickpockets. Also agree with the train/metro tips above.
I am also always a bit suspicious with local tourist offices: I definitely use them but am making sure to have clear agreements about what is included and when and where we’ll go. In Tanzania (through someone we actually met in Uganda, we had a good experience in his hostel before) we booked a safari with a guy that ended up just booking a safari for us with another company, without actually joining us even though that was the deal. The ˆ60 a person we paid him too much were supposed to be for him joining us the whole weekend.
Last one: make sure with tours and safari’s to always hire a driver. Might cost a little bit more, but if the car breaks down you’re not the one responsible. We had car trouble when we drove ourselves. Owner blamed it on us, we blamed it on him. Ended up paying ˆ60 a person for repairs and alternative transport.
Thomas
When we went in Bali, a guy with a motorcycle stopped and gave us some lottery tickets. He then said that my gf won a iPad and i won a shirt and we only have to go with him to get the prices. We didn’t believe him a bit what he said, so we just wandered off. Later we checked it on the internet and we found out, that it was a popular scam in Bali for timeshared houses. Even later we saw the same guy doing his sheme to an other couple in the streets, so we warned them as well. The guy, needless to say, didn’t like it that much ??
Elizabeth Biggar
Great list, I had the ring scam happen to me in Greece. I was young and naive so I of course fell for it. (Also, Nomadic Matt wasn’t on the scene in ’03 to tell me otherwise!)
Great article, as always!
Craig
Always get the prices up front when they are not shown, I paid approximately $50 for a whiskey and shisha in Istanbul that should of cost me more like $15. That was what I got it down to after they started at $200. It was late I was one of the last ones there playing backgammon with the waiters that were oh so friendly and just wanted to drop the bill with me so I could take my time… needless to say I was ready to leave after that. I had a credit card that was already canceled in my wallet, when I showed them I didn’t have enough cash and my credit card didn’t work there, the price dropped pretty quickly. I hid my working card and showed them I only had one card in my wallet they snatched it and tried to run it before I had agreed on the price but I knew it wouldn’t work. They were doing everything from guilt tripping me saying he himself would have to pay, called a number on his phone labeled “boss” who told me I was a liar for having a cheaper bar tab the night before…. met an American expat living there said they try that on him all the time you just have to know how much the going rates are and leave the cash and walk away, kinda scary by yourself and not knowing the going rates.
Jonatas
I had a similar experience in Istanbul, I was walking around Ayasofya at night when a stranger asked me to take his picture with his cell phone, i took the pic and we started talking. He said he was a business traveler from Dubai and was heading to the airport the next day, he showed me a room key to a local hotel and said he was on his way to a bar the hotel recommended, and since i was travelling alone asked if I wanted to grab a beer. He was really chatty, talked to me about his wife and kid back in Dubai, even showed me pics on his phone. Well his bar around the corner was actually across town at Taksim sq, we took a cab there (which I was hesitant at first, but I weigh a good hundred lbs more than him, so I figure if things get dicey I could fight my way out of the cab). We ended up going to this underground club (mistake, always have a clear escape route) there wasn’t many people down there, but there were lots of girls, except they weren’t Turkish but eastern European (red flag) we drank some beers, the girls came over and started chit chatting, he proceeded to order drinks for everyone (red flag). At this point I’m very suspicious, so I start watching the bartender, and witness him pour water into the girl’s glasses, at that point I was positive this was a con and demanded the bill, that’s when the trouble started. Immediately the girls leave, and this giant Turkish guy with one eyebrow comes out and gives me the bill, it came to something ridiculous like 2 grands. I refuse to pay, and call them con artists, and demand they call the police. At this point they start pushing me and demanding I pay, I refuse, they try to make me use my credit cards. I eventually gave them all the Turkish money I had on my person, about $70 worth ( I hid my U.S. dollars from sight) and insisted that I wasn’t going to give them anymore money and said that if they were going to steal from me, they would have to take it from me, they cut their losses, pushed me around a little bit more and let me go, I ran out of there and kept running until I felt safe.
Lesson learned: Don’t escalate the situation, con artists want your money, they don’t want to fight you, if they push you, don’t start throwing punches, stay calm and firm, but don’t take things to the next level. Though the adrenaline was pumping and I visualized myself fighting my way out of their like I was jason bourne. I realistically would’ve gotten a beat down by all the bouncers and then robbed.
I had a gut feeling things were off the second the guy wanted to get into a cab, long story short, trust your instincts if it feels off, it probably is.
Denise Tench
I’m so sorry you got scammed, but you just made laugh hard with your “Turkish guy with one eyebrow” >D Where was his other eyebrow?? I need to know.
Katie
In Marrakech, it\’s quite common when you get lost in the souk that people will offer to show you the way out, and instead lead you to their brother\’s / father\’s / uncle\’s shop. The trick for this is always ask directions from someone who can\’t leave their own shop, because then they\’ll just explain how to get out instead of insisting they show you. This one I don\’t mind so much, because you can always just laugh it off and not buy anything once you\’re there, but some of the other scams you mentioned really leave a sour taste in the mouth. I can see why some people let it put them off travelling.
Jima
We had a Moroccan guy try and do that, but wheb we told him we didn’t want to follow him he insisted we pay him anyway.
He started getting a bit threatening but we didn’t give in. I had my 16mo son with me and I am not easily intimidated. In the end the guy decided he didn’t want to fight my 6ft3 husband or me (under 5ft 3).
Katie
Luckily haven’t been overtly scammed, although I did have my passport stolen once. Thanks for sharing, these are great tips for those new to backpacking!
Michelle
My family and I met a young girl in San Juan Del Sur Nicaragua who had almost all her money and passport stolen. We got talking to her several times while walking the beach. She said she went out one night with so called friends they drank partied and bar hopped. Later that night she went back to her hostel passed out/fell asleep then next morning her bag with all her money and passport were gone.
You never know who is keeping tabs on you. Drinking too much in unfamiliar towns, putting all your valuables in one spot and being too trusting with unfamiliar people can cost you.
Ive been told to make copies of your passport and keep this separate from your actual passport even in the hotel/hostel safe. Never keep your money plus credit cards all together. And definitely don’t leave everything valuable right in your backpack just ready to be robbed.
Also in this town we heard men dress up as women by the busloads ready to rob tourists. So be watchful of flirtatious women!!
We also saw this little boy try to steal a phone from a restaurant guest. The boy came up from the beach grabbed the phone and ran thru the restaurant catching the eye of almost all the waitstaff. We watched 6 or more staff members chase this boy down take back the phone then deliver him right to nearby police officers!
Lesson to be learned. ..watch your stuff, be observant, definitely go to El Timon while visiting San Juan Del Sur and most importantly try to never vacation when worldwide holidays are going on. Because this is when there are tons of people in the cities much harder to be observant.
J
In Uganda, I was always on an alert for “my so-and-so is in the hospital” scam. People would bee-line to you if you were foreign to ask to pay for hospital bills. I even had a caucasian white man ask me for money for his hospital bill. There are a lot of great causes to support in Uganda if you’re looking to help people with things like medical treatment, education, etc. I encourage anyone to give if they have the means to do so and want to help out, but make sure you know exactly who you are giving your money to!
Jen
This isn’t a scam story, just a recommendation to help reduce your risk of pickpocketing: get a secure bag like PacSafe. It has a locking mechanism on the zippers so someone can’t just slyly open them and wire mesh running through making it hard to slice open. Obviously it’s not foolproof, but I’ve never been pickpocketed (knock on wood!)
Michelle
There\’s also these little velcro belts you can wear now. They go right around your stomach so you can hide it right under your shirt. Kinda like a fanny pack without the bulk and you wear underneath clothing instead of over. Someone would have to really be putting in extra effort to get to this! Definitely gives you peace of mind, now you can focus on your actual vacation spot!
Maria
The PacSafe bags are great, I agree. Just so you know, if you leave them on the beach to drunkenly go skinny-dipping at night, they will still be stolen from you! Just kidding here, but shame on my 19-year-old self for that. Don’t be foolish like me and think there’s no one around to steal your stuff, because there is.
Also great list here, thanks for sharing ??
Michael
The overpriced shoe shine.
A nice old guy offers to shine your shoes. In this is pretty common. He just starts in, no prices mentioned.
Ouch.
Make a scene or pay $10 for a shoe shine?
J
I got taken by this my first visit to downtown Chicago. I saw this shoeshine guy and considered that I did have a dirt spot but realized it would be stupid to get it done on tennis shoes. So, as I’m leaving the nearby store I had come down for, this middle aged man with a pretty obvious struggle of a life started chatting me up and asking me about my trip. I gave no personal info but appreciated the talk. Then he throws a dollop of some dubious cleaner on one shoe. He asks about the incision on my ankle and I get to yammer on about the crazy injuries of my youth. He then demands $20 per shoe! I only had $36, but d***! I felt a bit threatened and pricing was not discussed up front. This is what made it a scam. If it had been $10 I wouldn’t have felt so suckered. Live and learn…
Chris
Istanbul has the “brush drop:” a guy with a shoeshine kit over his shoulder, with brush hanging from the hook. Brush drops and you, as a considerate tourist, pick it up or call out to him. Appeciative, he insists on giving you a quick shine. Note they don’t say “free” but the implication is there. As they’re shining, they start to tell you about all their trials and tribulations: kids can’t afford school uniforms, electricity gets shut off at home, etc etc. Finally the shine is done, he straightens up, and demands a ridiculous sum of money.
In my case, he demanded 90 lira (about $20US) for something that would be 10 lira legitimately — and this for cleaning my canvas shoes with a toothbrush and soapy water!. I already suspected, after the Job-like tale of woe, that he’d ask me for something, but I wasn’t expecting that rate. I got mildly angry, ended up giving him 30 lira so he’d go away.
For the next few days, I was the target of the same scam. Each time I gleefully ignored the dropped brush and gave them the stinkeye when they turned around to retrieve their brush. It was all I could do to not kick it into the street, but didn’t want to get beaten up. I was able to save one guy who had grabbed the brush. “Whatever you do, don’t accept a shoeshine!” I grumbled from the side of my mouth.
As someone pointed out, it didn’t cost me much and now I have a story.
Maz
In Iran: The fake police scheme. A cop in legit looking uniform and carrying an ID that may or may not be fake and asks for your passport. Now, in a country like Iran an English speaker sticks out like a sore thumb if they don’t know Farsi and are usually treated leniently. I luckily had my passport taken by the hotel front desk, but he demanded I go with him. I was so lucky a kind, wonderful local intervened.
He may have been a real cop and just having a bad day, but he could also have been a robber or rapist. If I ever met someone else claiming to be a cop in the Middle East, I would ask them for ID right away. I would call my guide or local male friend if I had one. If not, I would tell them to call my hotel and start walking quickly back to the hotel. If it was a real cop who was that concerned about my visa status, let him clear it up with the hotel staff.
I was also annoyed at being way overcharged for a taxi back to the airport. I should have negotiated up front. Next time.
Linda
Mine was similar but could have ended very badly. In Nairobi, about 15 years ago. Beggar asks for some money- I give him very small coin. About 2 hours later an official looking guy in a suit, stops me and says that 'he knows I gave money to a guy and that I must be working with some one who bombed the Am. Embassy !!' He flashes me a 'badge', but it is really just his drivers lisc.
I realize this is a big bad scam. He says I should follow him to this restaurant , which I do, and he wants to know how much $$$ I have on me- and I should give it to him.
( by the way, it s like the Star Wars bar).
I say ' I am not givi g you s***t, and will call the Kenyan police if he doesn t leave me alone. He closes his 'notebook' and runs out !!
Luckily I really looked at the badge he flashed me, but had I not been in other cities like this before, I could have been killed or raped or both! The restaurant was close by and was public, so I felt safe to see/ hear what he was about!
Jordan
While living in Israel I would get delivery. Often I did not have the exact amount of cash that the total came to, so I would need to give the delivery man a larger bill and get change. He would then claim he didn’t have change and I would be forced to let him keep the extra money or not get the food. This happened often, so it wasn’t a surprise after the first time, but sometimes you just want delivery and don’t have exact amount of cash.
Anna
My father in law had his wallet handed back to him by an… undercover policeman in Rome. He had it in his trousers’ back pocket and luckily it was the policeman who pickpocketed him just to show him where not to keep his wallet.
Kay
In the Galapagos last September we went to a restaurant as a group and when we came to pay one of the notes was returned because it was fake, but actually it had been swapped. Moral check the numbers on your notes before you give them if the money is taken away to get change. Our Intrepid guide sorted it.
Michelle
I experience taxi drivers trying to scam me more in the US than other countries, especially in Boston. They always try to take the longest route or sometimes they flat out try to go to the opposite part of the town. So annoying. I have to tell them where to go and be super alert.
Danielle
I’ve seen a lot of these during my time in Europe, but especially in Paris. Another scam I saw was at Notre Dame Cathedral. A gypsy lady (older, looked homeless maybe) was standing right next to the entrance begging for money because their home had recently burnt to the ground. She had this story about having all her grandchildren she needed to clothe and feed. I knew better, but she was convincing. As I was reaching in to my pocket to give her a few euros a cop came up and grabbed her and shouted at her to leave. He then proceeded to tell me that she’s been doing it for years and while people gather to hear her story she has her grandchildren picking people’s pockets. Glad I was saved from that one!
Michelle
Thanks so much for the tips! I’m going to Thailand in February!
Gazza
Always make sure the taxi drivers use the meter, it will always be better than whatever ‘deal’ they try to give you. Also helpful to carry the card of the hotel to show the taxi drivers where you want to go as they often do not speak English and cannot read the hotel map.
Jason
Not so much a scam but when taking taxis in Bangkok get on the right side of the road for the direction you want to go. It can save time and money as traffic jams and not being able to u-turns can cause delays etc.
Also try to avoid if possible taking taxi when the sky opens up with torrential rain as jams start so quickly.
Joe Buchoff
I remember in France, our tour guide warned us about Gypsies who asked for a donation for a rose, while someone else pick-pocketed you around the side.
I didn\’t believe him until one day in Paris. A lady came up to me and offered me a rose. Without skipping a beat, I stated in perfect French \”Sorry, I don\’t understand. I don\’t speak English.\”
She probably didn\’t believe me in retrospect, but I felt accomplished. I had scammed the scammer in my 15-year-old mind
MP
wow those scams are terrible! good to keep know for future travels!!
marusa
Wow when you read this it is kind of hard to go travelling. I have to say I didn\’t have any bad experience and I didn\’t get scamed (for now). However I did see a lot of scams in Spain – different kinds and I have to say that it does leave a bitter taste after you leave the country event though you weren\’t a victim,
Kapil
Common sense! Most people who come from dense metropolitan cities have had their fair share locally and can usually differentiate a genuine thing from scam. Yet, the differences in cultures and social acceptance can lead to letting down of the guard.
Similar to your ‘place os closed’ scam, I fell to a ‘place is actually open’ scam. It was a fair ground and while the main fair was over a good 3 months ago, it had been replaced by a smaller market of sorts. Didn’t cost much, except some time.
The overcharging rides are much too common and being aware of the actual distance is the only way to avoid it.
Thanks for the list Matt!
Gustavo Woltmann
Thank you for this guide on how to avoid scams. Keep up the good work.
Odette
I had the ring scam tried on me in Paris. I knew what was happening, so the girl left disappointed. In San Francisco, I had a guy try to sell me his bus pass for less than the going rate. I refused the offer because I knew the pass was probably expired!
Jess
These are the worst, but also amazing learning moments. Thanks for sharing Matt!
Nick
I went on a four wheeler tour in Nicaragua. The form I had to sign asked for my driver’s license number, but I explained that I had left it in the hotel room. The guy at the company said not to worry about it. At the end of the tour, a cop pulled us over and asked for driver’s licenses. Our guide said that because we did not have licenses, the cop would have to take us to the police station to fill out some paperwork … or we could just pay a fine. The only money I had on me was the $10 I was going to give the guide for a tip, so I provided that money, which the cop accepted. When talking to locals at the bar that night, they confirmed that you do not need to have a license to drive these vehicles.
Michelle
I was also told that if you do have a police situation that if you have money to offer you have a better chance of getting the situation handled. Nicaragua is a poor country and their police force is not paid very well. Often they will need gas money for their vehicles or whatever. Idk I guess offering a small sum of money to get whatever situation handled may be worth it.
Roger
It’s a common scam in Bangkok to ask to go to the train station and the taxi driver will take you to a nearby broker who will sell you a train ticket at an inflated price and give a commission to the driver.
I was aware of this scam and I got really pissed when a taxi driver drove past the station entrance to take me to a broker. I had him pull over, paid him, hopped out and then braved some Bangkok traffic to cross the street to the station. It was only when I got to the sidewalk near the entrance that I realized I left my wallet in the cab! I turned around to discover the cab driver chasing me on foot to return my wallet. I don’t know if it’s acceptable behavior in Thailand, but I hugged him. Life can be quite surprising.
Sandi Tymchuk
Interesting! This was an honest taxi driver, so perhaps at times the locals don’t perceive a scam, but instead believe it to be a fair service exchange (re: the use of a broker)?
Vince
It’s a pity that all these scams caused travelers suspect there is a scam behind everything.
At Bangkok train station taxi’s aren’t allowed to drop off people at the front side entrance so instead they need to go around the station. He probably was taking you to the drop off point at the side of the station instead of a broker.
Naomi
A few things I’ve fallen for and usually kick myself immediately after:
1. Someone at train station in Italy offering to help me buy ticket and then asking for a few euros for their “help”
2. Locals in Istanbul claiming they’ll show you the less touristy entrance for a site. Taking you there and waiting and then trying to get you to a carpet shop.
3. Taxi driver in Rome didn’t turn off meter in between customers. Fortunately, I caught it and we agreed on a reasonable price.
4. Cab drivers taking longer route (NYC I’m looking at you!).
Fortunately, I’ve managed not to fall for the others I’ve seen and I have not been pickpocketed in 6.5 years of traveling abroad.
NomadicMatt
Thanks everyone for sharing their scam stories! The more people know about this stuff, the less it will work!
Guinnevere
How do you reconcile making friends with locals and not being naive about potential scams?
Blair
I’ve encountered many of the scams you speak of, Matt.
Shanghai: the attractive woman scam happened to a couple of young guys who were on the same flight as us.
Bangkok: the palace is closed scam – several times we were approached from the water taxi dock to the palace.
The tuk-tuk ride to the gem shops; I saw this one coming, but we just wanted to go on a tuk-tuk ride, didn’t buy anything. It included a stop at a temple where a friendly foreigner told us it was a great time to buy gems in BKK.
Phuket: Taxi scam; some tried to overcharge, but we just went down the street til we found a driver who was being honest.
Singapore: We were approached by someone trying to tell us our fortune.
Shenzhen: Got scammed by a taxi who took us the long way – just had to suck that one up.
Barcelona: singled out in a large crowd by a kid running across the square to ask me the time…I wasn’t wearing a watch.
Rome: Free flowers, Gypsies pretending to be “customer service” in Termini station, singled out in a large crowd – “do you speak english?’
Florence, Istanbul, Bangkok: “my cousin lives in Canada, come to my shop”
Pisa, Siem Reap, Rome, Phuket: sign my petition scam.
Greece, Italy: people appearing out of nowhere offering to take your photo. When you say no, they disappear without a trace…creepy.
Best thing is do some homework before your trip and you’ll recognize the scam coming. And a little street smarts goes a long way too.
Neha
Travel scams is one of the greatest problem in India also, I must say. specially in Delhi and North Side of Country. Matt your tips are simply excellent to avoid such scams.
Rebecca
Another great post! I have avoided so many of these. ‘Come in and try some perfum, no need to buy’ in Marrakesh. I also fell victim to being extremely over charged for a meal in Amsterdam. You live and you learn!
Rebecca x
Rita
So please tell me if a restaurant does this; how can we tell which ones don’t!
Ian
The Bracelet Scam was tried on my girlfriend last time we were in Tokyo. I was aware of this scam as I’d seen in in other places but seeing as it was Japan we weren’t expecting it. The guy was dressed as a Buddhist monk. Seems they’ll try this anywhere now days.
Great article, Matt!
Jacqueline
We have 'Buddhist monks' here in Chicago trying to run the bracelet scam and pretending not to speak English.
Justine Cross
Oh Matt, you really are a fountain of all travel knowledge – totally love your blog along with nearly the whole world! ??
I’ve recently come back from Morocco and was thankfully made aware of the taxi overcharge scam. We were told to always agree a price beforehand. As you say, they could say “Oops, the meter’s broken. That’ll be 400 dh please!”
There’s also some scams they have out in Marrakech for free Henna tattoos – no way are they free! Also, the Henna most of the women use is not the real stuff and can cause reactions. So, if in Marrakech, have your wits about you and don’t let anyone suddenly grab your hand.
Other than that, Morocco’s a lovely place!! ??
Caren
In India we had a lot of scams for “Free” or reduced price Henna too! People would walk around and trick you into sitting down and letting them henna you, and then halfway through they would say the price was something ridiculous or that the “free” only applied to certain designs. We learned our lesson very quickly!
Josh
When I was in Cozumel (just an afternoon stop on a Western Caribbean cruise), I toured many of the local merchants, trying to find silver coins from the famous Casa de Moneda (Mexican mint). I minored in Spanish in college, so I knew the correct words to say, but none of the merchants had any silver coins in their displays.
Finally, one merchant offered to help me, by introducing me to his friend on the street. The street merchant had a few coins in little secret pockets on his clothing, which he showed one by one. There was one that interested me, and it had the Casa de Moneda privy mark on the coin. His offer was for $65, but I knew that was about 3x the going rate for an ounce of silver, and this coin felt like maybe 3/4 ounce in weight. I said “no, gracias” and walked away. Vendor follows me and over the course of 2 blocks he lowered his price to $20, and I bought it. Unfortunately, in my haste to look for the privy mark, I forgot to check that the coin had any markings of its metal content and/or weight. Instead of getting a good deal, I paid about 40x the coin’s value for a worthless commemorative coin with zero silver.
Be careful about being passed from vendor to vendor, and look carefully at what you are buying. Do not overestimate your ability to speak the native language, either.
Don Patron
Hi Josh – We’ve been to Cozumel last year, a lovely island to tour around. Your statement is completely correct to always validate what you’re buying, even if you understand the local language.
Hope you were able to find some pieces of the “Casa de Moneda”.
Cheers
Caren
The palm tree/banana leaf scam is one we saw a lot while in Nicaragua. Little kids usually would come up to our tables at cafes and leave little roses made out of banana leaves and drop it on the table…and then come back 5 minutes later asking for money!
Also what I like to call the “bait and switch” happened a couple times in Thailand. We would be eating or sitting at a table and someone would come up and distract us by kicking a soccer ball past us so we would look away. And while we were looking away they would try to swipe wallets or items off the table. Luckily we caught them and from then on kept our wallets in our pockets (which we should have been doing from the start.)
Michelle
I fell for this one too! In Granada. Except the little flower the little boy made was adorable? I was happy to give him a few coins lol
Marti
Never ever leave your phone or a wallet out in the open. Nothing says gringo like flashing your iPhone. In fact, don’t carry a wallet or purse at all. You’re just inviting someone to try to steal from you. As a woman I use a Rick Steve’s travel belt that fits around my waist or can be stuffed down even lower into my pants or shorts. In fact, I often wear it around my front, rather than back side because most thieves aren’t bold enough to reach up under your shirt. Always leave your real passport locked up and carry a copy of it when you’re touring the town or whatnot. As another said, keep your credit cards separated from your money. Only carry as much cash on an outing as you’re willing to lose. I keep mine in a zipped pocket in my cargo shorts or Cargo pants or in my bra. And always make sure the taxi meter is on. While in Costa Rica in San Jose last year I was dropped off by a friend at the wrong bus station to go to Cahuita and had to flag down a taxi to get the correct one. He didn’t want to run his meter and tried to negotiate more than the ride should have cost. I refused and repeated to him in Spanish “quiero mara”, I want meter. He grudgingly turned it on. And I paid him the correct fare, several colones less than what he wanted to charge.
A popular scam at the border near Penas Blanca in Costa Rica and Nicaragua is for someone to offer you a taxi ride. This isn’t necessarily bad, because I negotiated him down to about $5 each for 4 of us to get to the Ferry to go to Omotepe Island. However, it turned out he wasn’t the driver…much to my chagrin, and wanted money for getting us the ride. I made sure the drivers was okay with the amount I’d agreed to pay but only gave the “fixer” a dollar for his trouble.
Anytime someone is being too helpful be firm and say No. Everyone knows what No means in almost all languages. And a very smug and angry look will get the point across. Don’t worry about hurting feelings. You’re never going to see them again.
Heather
When I was in Buenos Aires I got all of my Argentine Pesos from ATMs and made sure the bills were crisp and untorn as I heard many shops and vendors will not accept torn money. On our last night in town, my husband and I took a cab ride with a very untrustworthy driver. His meter was definitely rigged to charge us almost double what the same ride cost the night before. We should have followed Matt’s advice to pull over immediately but since we were so close to our destination, we didn’t say anything. When I paid the fee and handed over my bills, however, the driver switched one of them out for a torn bill and said my bill was no good, I had to give him a different one. I absolutely knew the bill he presented to me was not the one I handed him, so I got out of the cab while he continued to yell at me saying he would call the police. I told him I would be happy to have him call the police, but unsurprisingly, the cab elected to speed away instead. I was grateful our destination was on a busy street outside of the restaurant and that the driver elected to leave instead of cause of scene.
angela g
Why was the $30 boat trip in Bangkok a scam? The boat driver provided the service you and he agreed to at the price you and he agreed to. YOU weren’t a well informed shopper but that doesn’t mean you were scammed. It means you hadn’t researched prices well. A scam is where someone steals from you or deceives you. I see no theft or deceit in what you encountered.
BTW, I was in Bangkok just last Oct. so I know prices for boats etc. and yes, you paid maybe 5x – 8x the normal rate. But scammed? No.
R
In Turkey I encountered (but never fell for!) the “shoe polisher” scam on several occasions. A shoe polisher walks past you, drops something, and keeps walking. He relies on your kindness and basic human decency to pick up the dropped item, call out to him, and return it to its rightful owner. The shoe polisher will then insist on shining your shoes for “free” as a way to say thank you. He will then of course continue to shamelessly harass you until you pay
KK
Interesting… I had that experience and didn’t even know I was being set up. The guy passed me on the bridge, walking in the opposite direction, and dropped a brush. I picked it up and returned it. He was so “grateful”, he offered to shine my shoes. I wasn’t being wise or clever, I simply refused because I didn’t want my shoes shined. He was adamant for a few moments, but soon gave up.
Jima
We had the opposite experience in Morocco – a man stopped my husband in the Market to tell him his shoe was falling apart and offering to fix it, insisting he would do it for ‘free’.
Now, we knew we were gonna be acanned, but George’s shoe was busted abd we basically decided that if we could get away with a reasonable price it was worth it.
The guy did an excellent repair, that lasted well over a year. He refused to take any payment, and we essentially had to force money on him. Apparently the stste of George’s good shoes offended his professional sensibility enough to do it for free
Sherka
In Vietnam my friend and I were scammed by cyclo drivers. They told us they would give us a small city tour for 150,000 VND (around 7.50 USD).. sounded amazing so we took it..
At the end of the tour they took us to a restaurant that was nowhere near our hotel and then took out a completely different price sheet and said we owed them 1.5 million VND ( 50 USD I believe). We were so shocked and confused. we ended up getting away with paying what was promised and took a taxi back.
Definitely gotta remember that if its too god to be true, it is.. Never again. Since then I’ve been to many other countries and has become very adept to scams.
Barb
20 years ago, I was fortunate to spend a semester in Europe. On my free time I would walk the cities to take in the sights. Time and time again, men would either follow me or come up to me wanting to spend time with me. After a month of this, I decided when in Rome/Paris/whatever, do as they do–DRESS as they do. I went to some shops purchased some funky, globally-inspired and inexpensive clothes and MOST IMPORTANTLY–ditched the sneakers. After boxing up and mailing home my original clothes for the trip, the harassment came to a complete halt. I became invisible.
CC
In cambodia a young girl with a baby will ask you for milk . You think cool yea I’ll just walk to the store and but her 1$ milk carton. But nope she took you to a store that sells baby formula at 25$ a bucket only for her to give it back to the store after you’ve paid.she makes money and the store makes money plus the baby is just being coddled all day so no movement for the baby .
Glen
In The Philippines I was hit a few times by the Sellers of Phone Load. These are EVERYWHERE & essentially what happens is you give your phone to the store clerk who enters numbers into their system after you have paid them a fee for loading time on your phone. It’s not until after you have left the store & you get a confirmation text that you discover you didn’t get what you paid for. Another scam to watch out for is if you need to change your SIM card. I was told that for my phone to work in The Philippines I needed to change my SIM card which may or may not have been true. I paid for a new SIM, didn’t get my old one back & my phone still didn’t work.
David Martinez
When I got to the Water temple (Taman Sari) in Yogyakarta, a man approached me and just started walking next to me, said he will give me a tour of the temple for free. The tour wasn’t bad but I felt really uneasy, as being Colombian you learn to be wary of everything(Something I’m trying too change, as I’m TOO wary of things). At the end of the tour he took me to the “exit” of the temple through lots of alleys and small streets and I thought he was going to rob me. The “exit” was the entrance to his house where he and his family made Batik (Indonesian technique of dying fabric and clothes). It was beautiful but really overpriced, and I still felt super uneasy, so I say bye and left. Thankfully nothing happened but I still remember how scared I felt. Anyways, Yogyakarta was great!
Kayte
India!!
NEVER EVER “buy” groceries for street kids! The grocer sells them to you for an escalated price, you and the kids leave with the groceries, you feel good, the kids go back to the grocer and he takes the groceries back and the shares a “portion” of the money with the kids, who turn the money over to their “pimp.”
If you really want to help the kids (or the mother with an infant needing food or milk…) buy them take-away food that has to be eaten immediately. It may be their only meal that day!
Melody S
Paris – the ring scam at the Eiffel Tower….Rome – the well dressed gentleman in a car asking for directions to the Vatican (??!!) which is just around the corner. He says he is a saleman for [insert famous designer name] and he would like to give you a sample in gratitude. Of course he wants a donation for gas, etc…… Barcelona, parked outside the post office with suitcases in back and driver friend waiting for me. A man on a bicycle approached my friend pointing at the front tire saying “problem, problem, please get out of car”. At that instant, he hears the back door open and whips around (at which time the would be thief saw how big he was and decided otherwise. Always leave the car locked even when you are sitting in it. Still, in none of these events was there any threat of physical harm.
Tommy
The famous “Messi” or “Ronaldo” scam
Very popular in Europe
A guy will come up to you & ask if you like futbol (soccer), pretending to be kicking the ball with you tapping you everywhere
While your distracted by their tapping, they steal your wallet
Had it happen to me in Paris but realized what was happening & pushed the guy away
Directions scam
Your sitting at cafe or restaurant
A lost person comes over to the table, lays their map down & asks for directions
While you are looking at the map/guide book, there are using it to conceal they are stealing your phone or wallet off the table
Sandi Tymchuk
I got scammed in a small grocery store in Barcelona, when I was short-changed. I had let down my usual guard, being unaware a grocery store would do such a thing!
Gazza
Always make sure to ask for the itemized bill in restaurants, they often just bring a piece of paper with a number on it. On two occasions in Rome the waiter amazingly discovered that an extra entree had been included by mistake.
I also admit it is kind of a pain having to pay 3-4 EUR for a bottle of water, only to have the waiter bring a bottle and/or make a big production of opening a bottle that had obviously already been open and filled with tap water (easier to catch if you order sparkling water).
Re taxis: in many places in Italy you do not hail the taxi on the street, the restaurant must order it for you. However unlike most countries the taxi driver starts the meter from the moment he leaves to come to you, not when he picks you up.
Kristy S
Florence, Italy. Single female traveling alone. I was struggling with my luggage at the Firenze Rifredi train station, and wasn’t sure where my track was. I asked a gentleman for directions. He said that he’d show me, and took my heavy suitcase for me. He led me to the track furthest away from the station, and furthest away from any other travelers, and then demanded money for carrying my bag. I always carry a couple of small bills separately, and offered him 5Euro. He began yelling at me and demanding 50Euro and absolutely would not get out of my face. I just started screaming at the top of my lungs until all of the people 4 tracks away were staring. Yes, probably I was labeled a crazy American, but, the guy left pretty quickly. Also turns out he took me to the wrong track so I had to go back down stairs to street level, and back up to another track across the station. Going up, and again struggling with my suitcase, a young guy came over to help me and I snapped at him pretty badly- sadly, I think he really just wanted to help me ??
Lisa R
I fell for the bracelet in Angkor Wat. It was a little boy and when I gave it back to him after he asked for money, he started to cry saying his dad would be mad and he’d be in a lot of trouble if he didn’t come home with money. I started to fall for this, thinking maybe I should give the kid some money when his friend started laughing and the two ran off together.
Jonatas
In my hometown of Rio De Janeiro, you won\’t have to deal with any of this…… you\’ll just get straight up robbed :-p
Michelle
I know most of these posts are for traveling out of country but some US cities have some pretty bad scams as well. Maybe a non-US traveler will see my post though!
Last summer I brought my teenage son to Chicago. He was wearing his everyday clothes plus headphones that clearly showed hes a big sports and music fan. They took one look at him then headed straight for me trying to sell me cds or tickets to a game or whatever. “Your son would love this!” I was first approached by this guy with a college ID around his neck who apparently attended a music school learning to produce and make his own music. I have to admit the story sounded legit. I didnt even think about school being out, it was in the middle of the summer. I bought his damn cds. Then later that night while we were enjoying dinner in an outside restaurant we were again approached to buy more cds. I knew I was had at that point. My son however wanted to see, he says its only 5 bucks. If its not real lesson learned. So maybe 2 out of 4 cds actually had music on them. Who’s music ill never know.
Another thing about Chicago, there are “homeless” people on every single street corner. I know when you see an old obese woman in a wheelchair with 2 amputated feet its extremely hard not to open your wallet, I wouldn’t, but that’s up to you. I did however give one of my water bottles to a guy singing and playing guitar. He was actually pretty good!
Sarah B
Most of these have not happened to me, but friends and family.
Madrid: Sitting near a subway door with a bag between feet, on the floor – right before the doors closed, someone on the platform slipped a hooked stick (cane?) through the doors and pulled the bag out onto the platform, just as the doors were closing. Needless to say, the bag was never seen again.
Montpellier: While trying to buy a tram ticket at a tram stop with a purse, shopping bags, and a hot coffee in one hand (ie only one free hand and severely reduced mobility), a group of 3 or 4 children between the ages of 5-10 crowded around. Offering to help (even while being refused), they continued to press the wrong buttons on the ticket machine. This caused the money to be refunded which allowed them to grab fistfuls of change from the till. Lessons: (1) use small bills/exact change/card to avoid large amounts of cash/change being available (2) try not to be so weighed down with things that you can’t move!
Athens: In an outdoor cafe, two gentlemen sat at the table directly next to us, even though there were loads of empty tables. My purse was on the back of my chair, but covered by my coat. The men were there for the duration of our meal – never ordered anything, but chatted with the waiters a lot. I thought I felt my coat being moved (I assumed someone was walking by and my chair was in the way), when I turned around to see/scoot my chair towards the table, the man who had been sitting behind me was trying to get his hand under my jacket/onto my purse. Luckily I noticed! I gave him a good stare down and moved my purse onto my lap. He and his mate quickly got up and left.
Many cities, all over Europe: You pre-book a room online with a certain price – you get a confirmation code and everything. When you arrive, they tell you that that room is no longer available and they will have to put you in a different room – with a different (higher!) price! Often you’re tired and just want to get to your room, and it’s only a few bucks anyway….but if you have proof and show the price/confirmation, they can’t charge you more – it’s their mistake! Always either print this info or have it available on your phone.
Advice I’ve been given: When in a new city and you come out from a train station/subway stop/etc, don’t stop immediately outside of the station to get your bearings – this will immediately signal that you don’t know where you’re going/your’e probably a tourist! Immediate target! Try to walk a bit away from the entrance before getting your map/phone out ??
I’m sure there are more – but that’s all I got for now! ??
John
I’m an American living in India for 2+ years now and have seen almost all of these scams at one time or another. In any touristy place you just have to keep moving and don’t engage at all with anyone offering you anything or asking you anything. Don’t even look at what they’re selling and don’t believe a word anyone says– pretend they’re invisible. I learned how to say “I live here” in Hindi and two local languages for persistent scammers that walk beside you and won’t leave you alone. 9 times out of 10 those words in the local language make them disappear immediately, as they see you’re a waste of their time.
Linda Lucia
Switching bank notes, happened to me in Mexico and in India. You give a note, with a flick of the hand they change it to another one, saying you gave a smaller amount. And then give you change for that smaller amount. Since it’s foreign currency, you may doubt yourself. I didn’t and demanded correct change, but better is to pay with smaller bills.
Marilynn
Oh Mexico service stations are notorious about scams. They forget to clear the pump so we once paid more than our VW tank would hold. And once I was told I gave them only 20. pesos and they needed 200. A friend got it just last season, short changed. Once I was in a mini mart buying water and a coke. I know that often they do. It have change for larger bills so I showed her a 200 peso bill and asked if she had change. She said yes. Than she promptly gave me change for 100 pesos. I called her on it, there were a lot of people watching. She angerily gave me the rest of my change.
Steph
Yes, the service stations in Mexico are one to watch out for. My Mexican friends warned me that this even happens to Mexican nationals. So when I stopped to fill up and realized I was being overcharged, I firmly insisted on the correct amount. I pulled out my phone to use the calculator, thinking I would prove it, but when the attendant saw the phone, I can only assume he thought I was going to call the authorities. He immediately conceded, I paid what was actually owed and left without any further issue.
Sean McCarthy
New Orleans, LA
Some random guy walked up to me and my boyfriend claiming her knew where we got our shoes from. Uh, okay. So he squirts some random stuff on our shoes, “shines” it or “wipes” it off in a matter of seconds and then tells us we got our shoes shined in New Orleans, LA. Then insists we pay him $20 EACH (so $40 all together). I didn’t understand what the hell had just happened and my boyfriend being stupid gave him the money and guy took off. Then minutes later after thinking about it, I realized we just got swindled. Fast forward a day or two and this same guy comes up to us again, but this time I turn around, mad as hell, and scream “OH NO, NOT AGAIN!!!” and the dude high tails it in the opposite direction.
I should have said more, but I was so flustered and slightly nervous that that was all I managed to get out.
Phil
I’ve fell for a few –
At the Thai/Cambodian border (Aranyaprathet) a well dressed guy approached me and offered to help me get transport into Siem-Reap. He was wearing an ‘official’ government ID badge and assured me the service was free – to stop foreigners getting scammed. I stupidly told him I hadnt already booked transport. He accompanied me over the border, through immigration then requested a few $ for his service. He also tried to take me into one of the fake visa offices to buy a visa at double price but I told him I knew it was a scam.
At Angkor Thom I had the string bracelet scam forced upon me but I didnt mind. It makes a nice souvenir.
Also the taxi meter going up like crazy scam in Krakow, Poland.
Had a guy approach me (wearing a turban – avoid these dudes) on Khao San Rd, Bangkok. He just walked up and said “I can tell you your mother’s name.” I told him I already knew her name, and I also know my Father’s name. He looked a little baffled and just walked off. This scam involves them telling you they can tell your fortune etc – they take you off to a room where you write down answers to questions they ask – its long winded but basically if you are approached by a fortune teller wearing a turban – walk away..
Keith
The Guatemalan \”Shoe\” Shine: This happened last summer. In Antigua\’s central square are a lot of kids giving shoe shines. My boots needed it, so we settled on a price. After polishing up one boot, the kid asked me if I wanted the other done – for another payment of the agreed price. Since the cost was 10 GTQ per shoe (less than $3 USD in total) I grimaced and paid up.
The New Orleans Bet: This happened over 20 years ago too, and now I\’ve heard it a zillion times, but I fell for it the first time in the Big Easy. On the boardwalk in New Orleans a friendly local approached me and bet me $5 he could tell me where I got my boots. Being from Canada, I thought he\’d never guess, so we shook hands on it. Then he said, \”You got your boots on the boardwalk in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America.\” I realized he had me and didn\’t want the confrontation so I paid up.
The Budapest \”Drink For The Beautiful Woman\”: Luckily this didn\’t happen to me but it happened to the friends I was travelling with (likely story!) I was tired, so I went home early for the night. My buddies went to a strip club where the strippers asked them to buy them a drink. A couple guys agreed only to get a bill of almost $200 Canadian ($150USD) for a single drink. They didn\’t have the cash on hand, so they were marched to the nearest bank machine by a massive bodyguard to withdraw the money. Who knows what would have happened if they had non-sufficient funds?!? That said, I\’m booked to go back to Budapest in February and recently picked up a guidebook from the library. Apparently the \”buy-a-beautiful-woman-a-drink\” scam is a well-worn in Budapest. Guess we could\’ve used that info a decade ago!
kristin
A taxi driver in Athens this past summer insisted the route he was driving us was correct when in fact he was taking us in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go. He suggested additional stops we should make. When confronted, he became overly theatrical & dramatic that we were questioning his integrity. We insisted he pull over so we could walk instead. We were also ripped off in the Glyfada area by a ‘regular’ taxi driver. Instead of hailing a cab on the street, I highly recommend using an app called Taxibeat instead. Each time, we got into a very clean taxi, with polite, friendly and intelligent drivers, and the fares were correct and honest.
Marilynn
When I was in Bangkok in front of a temple a woman came over and said today is a holiday here in Thailand. You should go and see the Emerald buddah, it is very beautiful and is right for this special day. She than negotiated a cheap round trip ride with a tuk tuk driver and I was off. I got to the Emerald buddah, which was very small and there was a man seated at a card table. He motioned for me to sit. Than he said he could get me cheap Emerald and Ruby rings. I said I don’t want a ring and left. I told the tuk tuk driver to take me back but first he said he could take me to a good tailor shop. Again I said no and fortunately he returned me to where we had started out. Lesson learned, don’t let anyone send you off to see something. Fortunately I was smart enough not to fall for the obvious scam.
David
Leaving main train station in Rome when someone poured something on the back of my jacket. Quickly surrounded by three \”helpful\” fellows who attempted to \”clean\” my jacket. Smelling a rat I quickly escaped before they picked my pocket. Was followed to my hotel but no damage done.
Paula
In Cambodia – we had a lovely young man tell us he was from the local University and got talking to us as we went around our first temple, shortly after arriving from Thailand (I was stupid enough to tell him it was my first day there).
He was telling us a lot of information about the history and acting as an informal tour guide of sorts. Naively, I assumed that maybe this is something that the University did with their students, until he ended up taking us to a dark part of the temple and demanding us to “make a donation to the local school”.
We were at the end of our trip, so we didn’t have much money, and we offered a small amount (around $20USD) but he demanded more – he was wanting $100USD per person.
Uncomfortable, we said we could go up to $50 between us, but he refused to accept this. In the end we literally said, take it or leave it, and he left it in the end as there were a few people starting to get closer. But it was definitely a lesson learned!
And I was kicking myself, as I’d been so careful in Thailand, but for some reason had let my guard down in Cambodia! Didn’t make that mistake again, for sure!
Lee
Great lessons Matt! Bottom line, always pay attention and don’t draw attention to yourself.
My two sisters and I went to Costa Rica for two weeks this summer and had pretty good treatment by the local cab drivers, etc. But, got the wrong change at one toll booth.
One scam to watch for, is tour guides. Be sure they are licensed tourist guides and have their badge to prove it. We had great guides in Monteverde and for a mangrove tour outside of Quepos. But, a guide tried to scam us in Manual Antonio. A guide approached us, we agreed to a price and then met up with him and several other English speaking tourists for the tour. Then the guide suddenly switched. We didn’t think to much about it and he gave us a good tour, pointing out many things that we would have missed, taking photos for us, etc. But, then at the end of the tour he asked for payment. When we explained that we had paid the first guy, he said oh no, you were supposed to pay me. Fortunately we just said so sorry, we have no more money and walked away from him. After that we found out to look for the tour guides with the tourism badges proving that they’ve been trained to be a professional guide.
Safe travels!
Judy
A guy tried to pull the “found ring” scam on me when I was walking with my teenage daughter near the Musee d’Orsay in Paris a number of years ago. I kept trying to give the ring back to him, telling him I didn’t want it. He finally gave up and walked away in disgust. I still have the ring in my jacket pocket, a reminder to always be aware of scammers.
Meri
This happened in the Aleppo Souk which, sadly, is no longer there, but it was a good warning. It was a Saturday so the place was fairly deserted. I was a newly arrived older female and lost (not unusual) so asked a man for directions. He said he would show me where I wanted to go, and when I walked with him down a fairly empty alley he started to expose himself. A good lesson learned. BTW – this was the ONLY sexually inappropriate thing that happened to me my entire 6 weeks in Syria.
Kevin
For whatever reason(s), I\’ve missed out on a lot of scams, apparently. I\’m past middle age, don\’t wear any jewelry and don\’t dress to attract attention. Maybe being 6\’4\” and 230# makes me a less-appealing target. Don\’t know why, but I don\’t mind not having a trip ruined or compromised by a con artist.
I\’ve enjoyed a couple attempts, such as the common rental car scam in Mexico, where pre-existing damage is suddenly your responsibility. I rented a Volkswagen Beetle that looked like it had been in an assortment of accidents. When I returned it 24 hours later, the agent was all puffed up and strutting to the car, looking at the rusty dents and damage \”I\” had done to his car, ready to discuss the amount I owed. As he was about to talk, he looked at the rental form (for the first time, apparently) and physically shook, like he was have a small epileptic episode, when he saw that I had circled virtually the entire car on the form before I left with it. I always regretted not getting it on video, because it was pretty hilarious.
I had hoped to have a good pick-pocketing experience to share, but no one cooperated. For almost two years, I carried a plastic wallet in my back pocket, filled with enough credit cards to make it noticeable. The cards were from the frequent mailings that tried to get you to sign up for a card, so they were all made out to Your Name in Anytown, USA. I was sure I would have a story after a few weeks in crowded touristy areas in Italy at least, but I finally gave up and just threw it away.
Aside from that, I know I\’ve paid more than I should at times and not always taken the most direct route to a destination, but those issues have been vastly outweighed by the times I\’ve been the beneficiary of thoughtfulness, generosity, and kindness from people I\’ve met around the world. Just wanted to add that last part in case someone reading all these posts was starting to have any second thoughts about exploring a new locale.
Mari
Kevin, I love your story about the You Name Anytown, USA credit card fakes. I’ll remember that for my next adventure. That’s awesome.
I also had a similar experience with a rental car in New Zealand, where apparently the Kiwi’s try to stick American’s and Japanese with “damage” claims to their cars. I also recorded all the dents, a crack in the windshield etc, on my phone before driving away and noted all the pre-existing damage on their rental agreement. Voila! They didn’t get an extra dime, which was a good thing because New Zealand has the most expensive car rentals in the world, I think.
Jason
In Istanbul just before leaving I had some Turkish Lira left so went to change into Euros. I worked out beforehand what I should get back including the leftover Turkish Lira.
The person in booth gave back more Turkish money than I expected plus 2 notes (the same colour as the Euro 10 and 5). before leaving I checked and saw they were Turkish Lira so told him he had made a mistake (knowing full well it was a scam) which he fixed, of course he demanded the extra lira he gave me back.
John
Arriving in New Delhi, we paid for a taxi inside the airport per Lonely Planet\’s suggestion. The driver and his\”helper\”took us to the middle of nowhere, stopped and said our hotel was full. And the only hotel around was, coincidentally, the one right in front of us. Instead of arguing with them, I just said how sorry I was that the driver was losing his occupation since his taxi licence was going to be revoked. While I was telling them that, I was copying down his name and licence number from the licence posted behind the driver. They quickly took us to our hotel, and surprise, they weren\’t full. In retrospect, I should have been suspicious when I saw the \”helper\” and got another taxi.
Diane
I’ve been visiting and living in Thailand for twenty-five years. Overcharging and dual pricing is common–you agreed to it, the thinking goes–but more overt types of theft like purse-snatching and pick pocketing are rare. It’s never happened to me or anyone I know.
Terry Poole
Casa de Cambio scam at Mexico City Airport. Last May, when returning back to London I changed 1460 pesos to pound sterling at the money changer at the 2nd-floor departures area. I told the lady the amount in Spanish and she counted it but said nothing. She gave me the pounds and the receipt but it was a receipt for 1100 Pesos changed. After arguing with her for 5 mins. in my broken Spanish, she phoned her supervisor who came and done a balance check on all the transactions that day. She then told me that the cashier had done the exchange correctly and that I was wrong. They are running this scam together. Please be aware.
Joanna
I was once traveling on the metro in Paris with my boyfriend, when a group of young girls descended on him and picked his pocket. One of them innocently “returned his lost wallet” expecting a reward, which was not forthcoming. Luckily he did not have any cash in his wallet at the time, or it might not have been returned for the reward.
Ab
Barcelona – we were driving our van (english plates) and stopped at the traffic lights. A moped pulled up alongside us and said ‘you have a flat tyre’, we were very grateful and pulled over 100m along the road. My partner hops out to look at tyre and I notice there are about 8 guys surrounding him pointing to where a ‘mechanic’ shop is. I jump out to say thanks and as quick as a flash, someone runs around, opens my passenger door, grabs my handbag and they all run off.
In the morning at the police station, there were 8 tourists who had been pickpocketed the night before. When we went to the British Embassy for new passports, they said they issue 20 THOUSAND British passports a year, most of them stolen!!! We heard loads of stories there, when at a petrol station, make sure you lock your door when you go into pay etc Common sense I suppose, but easily forgotten.
Dahem
One day i was in milan attending football match there was guy he told me to wear someting like Hand necklace but i sad no thanks, then he took my hand and put on and asking me for money because i just bought and there is no return and i have to PAY right now likely for me there was like cops near me and i told him rather take it off or i will scream for the cops help, he finally take it off.
like for me but no for other people in the internet who felt for it.
The fake petition It actually happened to me in Paris exactly on Eiffel tower by two young girls i dont thing that they are older then 17 it was like my first day traveling out of the country and never been scamed before, asking to sign for helping refugees children after that asked me for moeny thought i will going to give them like 2 euro but they took 20 euro and runs away.
Thanks for the post was very helpful.
DT
I’ve seen many of these while traveling, including the 3 you mention in Thaila nd! Luckily, I’ve got some experience as a traveler, and typically do an online search for common scams in whichever country I’m traveling to before going. So far I’ve been lucky enough to avoid most of the scams that I’ve been faced with!
Lee
In Italy, a pretty common thing is the train ticket punch. The main rail company there requires you to validate your ticket, even though it has been bought, before you board the train. Just another layer to the bureaucracy, I guess.
Anyway, some people — I saw it Florence and Rome — will tell you need to get your ticket validated, try to take you to the machine, which is just a few feet away, and then expect you to pay a little tip or something (or maybe they want to get a look at what’s in your wallet or purse).
I was offered twice, once by a man too lazy to get off his bench and approach me, another by a woman who spoke with such a thick accent that I asked her to speak Italian (and then disappointed her when I told her I already had validated my ticket). That was in Florence. I saw it in Rome, and went out of my way to warn some of the travelers I saw that they needed to punch their ticket for validation.
Also had some women in Granada try the rosemary thing. They were so aggressive they scratched my arm (gave them nothing). Had someone twice try to take a ring of my off my finger in Milan — no luck for them.
And the ring thing in Paris — must have been about four or five times that happened to me over there. Finally, when the last lady tried it with me, I said, ‘Why does it seem like nobody over here can keep their rings on their fingers?’ and walked off.
K
Good warnings. One to add is to note the amount (and bills) you put into room safe and check amount each time you return. New theft is taking only a few bills from \”cash wad\” in safe.
You put in say 5 Hundreds and 15 twenties. While out someone swipes 1 of the hundreds or a few twenties. You come back open safe and see the \”cash wad\” still there and don\’t think much.
Later on you trip you feel like you are going through your money too fast, but that happens on vacation right? Or you realize days later some of the safe money is gone but since you can\’t pinpoint when it\’s hard for hotel to help.
If I use the safe I have started putting a post it with the count of bills on top of cash. That will show anyone with sticky hands you are paying attention to what\’s in there. Also need to review when returning and let hotel know asap if issue.
Larry
First day in Lima and I got approached by a shoe shine guy which was interesting because I wasn’t wearing shoes. He wanted to clean my sandals with his super dooper cleaning solution which would mean my sandals wouldn’t need cleaning again for weeks. It was so outrageous I let him and paid him a couple of $. Great entertainment
Nadine Shemilt
I’ve seen these around Bangkok, watch out for the “to-good-to-be-true” tuk-tuks for a day, that are 200 baht for the 3 hours, they offer to take you to the best temples, instead you end up going to some mediocre temples and jewellry shops. Our hotel warned us of this one and had many people approach us with this. Great article Matt, information new travelers should know.
Helene Jermolajew
1) The jostle on the Naples trams. My son had his phone pickpockets while getting on the tram with hands busy with luggage, another ‘passenger’ was jostling to get past him, I told him to check his pockets and sure enough phone was gone.
2) 2006, Milan. My silly travel partner pointed out our luggage which was unloaded from the airport buss at the central station to a random fellow who was ‘helping’. We had to run after him to the regional station so he wouldn’t pass our luggage onto an accomplice, then he demanded money. To get rid of him I gave him 5 Euro but he yelled it wasn’t enough, so I demanded the money back, he returned it demanding 10 Euro, big mistake, I gave him nothing and the stationmaster came out and moved him on.
3) The arguing taxi drivers, tuk tuk drivers and jewellery factories in Bangkok. First the taxi drivers argue about the price when you ask how much the fare will be (when you know how much it should be) then others with join in and offer to take you for cheaper. We walked away and took a tuk tuk, he said the right price but he had to stop on the way to pick up something – the ‘something’ was free petrol for bringing ‘customers’ to the jewellery factory. This one we didn’t mind because it was something we wanted to do anyway and it was entertaining, but would have been very annoying had we not wanted to do something like this.
4) The friendly gypsy child in McDonalds in Madrid, beware, they say hello then hide and when you aren’t looking take off with whatever is in reach (I lost my entire handbag) lesson learned NEVER let go of your belongings.
Mika
Sadly my last memory of Bali was the taxi driver who overcharged me on my ride to the airport. I did not notice but he may have had his meter running before he picked me up as the price was more than it should have been. I had used the same company with no issues four or five times before this ride. I knew the meter was higher than it should have been but I did not want to get off in the middle of nowhere. I confronted him but he knew I had little recourse. I did get his name and later reported him to his company. The spa manager who called the taxi from the most reputable company also filed a complaint.
In Paris I had a different attempted scam. A well dressed Italian guy in a car claimed he was from Milan and in Paris for fashion week. Could I help him find a petrol station? He had spent all his money going out with friends the night before, needed petrol and would “sell” me (at a bargain price) one of his designer dresses that were exactly my size.
Yukon
Thank you to everyone to for being so willing to share their experiences. Much appreciated.
Our scam experience happened in New York City. Waiting to cross the avenue, when the light changed a 18-22 yr old girl pretended to twist her ankle coming off the curb, sending her cell phone flying and feinting pain. Being x-paramedics my partner and I assisted her, back against the building wall 15′ away in such a hurry and proceeded with assessment she didn’t know what to make of it. Noting the wrong responses we also noticed two other encroaching youth bringing her phone and asking if she was okay, getting too close.
I whipped out my phone and was dialing 911 telling her she needed medical assistance because her ankle was broken and my partner kept the others at bay. With her eyes as round as saucers she assured us she was okay and sprinted off down the street with her entourage. We laughed so hard…but were also prepared. All cash, cc were secured in our inside zippered pockets.
Jack
I\’ve been pretty lucky so far. The only time I was actually taken in was when I bought a \”silver\” puzzle ring in Mexico. The price was right for the work that went into it but since the ring never tarnishes I\’m betting my \”silver\” ring is probably aluminum or something.
A few I managed to avoid, both in Mexico, my friends (military) and I went into a strip joint looking for another friend who had gotten lost. I was the last one in the door and was immediately approached by 2 or 3 of the \”strippers\” who form a semi nude conga line with me in the middle. Girl #1 (in front of me) takes my hands and puts them on her chest and begins to lead me to a table or booth. Girl #2 (behind me) puts one hand on me in an area that would be covered by a bathing suit and the other hand is looking for my wallet. I had less to drink than the others so I picked up on the scam right about when she had the zippered pocket where my wallet was about halfway open.
The next one isn\’t a scam just something to be aware of. Another night of mostly trouble in Tijuana was almost done and we were headed back to San Diego. I noticed a commotion just ahead of us and when the crowd thinned enough for me to see the problem, a man with a serious head injury lying in a pool of blood, based on the unnatural shape of his head I was pretty sure he was dead or close to it. Right about when I realized this a policeman began grabbing everyone in the area. My two friends were walking right into a serious problem that they weren\’t involved in and wouldn\’t be able to explain (language issues) so I grabbed them both by their collars and turned them around. We backtracked a few blocks and then took another route to the border.
LF from Saratoga
In Beijing we had a young man come up to us to ask us to take his picture, with a very cheap camera, then he of course offered to reciprocate with our expensive DSLR with fancy lens. My wife almost handed him the camera, but I stopped her. He was very disappointed :-). I’m 90% sure he would have sprinted away into the crowd with our camera if he got his hands on it. Every taxi driver in Beijing tried to cheat us, too.
Joaquin
In Rome and Florence I saw a friend get caught in a “free flower” scam. Then in Rome a man guessed I was from Argentina and tried to put me a bracelet but I walked away.
Similar to the “fake petition”, crossing a bridge in Paris, to go to the Louvre, a band of young boys and girls flocked around asking to sign for the handicapped.
The ones in the front tried to distract us while the others tried pickpocketing or open our bags. Luckily I saw that and took my sister and I away before anything happened.
Bri
In NYC, a common scam is that “musicians” (usually rap artists) will hand you their CD and then they will not accept it back, and they demand money from you in exchange for the CD. If this happens to you and they won’t take it back, I’d place it on the ground and walk away. Same with any similar situation where they won’t take something back.
When I was in Indonesia, I bought two batik paintings for $70 total… The scam sounds similar to the “tea and postcard” scam, in that I was at a batik painting workshop in Jogja looking at paintings and someone there said they had a store nearby where I could buy a painting. I’m not good at refusing people, so I agreed. We went to his store, which was down a back alley and there was no one else there. He gave me tea and let me look at the paintings. I found two that I liked and he insisted that one of them was by the “teacher” and the other was by the “student” and that I had good taste because I liked mainly ones done by the “teacher.” We haggled some, but I absolutely hate haggling, so I finally caved and agreed to the two-for-$70 price, justifying it to myself that I could spend the same for two nice paintings in the US. I didn’t have $70 on me, so he actually drove me back to my hostel on his motorbike so I could get the rest of the money. Looking back, he was very nice but I feel lucky that nothing worse happened to me, as I went off with him alone as a 22 year old female.
Carl M
In Palma Majorca we had people try to put 1 pennies flowers into our pockets and look for my wallet at the same time. Sadly, later that day while fighting the crush the get on a bus they got me. Luckily it was just a small amount of cash but still annoying and I had to spend the next hour in a police station while they very slowly filled in a report I could hand to my travel insurer.
I’d recommend anyone traveling to spread out their cash and especially cards on there person to guard against pick pockets and ideally keep a spare credit card safely hidden in your bag or safety deposit box.
Alex
There’s the ‘broken shoe’ scam in Vietnam, particularly in HCM and Hanoi, where a guy will come over looking panicked and tell you that your shoe is broken, then will charge you a fortune for a new sole. Kind of hard to fall for when you’re wearing flip flops.
NomadicMatt
I just want to thank everyone who left a comment. This is now a great list of scams from around the world that will help a lot of future travelers! Thank you!
Angie
In Chiang Mai, I asked my hotel to call a taxi. He called his \”cousin\”, who picked me up in a private car and offered to take me to a silk factory for discount Thai silk. When I said no, he then offered to take me to a jewelry shop. Again, I said no. I think he finally realized he wasn\’t getting anywhere with me, but I still had to pay him almost 1000 baht just for taking me to a local mall. Lesson learned: always take a licensed taxi or Uber.
Sam
A scam I haven’t seen in the comments yet:
In Lisbon, Portugal, my friends and I were sitting at a table outside a restaurant, and this guy came up to us off the street with a map in his hand. He tried to ask us for directions, putting the map on our table for him to point at. At this point, the restaurant staff came over and chased him away. The staff told us that the guy would place his map on top of a valuable item of ours on the table, and after we’d finished giving him directions, he would pick up the map, together with the item of value underneath.
Pretty clever idea to be honest, and we got lucky. We actually went back to the same restaurant a few times and we saw him again!
Lessons learned: don’t keep valuables in sight and out of reach; be wary of your stuff when strangers come up and speak to you; be wary of anybody who requests anything from you (even if it’s your help).
Thanks for sharing everyone, some really useful knowledge here.
Joy
In Hanoi we managed to avoid the pose for a picture with the baskets scam, as we’d been warned, but the first night we were accosted by a woman carrying a basket of donut balls (?) she insisted and instisted and I kept saying no, finally she says “try, free, try free” and again I say no but my husband is one never to turn down free food. he tries it and isn’t a fan and the woman just starts in on how he needs to pay for it. Luckily we were right next to the hotel so the lovely door man comes out and scares her off. My husband got an earful on not taking things that are “free” when its so obviously not going to be.
Dorene
Another scam- In India, a woman with a baby comes up to you looking to buy milk for her baby. (the baby looks malnourished, unhealthy, sad) The scam is you think she will buy something else,(alcohol, drugs, whatever, and nothing for the kid) but she does buy milk and lets you buy it for her. Little do you know that she goes to another store and sells the unopened milk, to buy something else – not to help the child at all. We had a local guide that shared this scam – a common problem in India
Will
This is common in Kathmandu too.
Will
The most common scam in China (besides the taxi drivers and other stuff mentioned above) is the Tea Ceremony scam. Basically, a group of young Chinese who speak good English (usually claiming to be art students) will approach you at a popular tourist site and ask you to help them take a group photo. Then they will act all friendly and chat to you for a while, before inviting you to go with them to “take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony”. They then take you to a tea shop, where you will be invited to sit down and taste some different teas while the host goes through the ceremony. Then the students will disappear and the bill of several thousand yuan will be brought to you, and they will lock the door or threaten you to pay.
Jim Crowl
When I was just out of college I was visiting Athens and walked by a restaurant, and a gentleman stopped me and introduced himself as the owner. He welcomed me to Athens and asked where I was from. I told him, and he said “Wow, my daughter is visiting there next month. Could I buy you a beer and perhaps you could buy her a drink and tell her places to visit?” I said sure, and the “daughter” kept asking for one drink after another. She was very charming, but I eventually told her I suspected it was a scam. She admitted it and said yes it was, and that she felt guilty because I was very nice “not like the others”. She suggested I not pay the bar bill, but put a couple small bills on the table, walk to the door while saying good-by in a friendly manner, and then “run like hell” when you get to the door.
The other scam was in New York at the 42nd St air terminal I hired a taxi driver to take me to my hotel. It was before smart phones so I didn’t know I was only two blocks from the hotel. He took my bags to go to his cab but then walked in to my hotel to my surprise. About the time I thought that was sure nice of him he put down the bags and said “$20 city porter charge” I said, I’ll need to go to the desk and cash some travelers checks (yes it was years ago). He suddenly got nervous and asked how much I had in cash. When I told him, it looks like only about $3, he said that will do fine and was content with $3 as he knew he might get in trouble from the hotel. I was okay with it, as he carried my bags and knew where the hotel was.
Arnold
I managed to be involved in a \”bracelet\” scam and you would have seen a scene they managed to create. People around were just smiling, cuz everyone knew that it was a scam. Managed to give back the bracelet and go my way, but the evening was messed up.
Taxi scam is everywhere. No matter you are a tourist or not if you take a taxi from the airport – be ready to pay a rip off price.
Another thing to look out for is the prices in the restaurants. Most of the time the prices are the same as they are on the menu, but instead of 2 beers you have ordered, they entered 4. So always double check your receipt.
Plus do not go to the tourist ready restaurants – they charge you x2-3 times the prices just because you are a tourist. Find a local one and pay the price local\’s pay.
Ray
The \”flirtatious woman\” scam is quite common in Cancun in some of the smaller bars along the main strip. My buddy and I had been approached – or propositioned – by at least three women in the same bar on our first night!
I have also fallen victim to the popular cabbie scam where they take you on a longer route than necessary in Montreal and Paris. Almost had another cabbie nearly scam earlier this year in Fort Worth when he tried taking me on the freeway to Dallas instead of my hotel, which was only about 10 – 15 minutes away. I yelled at the guy for trying to scam me and just walked out before he got onto the on ramp.
Ian
Wanted to add this one on here as I just experienced it and it can be very offputting if you’re not ready for it — in Paris, midway down the stairs to Basilique de Sacre Coeur there are some of the most aggressive tout’ers ans pickpocketers that will grab your arm very forcefully and follow you and such. Luckily, if you’re coming to and from, there are plenty of staircases off to the side, not on the main path up that are scammer free. Be careful, because the church itself is beutiful and the view is spectacular. Definitely still worth it just be weary!
Jennifer
Really useful article. I’ve known about some of these scams but there were also some which I’ve just read about now. Here’s my contribution about some of the scams I’ve been a victim of:
(1) Year 2000 – Rome, Italy – I’m walking back to my hostel at night from Roma Termini station when I feel something land on my big backpack. I ignore it and keep walking but this guy starts mumbling and hands me a bunch of tissues. I thought he was being helpful so I put down my big backpack and stupidly hand him my small daypack which I had in front of me (his hand was outstretched), thinking he was going to mind it for me. Obviously while I was distracted with cleaning my other bag, he ran off with my daypack. Thankfully I had already left my passport at the hostel but I had my credit card and cash in the stolen bag.
(2) Year 2004 – Hanoi, Vietnam – I arrive at the airport at nearly midnight and took a minivan with other tourists into the city. The van was meant to drop us off at our accommodation. I thought it was weird that some local Vietnamese climbed into the van as well (they looked like touts). They dropped me off at the wrong hostel and insisted that it was the right one. I asked to use the hostel’s phone so I could call the number of my actual hostel to verify things. This wrong hostel wanted to charge me more than USD1 for a local call but I refused. Thankfully my actual hostel was walking distance from where I was and still managed to find it even though I had no idea of the area and it was late at night.
(3) Year 2007 in Colombo, Sri Lanka – I come out of our hotel and a well-dressed and well-spoken guy makes small talk and asks where I’m from. I say I live in Dubai and he says he used to work there. He then mentions that it’s the last day of some kind of moon festival and also the last day to take advantage heavily discounted “cornflower blue” sapphires. He offers to take me to the shop and hails a tuk-tuk which we both ride on. At the shop, I look through the sapphires but not really knowing what I’m buying, I tell the shopkeeper before he writes out an invoice that I don’t have money or credit card with me and I need to ask my husband to come over. Fortunately they don’t force the issue and I manage to leave the shop without buying anything. However, the tuk-tuk driver takes me back to the hotel and tries to charge me a ridiculous fare which I know isn’t right and by this time it’s hit me that the well-dressed guy I met could be in cahoots with the drive and shopkeeper. I give the driver USD 10 even though he’s asking for more and I said I’ll have to get money from the hotel, but of course I don’t return to him.
(4) Year 2011 – Santiago, Cuba – A group of us are at a local bar and one of the local lads starts dancing with me. After a while, he says he’s thirsty and wants a drink. I give him USD5, expecting him to bring back change (a drink in Cuba doesn’t cost USD5). I don’t pursue the change but was careful not to give the lad anymore money.
(5) Year 1997 – This is not mine but my friend’s experience in Cuzco, Peru. She and her friend were watching some entertainers and there was a large crowd. They then found out that both their bags got slashed and their wallets taken. A local guy then approached them feigning concern and even took them to a bar and he paid for their drinks. My friend said afterwards she had a feeling that maybe he was part of the scam.
Naomi
Fake monks in Central Park NYC – gifting people with a beads & a blessing – for a price of 5-10 bucks.
Jenae
In Bali, many businesses conveniently “can’t make change”, (even the convenience store chains have told me this!) so you wind up paying more than you need to.
In Madrid, I found it to be relatively scam-free but I did encounter a guy trying to give small tissue packs for money and he was very aggressive about it. Also, it is commonplace there for people to ask you for a cigarette if they see you smoking. Most people just genuinely want a smoke, but one man got kind of weird touchy-feely with me and I think he was trying to pick my pockets. Kept doing that euro-kiss thing to me and saying “oh bless you, friend!” And hugging me… he eventually got lost in the crowd but I saw him a few minutes later, shooting daggers at me with his eyes and still not smoking the cigarette he had asked for. I immediately checked for all my important belongings. Luckily I had everything on lockdown. I felt pretty lucky and also dumb afterwards.
Brandon
Just experienced the Tannery Scam in Marrakech a few days ago. Have also heard that this happens throughout Morocco. It begins with the classic “that way is closed” line when you’re in the Medina (old town, which is a bit of a maze to navigate). The man told us that the square wasn’t the way we were going, but the opposite direction. He was just “on his way to work” but wanted to give us a tip. All of a sudden, he mentions that it’s the last day of the Berber festival and that the tanneries would close the following day, so we should see that. He takes us to the road we need to take to check them out, reminding us that he’s just on his way to work, but oh, 'this guy works for the tannery and is on his way there.' The tannery 'employee' leads us across the old town, making small talk, reiterating that he s not a guide and doesn t want any money, and that the Berbers will be going back to the mountains the next day so we should see the tannery now. After about 10 minutes of wandering, we started to catch on. Once he led us to the entrance to the tannery, a man immediately came up and offered to take us on a tour of the tannery, which we declined. I informed the man that we didn t have any money to spend there and that we had to go, but thanked him for the 'tour.' We luckily escaped without having to pay any money, but have heard stories about people ending up with leather goods they didn t want and having to pay the guides over 20 USD. The practice of getting a guide isn t exactly a scam, but like many things, you need to agree on the price beforehand. Bottom line: if someone says x is closed (be it that road, that way, that attraction, that whatever), they re most likely being dishonest and trying to scam you. Luckily this one didn t cost us more than about 20 minutes of our time.
Lisa
Here in Goa and just last month I got sucked in. Id been interested in and wanted to potentially purchase some Ayurvedic remedies. Whilst partner was getting his hair cut, locally, we ve been living here for four months now, I strolled down street and spotted an Ayurvedic ‘Guru . What harm could it do I thought, and he was lovely and said, 'a chat costs nothing, no money, money not important, I m here to help the people '
Before I knew it I was smelling powders, listening to all their good properties and nodding like a donkey on the back shelf of a rickshaw!!
As I looked down at all these wonderful different colours of spooned powders I thought ‘oh sh*t . He can t put them back into the multitude of pots now.
They did look nice though! But once all in one pot (for me) it just looked like dirt!
It was supposedly four months worth and id feel worse before I felt superhuman ?
My partner came back and his eyes were very strange-they kept rolling for some weird reason.
The cost for my miracle was 10,000rs (?120). I ended up giving ?2,500 a escaped on our scooter.
We now have to scooter the long way round to the barbers now!!
My partner had a full head shave, two face shaved, and a 20 minute back/shoulder massage for ?300, I got dirt!!
Krasen
“TEA CEREMONY” in Shanghai
When I was a “beginner” traveler, I was in Shanghai. One day I walked on the street and a nice polite girl came to me, first just to talk with me. Not flirting exactly, but talking about our countries, our cultures and traditions. Then later she told me that “today is a traditional tea festival” in China and if I want to see it, she can guide me. So I followed her and she took me to a small hidden teahouse somewhere behind the main crowded streets. I felt strange why I can’t see some mass festival events, but she said that this festival is just like this. So I sat on a table, few girls performed some “traditional tea rituals”, giving me to try few different teas. When it finished, the bill was around 1400 yuan, which was almost 200 USD. I didn’t have choice and played. Then I complained the girl that took me there, and she was very apologizing in front of me…
Next year I was in Shanghai again, and this time few young people offered me a “tea ceremony festival” visitiby. I was very happy to joke with them and finally to tell them bye bye. They felt funny too and even not dissapointed, despite they lost their prey this time ??
Ale
If we could only reduce the travel scams to 14 the world would be awesome. I think the worst country in this way is India; I’ve hear stories of “cities closed” so the taxi takes you on a trip for hours to another one… And you just can’t get of the car.
Thanks for the post!
Rota
I was in Paris a Long time s go, for a few dsys. I was walking to the Eiffel Tower, when a middle aged woman asked me, if I would like her to take my picture. I was hesitant at 1st. So as soon as she did, she of course asked me for money. I didn’t want to get in trouble not knowing, the laws. And also, I had already paid for my Tour Fare and didn’t have money to get back home, in North America. Never again!!
Marilynn B
While on an extended holiday in Spain and Portugal years ago with my daughter and her three and a half year old son and two year old daughter we had no problems with scam artists. I think it was because of how un-touristy and ordinary we looked. Just a grandma out for a stroll with her daughter and grandchildren. We dressed neatly and unpretentiously, didn’t wear clothes that advertise Gap or Nike or whatever, no sneakers or baseball caps. I know enough Spanish and Portuguese to get by The children attracted a lot of attention (guapo, guapo!) and they ate it up! Even when it was obvious that we could use some direction, people were kind and helpful. (Political Incorrectness Alert: We are also not overweight with fat rolls hanging over our waist bands. Sorry for the bluntness, folks, but this is an epidemic in the US of A!)
On the other hand, the few times I’ve been to Europe with my tall, handsome, white-haired husband we have been pegged as tourists every single time. He must have this aura about him that flashes in neon, “I’m an American and I don’t speak a word of your language and I don’t understand your culture!” We certainly look every bit the elderly sightseeing couple (although still no sneakers, flip-flops or brand name advertising). ~ Ring scam? Twice in Paris. Politely declined, but one of them shoved me when I resisted the temptation to pitch the ring into the Seine and threw it on the ground instead. ~ Help with English translation? The instant I began to respond in rapid French, the young lady turned abruptly away and sought another victim. ~ ATM (Bancomat) scam? Rainy night in Rome. Long story, but it began in broken English with, “Excuse me, sir, but you did not sign out of your account properly.” (Avoid doing any ATM transactions outside of normal banking hours.)
Mostly, though, in spite of all the dire warnings, my travels have been a delightful introduction to other peoples, traditions and languages. Most people are friendly and eager to help a stranger who is polite and respects their culture.
Jackie
The “ring” scenario
Hubby and I were in Paris and this fella did the “did you drop this ring? act as we were walking outside of the Louvre. At first we kept saying no then he went with I am a Christian and I would give you the ring for only $20.00. My spidey senses went off and told him no I was not interested and we quickly left the area.
Walking across the bridge to the Eiffel Tower later on that day, a girl does the same thing to us. We told her that we had already seen that act at the Louvre,s he didn’t like that and stuck her tongue out at us. lol too funny.
“Immigrant, poor family back home act” Came off the underground train to the the district of where our Hotel was situated, and coming up off the stairs to the ground level a lady in old clothes with a sign that said in some unknown European Language kept pointing to her sign and talking to us. We said we speak English and she flips over the cardboard sign to show English writing explaining that she needed funds to send to her family.
We had just gotten off the flight and were exhausted so of course we looked like great targets. A gentleman saw what was happening and came over and told the lady to leave us alone, and kindly took us to our Hotel a few shops away. We were grateful to this man.
This was just one day in Paris! lol we learned our lesson and were prepared for the next time a scam hit us even at home in Canada.
Downtown Vancouver a good looking young man can running up to us all out of breathe and saying that his passport and wallet had just been stolen. He asked for $20.00 so he could get the airport. Bells going off in my head–so I said to him You should be going to the US Consulate not the airport. He then came up with an excuse as to why he couldn’t go to the Consulate, then asked for money again. i said No we don’t have money, so he then asked us to use our debit card and promised to pay him back. We wished him a good day and left.
Sarah
Here in Nigeria it is common for fake (and sometimes real) police / military officers to ask to check your documents and then insist that there is some kind of issue with them – and demand money so that they won’t report you. Always keep the originals somewhere safe, keep photocopies on you, and when they insist that there are issues, pull out your phone and tell them you won’t pay them money, but you will call your Embassy. They will quickly drop the issue and move on. (I have the Embassy number saved in my phone, just in case!)
Another one for Nigeria (and I’m sure elsewhere) – in airports, people who work for the airport officially (or not) will spot you as your enter and try to help you with your bags. If you accept, they will expect some cash when you get to where you’re going (the same will happen at the baggage carousel when you land). If you need the help with your luggage – go for it, it actually isn’t that much money. But if you don’t need the assistance, just insist that you’re fine, firmly, and they will leave you alone.
Alternatively, when I first landed in Lagos, the driver wasn’t there to meet me and my phone wasn’t working on the local network. I was nervous because the company had warned me about all of the scammers at the airport and I was a bit overwhelmed. I decided to approach one of these guys they warned me about and I offered him just a few dollars to allow me to use his phone. He then stayed with me while I waited (30 minutes!) and even told others to get lost as they approached me/tried to scam me! For me, just 5 USD bought me peace of mind and the ability to contact my driver and employer – and this was definitely worth the price!
Another one, happened to a friend’s mum in Madrid – she was sitting on the subway with her bag on the ground between her feet/legs – seems secure, right? Right before the doors closed, someone on the platform used a long pole with a hooked end to scoop her bag out and onto the platform. Doors closed, and she’s already zooming to the next station…
Rachel C.
I work in the hospitality industry, and I see scams even here in the USA! Taxis picking up tourists at the airport, driving them all over town, and charging a fortune for a short trip is common here. Many airports have licensed shuttle vans with fixed prices based on the neighborhood you’re going too; other airports often have taxi stands with an attendant or even a police officer who will tell you in advance what the price range is. But if none of this works, or you hail a taxi on the street, pull out a pen and paper, point to the mandatory permits displayed in every taxi, and say the magic words “Oh, I need to expense this – is that your cab number?” The driver will say yes, or even offer to give you a printed receipt with his permit info. That’s not the point. The point is he’s just been put on notice that you will know who he is if he cheats you. This has worked for me more than once, and is useful if you don’t want to get in an argument with the driver over your fare.
Sharon
Tourists scams in Bangkok are the most common ones. The taxi rip offs, the “market/temple is closed” or fake gems scams. The one I encountered first hand is the Jet Ski scam. My friend loves water skiing. So he hired a jet ski for an hour. When he returned it, the dealer asked him to pay for a minor damage almost invisible to the naked eye. My friend was smart enough to take pictures of the jet ski before hand, but that didn’t help us in any way. There was a cop nearby (conveniently) who saw us arguing and decided to intervene. After alot of drama we still had to shell out $200 or risk the dealer filing a complaint with the local police. No one wants to get into such a mess on a vacation. We still got thugged! I love the islands, but Bangkok/Pattaya have got to be the worst places for inexperienced travellers.
Ashely
I definitely fell for the over priced taxi cabs in Thailand. I just arrived that day and got scammed to pay $30 for a 45 minute drive into downtown. Later when I paid $30 to make it down to the islands (12 hour drive) I knew I had fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book.
Paulo
When I’m in a tourist spot and this kind of people talks to me, trying to sell stuff or asking money for “charity”, I just keep walking and pretend to urderstand no English and I speak random words in any language else than English or the local language. It worked for me most of times.
Renia
Last year when I was in Milan for a school trip , me and my friends were walking in the gallery vittorio emanuele near the catholic church when a stranger aproached us and started talking with us while at the same time he tied bracelets in our wrist saying that it was free. The thing was that he was dressed in a costume and looked wealthy .He then of course procceded into demanding money from us but we managed to walk away .
I hadnt heard anything about this bracelet scam before but I am pretty sure that i am not going to fall for it in the future.
Kathy
Re # 8: Polish cities are well known for this, but it can be organised crime with the club, bar staff and police all involved. A young male family member and a female friend on an 18-30 tour were drugged, probably rohypnol, taken to a back room, forced to open their online banking apps, transfer money to their travel cards and then handover their travel cards for the withdrawal of cash from handily located atms in that room. Kindly, the thieves put them in a taxi back to their hotel. Pretty horrifying, especially when it turned out the girl had a broken wrist and has no idea how it happened.
Simone
Similar to the bracelet scam:
In Vietnam I experienced women coming up to me and forcefully trying to thread my brows right there on the street, or dragging you back to a little nail salon, and if you don’t say no or leave immediately before they start to actually touch you they demand money.
Oli
No. 3 – The Shell Game almost amuses me every time I see it since it’s so obviously a scam! Every time I go to London there are game-runners plastered along Westminster Bridge (by Big Ben) trying to lure you in. The funny part is they use ‘actors’ to play the game when they have no tourists but these ‘actors’ are always clearly part of their family and holding handfuls of ?50 notes. I never understand how anyone falls for it but you always see tourists going for it.
No. 9 – Attraction is Closed – we experienced a lot of this in Italy, mostly in Pompeii where ‘Tourist Office’ guides would tell us the entrance wasn’t open or it was in the other direction trying to get us to buy their package tours. We knew what we were doing and never fell for it but we saw others take it in. I just find it infuriating being lied to, even when we called them out they stuck to their guns!
Daniel
Hi Matt.
I got scammed twice in Shanghai in one week. One time similar to tea scam you described. Girls approaching me so excited to talk English taking me to ancient Chinese tea ceremony and having to pay an exorbitant bill. Another one meeting a girl from Tantan (Chinese dating app) and taking me to a bar and having to pay a big bill. Tea and alcohol just dont cost that much. Anyways, now I am aware.
Ashlea
Wow so many of these resonate for me in Europe and Asia (unfortunately). Just this week we encountered a variation of #9 at Pompeii in Italy (many ‘tourist office’ people on the street in official looking t-shirts informing us that the entrance just ahead was ‘not the main entrance’ or ‘only the exit’ (both obviously untrue).
Additionally, came across the usual attempts at #5 bracelet scams in Rome (guy approaches your group and gives handshake or fist bump and tries to tie bracelet to wrist). Luckily nothing actually made it onto our wrists, but unfortunately my male travel companions couldn’t refrain from the fist bump (“you can’t leave a guy hanging”), despite knowing it was a scam…
Anne Marie
I was robbed in Rome at the train station near the pyramid. Sat reading a map and on my own ( making it ridiculously obvious I was a tourist Doh!) Scammer 1 approached me from behind asking for directions. Because I was turning around to help him his accomplice was able to come to the front of me and take my bag which I had stupidly placed between my knees. I didn’t even feel it go. He was long gone by the time scammer 1 was thanking me and went quickly on his way. In all it was no more than a minute! Lessons learn’t!
Randy
On a cruise to Jamaica/Ocho Rios a few years back climbing the stairs adjoining Dunn’s River Falls was accosted by a young local chatting us up. Asking where we were from, how were we enjoying the trip small talk. Asked me what my name was a few times and finally had to spell it for him for it seemed he wasn’t hearing it. Asked us to come and visit his souvenir shop that he said was run by him and his dad. So we follow him in to take a look around, meet the dad he disappeared, didn’t really see much of anything was getting ready to leave and then the young guy appears with a wooden carving of a man, he says “how do you like this”? I said looks good but I wasn’t looking for a wooden statue of a man, he then says “you have to buy it because I can’t sell it to anyone else after he etched MY name on it! Insisted we buy it finally haggled a price and left flustered. Watch out for this “scam”!
Hana
Now in SE Asia there are new scams spread around – a guy starts to point at your shoe… When you look down at it, he puts a little bit of tape or glue on it and says “he fixed it” so you have to pay him! If you are wearing flip flops they can even take your shoe and refuse to return until you pay them… there are usually more then one person who work together so you have to pay… The best thing to do is just keep walking if someone points at your shoes… Cause there’s nothing wrong with them… Even though they can be very persistant, just don’t stop and look down!
sue
We just came back from Paris. At the Louvre Museum metro station a young girl (about 14-15 years old) blocked me from getting into the train while my husband was inside the train. The door was going to close, without choice I step back but her bag got stock in the inside door (it is a double door train) so the train could not leave. My husband and her friend helped opening the inside door to lose her bag. When the inside door got opened the outside door automatically opened too. Immediately she got off the train and I tried to get on the train. One of her friend (about the same age) tried to block me but I had already inside the train so she let it go because the door was going to close very soon. All three of them off the train. I sat down and wondering whether they have mental problem because they tried to separate a couple getting in the same train. Someone from outside told my husband something dropped on the floor, my husband picked it up, it is his sunglass. A lady told me, “She tried to steal your money.” I look down my fenny bag the zipper got opened and my husband’s fenny bag zipper got opened too.
Last year in Spanish Step, Rome, while we sat down at the bottom of the step rest my husband’s wallet got stolen. My husband suspected it was the family sat beside him stole it because his wallet was deep inside the pocket of the pants, only when he sat down withou move for a while then it could be stolen. After we sat down rest, the beautiful mother stood up in front of my husband and posted several minutes to let someone from her family to take picture of her and my husband really enjoy it.
Please feel free to correct my grammer.
Yanna
In Thessaloniki, Greece these scams are off the chain common. There are people at the white tower who will try to put a bracelet on your wrist and tie it so you cant take it off and then you have to pay. I also had a women walk up to me and my friend at our table while we were out for coffee, and she put a rose in my hand, before I had the chance to fully grasp the rose, my friend snatched it out of my hand and gave it back to the girl and yelled at her leave. Anytime you are out at dinner, coffee, or even just walking in the city, people will walk up to you to try to sell you something whether it is tissues, watches, purses, hats, even lottery tickets. I was out for dinner with my aunt once and this older lady came over and tried to sell the lottery tickets to her, she was so forceful, she put the lottery tickets on my aunts chest, held them, there and rubbed them in circles, on her chest!! This is pretty invasive in my opinion.
Weej
A friend I was traveling with in Italy was approached by a woman who claimed she needed directions from us (obvious tourists!), and shoved an unfolded map at my friend, while busily attempting to snatch my friend s purse from beneath the map. My friend caught on and snatched it back before the thief could get away.
Kia
This is a minor scam used in places where there are all inclusive hotels which require guests to where bracelets ie Playa De Carmen. The hawkers in the street are familiar with the hotel bracelets so they will see you say hello like they know you and shake your hand giving them another opportunity to read your bracelet. They ll tell you they work at your hotel and on their days off they work at their family s shop. They ll try to get you in the shop out of the 'bond' you share because they ve waited or served you all week at the hotel. This is a clever scam because it preys on your inability to tell people apart and your being made to feel guilty about it. This person doesn t work at your hotel and you ve likely never seen them before. Don t touch anyone or allow yourself to be touched/ get to close to you.
Agnes
You d think rideshare services would be immune to scams, but on our last trip to Bangkok, we were taken for a ride, literally. The driver took us in the opposite direction of where we should have been going to make some sketchy drop off in a parking garage, despite our protests from the back seat as we pointed out our Google maps. In Bangkok traffic, driving even a mile more than you need to adds some significant time to your trip, apart from whatever was exchanging hands at this garage. We were only able to get a partial refund on the trip after contacting the rideshare company. Completely sketchy experience!
Also, this: 'Getting on a plane didn t increase your attractiveness by a factor of 10.'
Hilarious!
Christopher Downs
I got hit by the petition girls near the Eifel Tower. Two young and pleasant girls had a conversation with my wife and me and we each signed one of the petitions. One of the girls demanded money. It was a decent scam so I gave one girls a euro coin and then we started to leave. The other girl cried out “what about me!”. I told her to split the euro with her friend. An interesting experience that cost only one euro.